Italian Ricotta Cookies
Italian Ricotta Cookies are little perfect little bites of cake. They are soft, with a mild flavor, and topped with colorful sprinkles!
Can I be honest? I kinda-sorta hate those Italian cookie platters at Christmas.
I know, I’m the worst. I KNOW.
I just feel like they’re all so… blah. Maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up in an Italian household where I love them because they’re nostalgic. Maybe because I am a secret Scrooge deep down. But really, does ANYONE love those cookies? I feel like they’re all the same cookie in different shapes. Like a whole tray of the EXACT same cookie, made to look different because some have sprinkles and others have jam. Kinda like the cookie version of pasta…ALL THE SAME, but different shapes. I’m sensing a theme here, Italians! jkjk.
I mean, just because I don’t love them doesn’t mean there isn’t a whole word out there that does. I get it…kinda. I mean, my husband included IS Italian, with an Italian mother. So basically I am about to be shunned from Christmas Eve.
ANYWAY. I decided to throw my hand in the ring and see if I could make an Italian Cookie that I like, but also is samesy enough that no one will think I ruined Christmas by changing up the cookie situation.
Feel me?
Oh, and these Italian Ricotta Cookies are DAY 11 in our 12 Days of Christmas Cookies!!! Can you believe we’re almost done?? If you’ve missed any of the first 10 days, I’m recapping the, all at the bottom of this post!
The dough comes together so quickly and they bake up pretty perfect, if I do say so myself!
Here’s the deal with these. They are soft and cakey, so if you’re not into cakey cookies these might not be for you. BUT the ricotta cheese gives them such a yummy texture. I am all about how these turned out.
I used vanilla extract in my cookies and almond extract in the glaze icing, but you can switch this up if you want!
I find that dipping the cookies in the glaze icing works best!
And then you have to have sprinkles!
I feel like I’ll give Italian cookies another shot. Maybe.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 4 cups flour
Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 3–4 tablespoons milk
- 1/4 cup sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together the butter and sugar on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add in the eggs, ricotta cheese, vanilla, salt, baking powder, baking soda and mix for an additional minute until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour, mixing until a dough forms. Portion out the dough using a medium (2 tablespoon) cookie scoop. Roll into balls and place on prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges are lightly golden.
- Transfer to a wire rack.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, almond extract, and milk, together until smooth. Spoon the glaze over warm cookies or alternately, dip the cookies into the gaze, and sprinkle with colored candy sprinkles.
Notes
Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days for best freshness.
Day 1: 3 Ingredient Shortbread
Day 2: Double Chocolate Mocha Cookies
Day 3: Salted Caramel Pinwheel Cookies
Day 4: Perfect Spritz Cookies
Day 5: Lemon Thumbprint Cookies
Day 6: Milk Chocolate Lace Sandwich Cookies
Day 7: Coconut Snowman Cookies
Day 8: Red Velvet Snowball Cookies
Day 9: Soft Molasses Cookies
Day 10: Orange Cranberry Meltaway Cookies
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Hi! Can they be frozen?
Yes! I would wait to put the frosting on after they thawed, though!
My friend’s mother, a true Italian, froze them frosting and all. She put them on a tray to freeze them then once frozen quickly put them into double bags. They were still perfect right out of the freezer. (I ate so many. I couldn’t help myself!)
I freeze them with the frosting on and they thaw and taste great.
BTW you can change up this recipe by added, 1 teaspoon lemon rind, or 1 teaspoon cinnamon to the batter, or even 1/2 cup coco powder. When I use the coco powder, I also add coco powder to the icing too.
Yes, I’m Italian and I love these cookies!
Hey!
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*These* look delicious! and I totally relate to you about the Italian cookie platters – and the concept of making 100 different cookies out of 1 mix! What’s the point of that?!
I always love to eat this kind of sweet dishes. When it is a Italian food then it is one of my favorite!!!!! Thank you for sharing that lovely food recipe. If you love these kind of sweet dishes then you may visit my website which is full of sweet dishes also…………..
These look wonderful. I will be traveling by plane how would you suggest I package these? Happy Holidays!!
I Would package them stacked in a hard, airtight container, so they won’t get squished!
Oops, I bought part skim ricotta, can I use it in this recipe or do I need to run back to the store?
These are my favorites! My Grandmother made them with a lemon glaze. If you got a taste of her Italian cookie platter you would be a convert. Each cookie was so unique! Fig squares, lemon ricotta cookies, a peanut butter chocolate type thing, and almond shortbread…and more! I only wish I had the recipes. Only she knew them and we didn’t think to have her write them down ever. But I have a feeling your ricotta cookies will be a new favorite for my family.
Just made these, delicious! The dough kept sticking to my hands while I was rolling, would you recommend keeping flour on hand?
If the dough is really sticky, you can adda tablespoon more, but I wouldn’t add too much, as it can dry out the cookies!
I made these yesterday as directed, and baked them for even longer than recommended and some appeared to still be “wet” on top on one cookie on the pan totally went flat on the pan during baking. But, once they cooled the other 11 cookies seemed just fine and delish. Any suggestions? Thanks again, I’m loving all your recipes!
Thanks so much for the comment. I have had this happen before… not with this recipe, but with others…and I always find that the reason this has happened is that it didn’t mix well enough and maybe I got a bit more butter in a cookie and it spread. Hope this helps, and glad the other cookies turned out!!
Followed the recipe…total fail…never screw up anything…not sure what happened…even used whole milk ricotta….oh well…threw it all out. First batch spread and very flat and had to keep increasing the time…not worth the aggravation…will find another recipe for same type cookie.
I just made these today. Great recipe- thank you! I decided to make one almond icing and another lemon and dip the cookies in one or the other. Can’t decide which I like better!
I need to try lemon!
As a kid, anytime I had these they were always anise flavored. Blech! My aunt made some for Christmas a few years ago but used a lemon glaze – I almost stuffed them all in my pocket Napoleon Dynamite style! Sooo good! I’m sad I missed this recipe before Christmas but I think some almond and lemon ricotta cookies are in my future.
Just finished baking these and am very pleased! Only problem was they did not stay as round . Next time I will refrigerate balls before baking. Texture is AMAZINGLY light and moist!
★★★★★
I have made these type of cookies a bunch of times before but this is the most perfect batch I’ve ever made! Recipe was perfect…needed 10 minutes to be golden brown on bottom. So light and fluffy!!! My son and I made them for his Halloween party and we will be decorating them tomorrow with a cream cheese frosting and Halloween sprinkles!
★★★★★
Ricotta cookies have been a ‘thing’ for ages…one of the best/easiest cookies to make in general. Congrats on putting together a recipe for people to try:) Just a word about different cuts of pasta from your original post…there are different cuts to be used with different sauces. Italians would never use a bolognese with an angel hair pasta (the sauce is too heavy), for example. There is a method to our madness:)
Followed all of the instructions but these just taste like raw dough. Not a fan sorry
★★
Make sure that you drain your ricotta before you mix it into the batter. Too much moisture is what causing the cookies to flatten or be raw. I haven’t tried this recipe yet but it happened with other recipes that I didn’t drain it in. Will try this one.
Made these for our Christmas cookie bake that my daughters and I do yearly. They were by far my favorite. Not too sweet and I loved the texture. We did the same glaze, but also did lemon and some with a drizzle of chocolate. I read the reviews but didn’t have the issues others were. I did notice that if I didn’t give just enough room for the slight spread that they need. *Also I did not drain my ricotta cheese*
★★★★★