These lemon ricotta easter egg cookies are the perfect sweet treat to celebrate spring. They have a bright, lemony flavor and creamy, airy texture that you can only get with a lemon ricotta cookie.
Italian Lemon Ricotta Cookies
You haven’t lived until you’ve tried a lemon ricotta cookie. Ricotta cheese makes for the richest, fluffiest cookies, and they taste even better right out of the freezer!
Add a luscious lemon glaze and adorable decorations, and you’ve got yourself something truly special… and who doesn’t want their Easter holiday to feel special?
We love the way these Italian cookies have a bright lemon flavor that balances out the sweetness of the cookies. That, combined with the ricotta cheese, is what really sets these lemon ricotta easter egg cookies apart from your average recipe.
They’re so good, you and the whole fam will want to take a handful of leftovers home (if there are any left!).
why you’ll love ’em!
Fantastically festive!
The kids (and adults) will love ’em.
Amazing texture and flavor.
A freezer-friendly recipe!
Made with Simple Ingredients
All-purpose flour: These cookies are made with all-purpose flour, which gives them a delicious light and fluffy texture.
Baking powder: We prefer to use baking powder to baking soda in these cookies because the cookies tend to be a bit moister, and baking powder helps firm them up a bit.
Salt: Salt is a great addition to any cookie! It helps to bring out all of the flavors in any cookie recipe.
Butter: We use unsalted butter in these cookies so we can control how much salt actually goes into the cookies!
Sugar: We used classic granulated sugar for the cookie dough and powdered sugar for the lemon glaze. Don’t skip it!
Lemon zest: You can’t have lemon ricotta cookies without the brightness of lemon zest! Use it in the cookie dough, the glaze and as an optional garnish.
Ricotta cheese: We used whole milk ricotta cheese. It adds so much moisture and delicious texture! Whole milk ricotta adds so much more richness to the cookies, whereas skim milk ricotta cheese tends to be more watery.
Vanilla extract: Almond extract is the flavor hero of these cookies! A little goes a long way, but there is nothing better than the almond extract and ricotta combination!
Eggs: Make sure you use large eggs, not small or medium!
Milk: Milk is the liquid base for the glaze! We use 2% milk because it makes the glaze a bit creamy and more white. Feel free to use water, too!
The Key to the Perfect Ricotta Cookies
The key to these ricotta cookies is to let the ricotta cookie dough harden in the refrigerator! Do not skip this step!
The ricotta cookie dough is a wet batter right away and needs time to set up so you can make them into perfectly round balls! We suggest letting them sit in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours (but you can leave the dough in the refrigerator for up to 2 days).
How to Make Lemon Ricotta Cookies
MIX DRY INGREDIENTS
Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to a medium bowl and mix until combined. Set aside.
CREAM BUTTER + SUGAR
Next, add the butter and sugar to a bowl and mix with an electric hand mixer (a stand mixer works best) until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.
Add lemon zest, ricotta cheese, and vanilla extract to the bowl and beat on low until combined.
COMBINE WET + DRY INGREDIENTS
Crack the eggs into the bowl and beat on low until the eggs are completely mixed into the cookie dough.
Finally, slowly add the flour to the bowl (1/3 cup at a time) until all the flour is added and combined.
CHILL DOUGH
Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap and place the cookie dough into the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
About 15 minutes before the cookies are done chilling, preheat the oven to 350ºF and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
SCOOP + SHAPE COOKIES
When the cookie dough has set and hardened a bit, use a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out the dough and roll it into a ball.
Once the ball is formed, gently mold the dough into the shape of an Easter egg (or an oval), and place it on the baking sheet (give them space to expand). Repeat until all the cookie dough has been made into balls.
Note: you’ll need to use multiple cookie sheets or do this in batches.
BAKE + COOL
Bake your lemon ricotta cookies at 350ºF for 12 minutes or until the bottoms turn golden brown.
Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately place the cookies on a cooling rack. Let the cookies cool for 15-20 minutes before glazing them.
PREPARE LEMON GLAZE
To make the glaze, add the butter to a separate mixing bowl and beat the butter with an electric mixer on low/medium speed until smooth. Slowly add the milk to the butter and mix until smooth.
Finally, slowly add the powdered sugar to the butter and beat on low until smooth. The glaze should be drippy.
GLAZE + DECORATE
To add glaze to the cookies, carefully dip the top of each cookie into the glaze and set it down on a cooling rack. Repeat until all the cookies are frosted.
Once the cookies are frosted, it’s time for the fun part: decorating your delicious cookies!
Add Easter-colored sprinkles to the glaze, or use a pastel-colored frosting to decorate the cookies like an easter egg. Serve, and enjoy!
FAQs
What do ricotta cookies taste like?
Ricotta cookies are known for being soft, moist, and beautiful cookies that are made for special occasions. Ricotta cookies are also known as Italian ricotta cookies.
Traditionally, ricotta cookies are made with lemon zest and vanilla extract.
Ricotta cookies tend to be dipped in a glaze that adds a bit of sweetness to the cookies.
Do I need to strain my ricotta for ricotta cookies?
If you use whole milk ricotta, you won’t need to strain the liquid from it! You need to use room-temperature ricotta cheese, so if there is any excess liquid after letting it come to room temperature (which may happen if you use skim milk ricotta), just strain the liquid from the cheese.
We did not need to strain our whole milk ricotta cheese.
Why are my ricotta cookies flat?
If your ricotta cookies came out flat, chances are you didn’t chill the dough long enough. When this happens, the ricotta dough will spread out and flatten as they bake.
To avoid this, chill the dough for at least 2 hours before baking them. Also, try not to leave them sitting on the counter at room temperature for too long, as the dough will warm up and flatten that way too.
Can I make these lemon ricotta cookies gluten free?
No, we do not recommend substituting the all-purpose flour in this recipe.
Storage
To store these cookies, we recommend letting the glaze set and dry before putting them in an airtight container and placing them in the refrigerator.
To freeze your lemon cookies, let the glaze dry before putting them into an airtight, freezer-safe container.
We love that when you take one of these cookies out of the freezer and let it thaw for a couple of minutes, they’re still soft and chewy. Do yourself a favor and just make a double batch right off the bat 😀
Lemon Ricotta Easter Egg Cookies
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1.5 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 15- oz. ricotta cheese ~1.75 cups
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Lemon Glaze
- 2 tablespoons butter softened
- 4 tablespoons 2% milk
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
Optional Toppings
- lemon zest
Instructions
- Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to a medium bowl and mix until combined. Set aside.
- Next, add the butter and sugar to a bowl and mix with an electric hand mixer (a stand mixer works best) until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.
- Add lemon zest, ricotta cheese, and vanilla extract to the bowl and beat on low until combined.
- Crack the eggs into the bowl and beat on low until the eggs are completely mixed into the cookie dough.
- Finally, slowly add the flour to the bowl (1/3 cup at a time) until all the flour is added and combined.
- Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap and place the cookie dough into the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
- When the cookie dough has set and hardened a bit, use a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop out the dough and roll it into a ball. Once the ball is formed, gently mold the dough into the shape of an Easter egg (or an oval), and place it on the baking sheet (give them space to expand). Repeat until all the cookie dough has been made into balls. Note: you’ll need to use multiple cookie sheets or do this in batches.
- Bake at 350ºF for 12 minutes or until the bottoms turn golden brown.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and immediately place the cookies on a cooling rack. Let the cookies cool for 15-20 minutes before glazing them.
- To make the glaze, add the butter to a separate mixing bowl and beat the butter with an electric mixer on low/medium speed until smooth. Slowly add the milk to the butter and mix until smooth.
- Finally, slowly add the powdered sugar to the butter and beat on low until smooth. The glaze should be drippy.
- To add glaze to the cookies, carefully dip the top of each cookie into the glaze and set it down on a cooling rack.
- Repeat until all the cookies are frosted. Once the cookies are frosted, add Easter-colored sprinkles to the glaze or use a pastel-colored food coloring to decorate the cookies like an easter egg.
Tips & Notes
- Do not skip the refrigeration of the cookie dough.
- These cookies freeze well!
- The prep time includes 3 hours of rest time when the cookie dough is refrigerated.
