This is a special recipe from our Italian American friend Mr. DiRenzo’s Mother! These cookies are cakey and fluffy and are totally addictive. Word of caution from my husband Ben – you have to bake them with friends or else you’ll end up eating all of them! Don’t be fooled by the recipe making 75 cookies, they will just disappear because one can eat an endless number of these. We’re usually not a huge fan of ricotta cheese in savory dishes, but it works like magic in these cookies. We recently encountered similar cookies at an Italian restaurant that listed them as ‘Nonna’s secret family recipe’ and we had a moment of we know your secret! Mr. DiRenzo advised that these cookies keep well in the freezer, but we’ve never had enough left to freeze. We have managed to keep some in an airtight container for almost a week and they were still delicious. We have yet to test keeping them any longer than that and not sure that we ever will be able to.
Ricotta Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookie dough
- 1/2 cup margarine
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 pound ricotta cheese
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
For the buttercream frosting
- 6 tablespoons salted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound confectioner’s sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare the cookie dough
- Cream together the margarine, butter and sugar until pale yellow and sugar is no longer visible.
- Add the ricotta cheese into the butter/sugar mixture and mix until blended.
- Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until blended.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
- Slowly add the sifted flour mixture into the ricotta mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time and mix until blended.
Bake the cookies
- Line baking sheets with silicone pads or parchment paper.
- Using cookie scoops, drop tablespoon size amounts of cookie dough onto the lined baking sheets.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies turn pale brown. The tops of the cookies will NOT be brown.
Prepare the buttercream frosting
- Add vanilla extract and salt to the melted butter.
- Gradually add the confectioner’s sugar, stirring thoroughly after each addition using a hand mixer.
- Stir in milk, a little bit at a time, just until the consistency of the frosting becomes evenly spreadable. If the icing becomes too runny, add more confectioner’s sugar to thicken it.
Frost the cookies
- Cool the cookies a bit before applying frosting to them, so that the frosting doesn’t melt as you are applying it.
- Using a kitchen knife, top each baked cookie with the buttercream frosting.