Italian Ricotta Cookies are the easy festive cookie you need

With lemon and orange zest and a simple orange glaze, these soft ricotta cookies are an easy entry into your Christmas cookie list.

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While some Christmas cookies like Eggnog Cookies take a little bit more time to make, it’s always nice to have a quick and easy cookie on hand for last minute Christmas parties or when you’re running low on energy.

These cookies are a Christmas tradition for one of the sweet cashiers at my local market. In talking to her, I wanted to create my own version that I think she would enjoy. You’ll love the bright citrusy flavors and how easy these are to make. Add a little dash of Christmas sprinkles, and you’ve got a festive cookie no one will say no to.

Soft Ricotta Cookies

Why put ricotta in a cookie?

Italians being ever the never wasters of anything, I imagine some Italian nonna first thought about putting ricotta in a cookie because it was there. What her genius revealed and what we’ve all learned since is that ricotta adds moisture, some extra fat and a balance of flavors from the lightly salty cheese you don’t always see in a cookie. What you get is something that isn’t quite savory but also isn’t cloyingly sweet.

Like my cream cheese pastry adding cheese in sweets is a really smart way to add in flavor without costly spices or extracts. Plus they look like little scoops of ice cream!

Why you’ll want to put some ricotta cookies on Santa’s plate

1. Soft and homey: The ricotta adds some moisture to these cookies giving them an old-fashioned cakey, almost biscuit-like texture that’s genuinely intriguing. We all love crisp butter cookies like strawberry matcha shortbread, but it’s nice to have something to contrast with that in your cookie tin.
2. Bright happy flavor: The lemon and orange zest do the heavy lifting, giving these Italian favorite a sunny taste that’s a great contrast to darker spice flavors of many Christmas cookies.
3. Mix and go: This is an awesome cookie to make with kids as they do not need to be perfect and you can make the dough in no time.

Tips for making the best soft ricotta cookies

1. Use full-fat ricotta or drain the other kind: Lower fat ricotta tends to be a little more watery. I’ve never had to drain full-fat ricotta. If you can only find low fat ricotta, set a fine sieve over a bowl and scoop the ricotta into the sieve. Set the sieve in the refrigerator overnight and you’ll have much thicker, lovelier ricotta.
2. Don’t overmix: Fold in the flour by hand with just a few turns until the flour disappears. The dough is about the consistency of muffin batter, so beating in the flour will give you a tough cookie.
3. Glaze when the cookies are warm: Adding on the glaze when the cookies are warm will keep them moist, which is the whole point in a cakey cookie like this!
4. Don’t make them too perfect: Use a spoon to make these easy drop cookies. Yes you can use a cookie scoop, but homey cookies are not supposed to look Instagram worthy. Once you add the glaze, they’ll get all the glow up they need. Uneven craggy edges are okay and welcome here.

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