Let’s call this lemon ricotta cookies – two ways. The first is a cakey, pillowy, melt-in-your-mouth lemon ricotta cookie (which uses more cheese, less butter) and the second is a spread thin, chewy, soft cookie (which uses a little more butter and a little less ricotta – pictured below). Both are amazing, and both show that how just a difference of 1-2 tbsp can make a HUGE difference in any cookie!
Now the two main ingredients you need to worry about when tweaking this recipe are butter and cheese. Arguably two of my favorite ingredients of all time.
And you’ll notice that the cheese measurement stays relatively consistent at 3 tbsp, but what shifts is the BUTTER ratio and the SUGAR ratio. Why does this affect the cheese? Well to make the thinner cookie you are adding sugar, thus minimizing the % amount of cheese in the recipe.
Both butter and sugar impact spread and thinness in a cookie, so by add a bit more of both, that’s what will get you your thinner, chewier cookie.
Plus, the crystallization from the sugar also forms a chewier mouthfeel, where the cakey version of this cookie will have a softer, more melt-in-your-mouth bite.
But again, these tweaks are tiiiiinyyy, which is why I always say it’s best to invest in a baking scale to help make sure your measurements are accurate! You can find my favorite here.
And if you still aren’t sure which cookie is the right one for you, I say try both and do a side-by-side taste test! And then come back and comment which one is your fav (I know which one is mine, and I’m curious to know if you can guess!)
Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup and 2 tbsp all-purpose flour 135g
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 7 tbsp butter for a lighter cookie use 6 tbsp
- 3 tbsp ricotta
- ½ cup granulated sugar for a lighter cookie use 6 tbsp
- Juice from ½ a lemon
- ¼ tsp lemon extract
- ½ tsp lemon zest
For the glaze:
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- Juice from ½ a lemon
- 1 tsp Lemon zest
Instructions
- Cream together the butter, sugar and ricotta for a few minutes, then add the juice from ½ of a lemon, the lemon zest and lemon extract. Cream for another minute.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients and then fold them into the wet ingredients.
- Chill the dough in the freezer for 15-30 minutes while your oven preheats to 400F.
- Then shape into 10-11 equal sized balls, about 40 grams each.
- Bake at 400F for 12-14 minutes. While they are baking whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest to make the glaze.
- When the cookies are out of the oven, let them cool completely before topping with the glaze and that’s it!
