Description
Italian Ricotta Cookies are ultra-soft, lightly sweetened cookies with creamy ricotta cheese and a festive frosting. They’re perfect for holidays, bake sales, or everyday desserts — quick to make and easy to customize!
Ingredients
Scale
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
15 oz ricotta cheese
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
Frosting:
¼ cup butter, softened
3–4 cups confectioners’ sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
3–4 tbsp 2% milk
Colored sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat and prepare pans. Preheat your oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Grease baking sheets or line them with parchment paper.
- Cream butter and sugar. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy — this should take about 5 to 7 minutes using a stand mixer or hand mixer.
- Add eggs. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure each egg is thoroughly mixed in before adding the next one.
- Mix in ricotta and vanilla. Mix in the ricotta cheese and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth and evenly blended.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together 4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon baking soda.
- Gradually incorporate dry mix. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, mixing only until everything is just combined. Avoid overmixing.
- Scoop onto baking sheet. Using a tablespoon or cookie scoop, drop dough in rounded tablespoon-sized portions about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake. Bake for 12–15 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned around the edges (the centers should remain soft).
- Cool. Remove cookies from the oven and transfer them to wire racks to cool completely before frosting.
- Make the frosting. In a bowl, cream together ¼ cup butter, 3 to 4 cups confectioners’ sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, and enough 2% milk (3 to 4 tablespoons) to reach spreading consistency.
- Frost and decorate. Spread frosting on cooled cookies and immediately sprinkle with colored sprinkles (so they adhere).
- Refrigerate to store. Keep the frosted cookies in an airtight container and refrigerate them.
Notes
Let cookies cool fully before frosting. Use parchment paper for easy cleanup. You can store the unfrosted cookies in the freezer and frost later
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 92
- Sugar: 9g
- Carbohydrates: 14g
- Protein: 1g