Italian Ricotta Cookies
These Italian Ricotta Cookies are light and fluffy with a mild, buttery almond flavor and sweet almond icing.
If you’ve never made cookies with ricotta cheese, then get ready to be amazed! We love making these cookies because the ricotta makes an amazingly light and fluffy texture, and these cookies are so easy!
Table of contents
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The ricotta cheese makes cookies that are mild, tender, and fluffy.
- The ingredients are simple.
- It’s an incredibly easy recipe to make.
🛒Ingredients
You’ll only need some simple baking ingredients and some ricotta cheese to make these cookies. You’ll find everything you need easily at your local store. Check the recipe card at the end of the post for exact amounts.
For the Cookies
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Unsalted butter – softened
- Granulated sugar
- Whole milk ricotta cheese
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
For the Glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Almond extract
- Milk
- Rainbow nonpareils
🔪 How to Make Italian Ricotta Cookies
These Italian ricotta almond cookies are as easy as they are rich and delicious. They only take a few minutes and a few simple steps to make.
Step 1: Combine the Wet Cookie Ingredients
Cream the butter and sugar until smooth with a hand or stand mixer. Then, add the ricotta cheese and mix until fully combined. Then, add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and mix until just incorporated.
Step 2: Combine the Dry Cookie Ingredients
Combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl.
Step 3: Make the Cookie Dough
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until they form a dough.
Step 4: Chill
Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
Step 5: Roll and Place
Measure out 1 tablespoon-sized balls, roll them until smooth, and place them about 3 inches apart on a baking sheet. Place any unused dough in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
Step 6: Bake
Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookies become lightly golden. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 3 to 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Step 7: Make the Glaze
Whisk the glaze ingredients together in a small mixing bowl until slightly thick. If the glaze is too thin, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of milk.
Step 8: Dip the Cookies
Gently dip the top of a cookie into the glaze and lightly shake off the excess. Place the cookie back on the wire rack and repeat for all cookies. Immediately top the cookies with sprinkles and allow the glaze to set. Enjoy!
📝Variations
Do you want to change up this recipe and make it your own? Here are some ways that you can do that!
- Extracts – You can use lemon extract in place of almond or use only vanilla extract.
- Plain – You can omit the glaze for plain cookies.
- Large Eggs – If you don’t have a large egg, you can use a medium egg, instead.
For another great ricotta cookie recipe, check out these Italian Christmas cookies.
🥄 Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowls
- Hand or stand mixer
- Baking sheet
- Wire cooling rack
🥫 Storage
Refrigerate unglazed cookies for up to 5 days in an air-tight container in single layers with parchment paper in between them. Refrigerate glazed cookies in the same way for 2 to 4 days.
💭 Tips
- Use room temperature eggs, butter, and ricotta for the best creaming and cookie texture.
- The dough should be easy to form. If it’s sticky, refrigerate it longer.
- Start at the lower end of the baking time if you have dark baking sheets. Light baking sheets will make the baking time longer.
- Be sure the cookies are completely cool before icing the tops or the icing will slide off.
⁉️ FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Ricotta cheese gives cookies a lightly, fluffy, and soft texture and adds a mild flavor.
If you don’t chill the dough adequately, the cookies will spread too quickly and too far, becoming flat rather than soft, pillowy domes.
For the most part, an egg is an egg when it comes to baking. The only time egg size matters is in the case of especially finicky baked goods requiring an almost exact ratio of fat, moisture, and other ingredients.
🍽 More Recipes
Do you enjoy Italian recipes? Then try these delicious recipes:
📌 PIN IT!!
🧾Recipe Card
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Italian Ricotta Cookies
Equipment
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- mixing bowls
- Hand or Stand Mixer
- baking sheet
- Wire cooling rack
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 stick unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 8 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
For the glaze:
- 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
- Rainbow nonpareils
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer or standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar until smooth and there are no more lumps. Add in the ricotta and mix until fully combined.
- Add the egg, vanilla and almond extracts, then mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and baking soda by mixing with a spoon or spatula. Then add the mixed dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined and it forms a dough.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill for 2 hours.
- Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Take a small cookie scoop or a spoon to measure out tablespoon sized balls for each cookie. Roll them up and place each about 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. Place any unused dough back in the refrigerator to stay chilled.
- Bake the cookies at 350 F for 10-12 minutes or until the bottoms of the cookie become lightly golden. The tops will remain light and the cookie will be soft.
- Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients until you get a slightly thick consistency. If the glaze is too thin, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of milk to thin it out.
- Hold the base of each cookie, one at a time, and dip the tops into the glaze. Then lightly shake off the excess and place them back on the wire rack. Do this carefully as the cookies are soft and can break.
- Immediately decorate the tops with sprinkles. Allow the glaze to set at room temperature before serving. Enjoy!
Plan to make these this weekend.
Don’t understand the need to put the list of equipment!
Couldn’t this possibly be put in so that it could be checked off, like the image & the nutrition facts?
Reason for me… I don’t have the capability of doing a double sided copy, listing the equipment puts the recipe on another piece of paper.
Thanks!
Sorry there is not an option to check off the list of equipment. The list is there in all our recipes because it makes it easier for people to know what they need. If it’s a problem for you, you can always copy and paste the recipe and eliminate the equipment. I hope that helps