Ricotta Cookies

I remember these cookies, among several others, that we used to get at the Italian bakery with grandma. The way I remember them, they had little multi-colored round sprinkles on top. I've been perusing the recipe-shere and adapted several recipes into one I liked. The basic recipe is pretty standard and straightforward with little variance,  but, like the shortbread cookies I posted about in the past, these are extremely versatile. Once you get the base recipe down, then you can venture out and experiment with different flavors. This time, I used almond extract in the cookie dough as well as in the icing. Here are the ingredients:

Cookie Dough:

2 C sugar
1/2 lb butter (1 C/2 sticks)
1 lb ricotta cheese (a 15oz container is fine)
2 eggs (preferably large)
4 C AP flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt (I use only sea salt now)
1 t pure vanilla extract (never use imitation extract)
2 t pure almond extract

Icing:

3 C powdered sugar
1/2 C milk
2 t pure almond extract

Heat the oven to 350°

I use a stand mixer for this.

Cream butter and sugar,  add ricotta, vanilla, almond, salt, and eggs, mix until creamy. Add flour (on low to avoid catastrophe), baking soda, and baking powder. Scrape at least once, but don't over mix as they can get tough.

I used a cookie scoop, and this time made 2 different sizes, just for experimenting sake.

Now, here's a fun fact. I looked at a bunch of recipes before coming up with mine and there was quite a mixed bag concerning the cookie sheet, greased or un-greased. There was more of a general consensus on parchment paper, though, and since this is a sticky dough, I would recommend parchment.

The scoop in the picture is a #50, but I also used a #30. With the smaller scoop I would have had about 11 doz, and with the bigger scoop, about 4 doz.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until just starting to get a very light brown, these are easy to over bake, so keep an eye on them.

Let cool on wire racks and then ice.

Icing:

3 C powdered sugar

1/2 C milk

2 t almond extract

As I said, these are versatile. You can substitute the almond extract (and vanilla) for lemon in the dough and icing, add lemon zest to both and voila, lemon ricotta. Or do the same with orange extract and orange zest. Be creative. 

Buon Appetito!