Ricotta Cheese Cookies
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My ricotta cheese cookies are soft, chewy, and topped with the most delicate lemon glaze. They bake in minutes and use pantry staples.
You do not often hear ricotta and cookies in the same sentence, but trust me, you will now.
Inspired by my cream cheese cookies, I recreated the popular Italian-inspired cookie that uses real ricotta cheese in the dough.
Now, don’t fret or think this is some odd combination. The ricotta dissolves with the sugar and butter, almost like it’s cream. When combined with other fun ingredients and a touch of lemon, it makes the most incredible-tasting cookie, perfect for Christmas, Easter, or any occasion. I promise you, you won’t taste it!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Simple pantry ingredients. Besides the ricotta cheese and butter, the rest of the ingredients are basic pantry staples.
- Minimal chill time. Unlike other cookie recipes that call for several hours of chilling, this recipe needs just 20 minutes in the freezer!
- Bakes in under 15 minutes. The beauty of these cookies is just how fast they bake. The hard part is waiting for them to cool so you can glaze them.
- Perfect for cookie platters. If your family is anything like mine, the more variety on a cookie platter, the better. My ricotta cheese cookie recipe holds up well and stays fresh for a long time, so they’ll be a hit.
Key Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make my ricotta cookies, along with kitchen notes and substitutions. The complete list is in the recipe card below.
- All-purpose flour. Sifted to ensure there are no clumps.
- Cornstarch. A touch of cornstarch will help everything bind together. This is important because ricotta cheese is very smooth and tends to release excess liquid, and I don’t want you to end up with soggy cookies.
- Baking soda. Gives rise and stability to them.
- Butter. Unsalted and measured at room temperature. If you only have salted butter, skip the salt.
- Ricotta cheese. Choose a good-quality ricotta cheese that is void of clumps. Also, opt for whole-milk ricotta because, trust me, it makes all the difference.
- Sugar. I used white sugar, but brown sugar also works. Just note that the cookies will be darker and a little softer in the middle.
- Lemon juice and zest. The zest is technically optional, but I find it adds citrus notes that the juice can’t match.
- Vanilla OR almond extract. Either extract works, but I prefer the almond one because it yields a more authentic cookie flavor.
- Glaze. A simple combination of powdered sugar, lemon juice, and some festive sprinkles.
How to make ricotta cheese cookies
Step 1- Make the dough. Whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, cream the butter, ricotta cheese, and sugar. Add in the lemon juice and zest and mix until combined.
Step 2- Freeze the dough. Cover the mixing bowl and place it in the freezer for 20 minutes for a quick freeze.
Step 3- Shape. Remove the dough from the freezer and shape it into 12 small balls, either by hand or with a cookie scoop.
Step 4- Bake. Place them on a lined baking sheet and bake until just golden. Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack.
Step 5- Glaze the cookies. Once the cookies are cooled, whisk together the glaze ingredients and spread them on top of each cookie. If desired, add some sprinkles.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Do not overbake the cookies, as they will continue to cook as they cool on the baking sheet. Once the edges look a little golden, they are safe to be removed.
- My recipe makes cookies that are purposely thicker and fluffier, with a cake-like texture. I know not everyone loves that texture, so if you’d like thinner, crispier cookies, increase the butter and sugar by two tablespoons each.
- If your ricotta cheese is thick and firm, I recommend blending it down until it’s mostly smooth.
- The batter is stable enough to hold mix-ins, so try adding some mini chocolate chips and lime zest, or even dip them in white chocolate.
Frequently asked questions
I’ve tested these cookies with whipped cottage cheese, and it worked really well, but you need to use full-fat cottage cheese. Low-fat or reduced-fat cottage cheese will actually dry them out slightly.
The cookies will spread if you skip the chill time. Chilling the dough is essential to achieve the thick texture.
You can! Shape dough balls, place them on a plate, and cover with plastic wrap. Keep frozen for up to two months. When you are ready to bake them, add an extra two minutes of cooking time.
More holiday cookie recipes
- Almond flour sugar cookies
- Almond flour cookies
- Custard cookies
- 3 ingredient butter cookies
- Vegan shortbread
- Fudge cookies
Ricotta Cheese Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons ricotta cheese
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or almond extract
For the glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon sprinkles optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt and mix well. In a separate bowl, add the butter, ricotta cheese, and sugar, and cream together. Add in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract.
- Gently fold through the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Cover the mixing bowl and place it in the freezer for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove the cookie dough from the freezer and shape out 12 small balls. Place them on the lined sheet.
- Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges just become firm. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool on the sheet completely.
- Make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar with lemon juice. Drop spoonfuls of the glaze on the cookies then add sprinkles.
Notes
- TO STORE: Leftover cookies will keep well at room temperature, covered, for up to one week. If you’d like them to keep longer, store them in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
- TO FREEZE: Place cookies in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Originally updated in October 2024, updated and republished in December 2025.
I make some ricotta chocolate cookies but never thought to make ricotta cookies like this – flavored with lemon! Ricotta is one of the few dairy items I can tolerate and these cookies look like a dream, Arman!
Thanks for your kind words, Shashi!
Does ricotta need to be drained first?
Only if it is overly wet. Most store-bought ricotta should come pre-drained 🙂
Could you use almond flour instead of white
flour?
Hi Sharon- sorry for the late reply, we retested this to see if it works and unfortunately it doesn’t 🙁 Sorry!
This is actually Italian recipe. If I dont use ricotta which other cheese?
The ricotta lemon cookies can these be gluten and dairy free?
I don’t see why not!
Interesting recipe. I love ricotta a lot. I know Italians use it a lot hehe.
Actually never bought ricotta. Is it tasty? What kind of flavour it has?
I will try to make them😋
Can’t do white sugar- what’s the best sub as I know coconut sugar can ‘stain’ the color of dough. These look perfect, as do all you post!😘
These look delicious! I will be using a GF 1:1 flour, do you think there is anything I should adjust?
Just make sure there is xanthan gum in the flour blend 🙂
“Baking soda and baking powder. Gives rise and stability to them.”.
Where is the baking powder?
I was measuring the ingredients yesterday but didn’t see baking powder. Plan to finish recipe today. I’m sure they are delicious. Love, love all of your recipes.
Hi Tracy- apologies for that, you are correct- no baking powder!