Ricotta cookies sometimes known as Italian Christmas Cookies. These delicious soft cookies are made with almond and vanilla and a speedy glaze are perfect for any holiday and a must for any cookie exchange or Christmas cookie platter.
Ricotta Cookies
Cookies may be my very favorite dessert item. It’s definitely the ones I gravitate to first if I have my pick. The secret to these super soft cookies is the ricotta. They keep them perfectly moist and help them stay soft!
I had fun playing around with a little color editing because even though Italian ricotta cookies are very popular at Christmas I think these cookies are delicious and easy enough to make year around. I know these as ricotta cookies, while they are inspired by the Italian Christmas cookie I by no means am pretending this is an authentic Italian recipe. This is why I prefer to refer to them as Ricotta cookies or ricotta cheese cookies but many people do know them by the name Italian Christmas Ricotta cookies or some variation.
What We Love About Ricotta Cookies
There are a lot of things we love about this ricotta cookie recipe.
First off ricotta cookies are absolutely delicious! The soft texture finished with the flavorful glaze make for a cookie that so many people love.
Aside from being super tasty, these are easy to change up. Change up the sprinkles to suite your occasion. I love the idea of pink and green for Easter, red and blue for Memorial Day or Fourth of July, and of course red and green are classic for Christmas. Red and pink would be fun for Valentine’s Day or yellow and orange or rainbow would make fun such fun summery mix. Brown and green would be fun for football time, greens for St. Patrick’s day. I could go on and on!
While these cookies are traditionally made with nonpareils sprinkles you absolutely could leave the colorful little balls off if you’re not sprinkle people. Or if you are a sprinkle fan like me use those fun holiday sprinkles in different shapes. You could even
More Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
If you want more awesome cookies to make here are some of my very favorites!
- Peanut Butter Cup cookies – this is one of my very favorite cookies. It uses a cake mix and just a few ingredient and they turn out so so pretty!
- Magic Cookie Pies – like the magic cookie bars but in mini pies that can be served as giant cookies! So much easier to make (and no slicing needed) and just as yummy.
- Lemon White Chocolate Cookies – these are a since to make and so flavorful!
Ricotta Cookie Ingredients
Soft Cookie Base Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 8 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 egg
- 2 cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Almond Glaze Ingredient
Almond Glaze Ingredients
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- Sprinkles
Ricotta Cookie Variations
We already talked about changing up the color or type of sprinkles to suit your celebration but you can also play around with the glaze. Add a bit of food coloring to change it’s color if you want.
Also you could play around with different flavorings. While I love the almond I’ve thought it would be fun to try it with some orange or lemon juice to change things up a bit. You could even add some citrus zest to the cookies!
Feel free to throw in a handful of mini chocolate chips into the dough for a yummy spin on the classic recipe.
Ricotta Cookies Recipe
This recipe makes about 30 cookies.
How to Make Ricotta Cookies
It is easy to make these delicious ricotta cheese cookies.
- Prepare. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream. In a medium bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
- Add in wet ingredients. Add in the ricotta, vanilla, almond extract and egg and mix until combined.
- Adds in dry ingredients. Stir in the flour and baking powder and salt.
- Scoop dough. Use a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop and place the dough onto the sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Bake. Bake for 15 minutes just until the bottoms turn light brown.
- Cool. Make sure to cool the cookies on a rack until they are completely cool.
- Make the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, water and almond extract until smooth. If the glaze is too thick add a teaspoon more water at a time until your desired consistency. If the glaze gets too thin add a bit more powdered sugar.
- Ice the cookies. Spoon the icing over the cookies and immediately top with sprinkles.
Enjoy!!
So pretty and perfect for Christmas cookie exchanges.
Ricotta Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup 4 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 8 ounces ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 egg
- 2 cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
- Sprinkles
Instructions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium bowl cream together the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
- Add in the ricotta, vanilla, almond extract and egg and mix until combined.
- Stir in the flour and baking powder and salt.
- Use a 1 ½ tablespoon cookie scoop and place the dough onto the sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 15 minutes just until the bottoms turn light brown.
- Cool the cookies on a rack until they are completely cool.
- Make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, water and almond extract until smooth.
- Spoon the icing over the cookies and immediately top with sprinkles.
- Serve!
So easy right!?
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