Scarborough FoodFair: Lemon Ricotta Cookies

First, you should you know that sharing this recipe with you, at this moment, is keeping me from a complete brain meltdown due to cramming ridiculous amounts of finance information into my brain.

Boo finals. It hurts.

So thank you for being there to read this. My brain feels a little less mushy already.

Second, I need you to throw out any preconceived notions you have about cheese and sweets. Lemon Ricotta Cookies? Yeah, yeah I know it sounds strange. But trust me, it's not. The ricotta creates this fabulous cake like texture and the lemon makes for a light and refreshing treat. Oh, and did I mention you get to slather them in a lemon glaze?

You want one don't you?

Or 27 of them...

lemon ricotta cookies

Makes: 3-4 dozen cookies Prep Time: 10 minutes Bake Time: 15 minutes Cooling Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredients:

for the cookies-

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
3 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon

for the glaze-
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 350°, line cookie sheets with parchment paper, and gather your ingredients.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the room temperature butter with 2 cups of sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. About 3 minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs one at a time.

Beating each one until well incorporated.

Add the ricotta cheese.

The zest of one lemon.

And 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. Mixing on medium speed to combine.

On low speed, mix in the dry ingredients.

Until you have a smooth batter. Drop the dough (about 2 tablespoons per cookie) onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges.