• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Served From Scratch
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Recipes
  • Accessibility
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • About Me
  • Accessibility
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Sweets » Lemon Ricotta Cookies From Scratch

    Lemon Ricotta Cookies From Scratch

    January 30, 2015 by Tracy | Updated April 14, 2020 This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.

    2946 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet
    • Email
    • Yummly
    • Mix
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    frosted cookies with Pinterest pin text.
    a hand holding a halved cookie and cookies on a cooling rack with Pinterest pin text.
    baked glazed cookies on a cooking rack.
    a lemon glazed cookie on a cooling rack with Pinterest pin text.
    glazed lemon cookie and a hand holding a cooking in half with Pinterest pin text.

    Lemon Ricotta Cookies from scratch with fresh, homemade ricotta cheese are a sweet soft, moist cookie topped with a sweet lemon glaze.

    a lemon glazed cookie on a cooling rack.

    Have you made your own Homemade Ricotta Cheese, yet?  Well then one of the first things you should do with it is make some of my favorite cookies: Lemon Ricotta Cookies!

    Ingredients Needed

    cheese, baking powder, sugar, butter, lemons, eggs on a counter.
    • Flour - All-purpose is our go-to, but these cookies would still be great with a gluten-free or another nut flour.
    • Sugar - White granular or cane sugar.
    • Eggs and Baking powder - To help them rise a little.
    • Lemon Zest and Lemon Juice
    • Ricotta Cheese From Scratch

    Easy, right?

    How to Make

    bowls of cheese and lemon and flour and sugar and eggs on counter.

    Step 1: Fluff the butter and sugar together.

    Step 2: Beat the eggs in, one at a time.

    a bowl of cheese with lemon.

    Step 3: Add ricotta, lemon juice, and lemon zest.

    a bowl of mixed cookie dough.

    Step 4: Add the sifted flour, salt, and baking powder until I had a nice moist dough.

    cookie dough on parchment paper.

    Step 5: Roll out into little balls onto parchment lined baking sheets.

    baked cookies on parchment paper.

    Step 6: Baked!

    a bowl of glaze with spoon next to baked cookies.

    Step 7: Drizzled with a lemon glaze!

    baked glazed cookies on a cooking rack.

    And done!

    a hand holding a halved cookie.

    As a result, some lovely, light, soft Lemon Ricotta Cookies from scratch with Homemade Ricotta Cheese!

    a hand holding a lemon cookie in half.

    They are one of my favorite cookies! They're so soft and sweet and just straight-up lovely. 

    Enjoy! As always, if you make this recipe or any of my others, I love to hear what you think! Leave a comment below, email me, or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!

    If you want to see more, be sure to sign up for my 5 Easy Ways to Start Cooking From Scratch!

    baked glazed cookies on a cooking rack.

    Lemon Ricotta Cookies

    Sweet lemon cookies made from Scratch with homemade Ricotta Cheese!
    4.66 from 20 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Dessert
    Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Servings: 30 cookies
    Author: Tracy

    Ingredients

    Cookies

    • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 stick unsalted butter softened
    • 2 cups sugar
    • 2 eggs
    • 14 ounce Homemade ricotta cheese
    • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
    • zest of 1 lemon divided

    Glaze

    • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
    • 3 tablespoons lemon juice

    Instructions

    • Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
    • In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
    • In the large bowl combine the butter and the sugar. Using an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and most of the lemon zest. (Reserve about 1/2-1 teaspoon for the glaze). Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.
    • Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie) onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

    Glaze

    • Combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and remaining 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2-teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of the spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours. Pack the cookies into a decorative container.
    Tried this Recipe? Tag me Today!Tag me @ServedFromScratch or use #ServedFromScratch!

    Easy Ways to Start

    Cooking from Scratch!

    a tray of dinner rolls with one roll out.
    a tray of dinner rolls with one roll out.

    5

    More Sweets

    • a loaf of bread with strawberries and slices.
      Strawberry Bread
    • a stack of pancakes with strawberry compote on top.
      Easy Strawberry Compote
    • a halved baked apple with walnuts inside on a plate.
      Maple Walnut Baked Apples
    • an overhead of a plate of stacked snowball cookies with crushed candy cane on top.
      Peppermint Snowball Cookies
    2946 shares
    • Share
    • Tweet
    • Email
    • Yummly
    • Mix

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sandy Brandtner

      November 26, 2021 at 5:29 pm

      First you say zest of one lemon with eggs, cheese etc. then for glaze you say lemon juice, but then again zest . So how much zest for dough mixture and then glaze?

      Reply
      • Tracy

        November 26, 2021 at 6:46 pm

        Oops! Sorry about that, Sandy. You want the zest of a whole lemon, which is about 1 tablespoon. For the lemon zest, I set aside about 1/2- 1 teaspoon of zest (1/2 if you don't get a full tablespoon). I just updated the recipe to make it more clear, thanks for pointing that out!

        Reply
    2. Dana

      June 04, 2019 at 5:40 am

      5 stars
      Every time I see a lemony dessert I get SO excited. Haha. I love how light and fluffy these are. Ricotta does wonders when baking. I really need to use it in more baking—I usually only buy it when I'm making lasagna. Excuse me while I spend the entire summer mowing down these cookies…

      Reply
    3. Daniela

      June 03, 2019 at 4:24 pm

      5 stars
      These lemon ricotta cookies look absolutely delicious! I love how lemon makes everything taste bright and fresh, so I will definitely give these a try. They are a great way to use leftover ricotta cheese too!

      Reply
    4. Marisa F. Stewart

      June 03, 2019 at 9:16 am

      5 stars
      Lemon and summer is a great combination. So fresh tasting and the ricotta added to the cookies would be so tempting I don't think I could stop and just one. We always have ricotta cheese in our house -- these cookies are too tempting not to make them ASAP.

      Reply
    5. Jenni LeBaron

      June 03, 2019 at 8:12 am

      5 stars
      Ricotta always makes everything it comes into contact with just so much more magical! I love the rich creaminess it imparts on dishes and these cookies are no exception. Perfect choice for a full and happy cookie jar!

      Reply
    6. Tina

      June 02, 2019 at 9:39 pm

      5 stars
      I have never heard of ricotta cookies before, this is great. So how long is your list of things to make someday? Mine seems to be too long and sometimes overwhelming. It comforts me that I am not the only one. Your cookies look magnificent, saving this to try someday, thank you!

      Reply
    7. Sandra

      June 02, 2019 at 8:43 pm

      5 stars
      Oh, these look so good! I’ve made ricotta cookies during the holidays, but why limit them to once a year. Lemon is such a great flavor for spring and summer. Adding these to my baking list!

      Reply
    8. Sarah

      June 02, 2019 at 6:56 am

      5 stars
      I love lemon cookies, and these look so light and delicious! I haven't seen too many cookies with ricotta in them, I bet it tastes awesome. The lemon glaze on these cookies makes them look even more scrumptious!

      Reply
    « Older Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I'm Tracy!

    Mom of two, lover of cheese, spinach, and replacing a box or jar of premade anything with a from scratch version. Here you'll find our whole foods recipes that'll add some easy, approachable from scratch flair to your cooking! Read More…

    Let's Connect!

    • Facebook
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • Twitter

    Grilling

    skewers with grilled shrimp on a plate.

    10 Minute Spicy Grilled Shrimp Skewers

    grilled spicy beef kabobs cooked and on a plate

    Spicy Beef Kabobs

    Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken

    It's a favorite and it's a staple in our house. It's the Best BBQ Sauce From Scratch! It's the reason we stopped using store bought bbq sauce!

    The Best BBQ Sauce From Scratch

    a plate of grilled chicken thighs.

    Cornell Chicken

    Grilled Romaine with Lemon Tahini Dressing

    More Grilling Recipes

    Most Popular Recipes

    sliced bread on a cutting board.

    No Knead Rosemary Garlic Bread

    a close up of a small bowl of ketchup on a plate of fries.

    5 Minute Homemade Ketchup

    a plate with cucumber boats and tuna salad.

    Dill Tuna Salad Cucumber Boats

    a bowl of sauteed spinach and mushrooms

    Balsamic Spinach and Mushrooms

    Banana

    Homemade Banana Waffles

    Cream Cheese From Scratch

    More Popular Recipes

    Dinner

    an overhead of taco cups with melted cheese on a plate.

    Turkey Taco Cups

    an overhead of a pan of pasta with cilantro, cheese, corn and a creamy sauce.

    Elote Skillet Pasta

    an overhead of a bowl of yellow creamy soup with cauliflower on top and dill.

    Creamy Curried Cauliflower Soup

    an overhead of a bowl of rice, cheese, avocado, tomatoes, black beans, chicken, and sauce.

    Chicken Burrito Yumm Bowls

    a pan with spaghetti with cream sauce and spinach.

    20 Minute Spinach Ricotta Pasta

    a dutch oven with a creamy chicken and dumplings soup.

    Dutch Oven Chicken and Dumplings Soup

    More Dinner Recipes

    Categories

    Search

    Footer

    Copyright © 2023 · Served from Scratch

    2946 shares