Ricotta Cookies – A Family Favorite Italian Holiday Dessert Recipe
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This simple dessert recipe makes lots of pillowy soft, tender cookies that are sure to be a family favorite! Perfect for cookie exchanges & holiday parties.
These Ricotta Cookies are divine.
They’re hands down some of the best cookies I make. I’ve been baking them every year for Christmas since 2008, and it’s a tradition that will definitely keep on going.
This is a perfect recipe to make for the holidays because it makes a ton – I get about 7 dozen out of it, which is plenty to hand out to neighbors, teachers, and friends.
Sometimes I even make a second batch of these since my Italian in-laws’ require a big container of these every year for Christmas dessert.
One of my favorite things about this recipe is having my kiddo help out with the baking and decorating.
He really gets a kick out of watching the butter and sugar get nice and fluffy during the 5 minutes of high-speed mixing.
Sometimes I have the neighbor kids come over and we have a big ol’ decorating party.
Sprinkles. Get. Everywhere. But it’s so fun!
Speaking of sprinkles, I’ve found that the nonpareil variety hold up best here.
Since the cookies are so moist, larger decorations like these tend to get really soggy once they’ve been stored for a few days.
Not ideal.
I also like to make these (and most other cookie recipes) using scoops.
They come in all sorts of different sizes and help ensure you get consistently sized cookies that are evenly baked.
Plus the little squeeze release handle makes faster work of portioning out the dough.
I use a #50 scoop when I make this recipe and usually get about 7 dozen, depending how much of the batter we eat raw on the day.
Another thing that I rarely bake without is a silicone baking mat.
I use one on each baking sheet and it helps ensure that nothing sticks to the pan, and the cookies release from the sheet easily.
The ricotta makes these cookies incredibly soft and fluffy – it’s nearly impossible to eat just one!
While these cookies are great for Christmas, they’re really perfect for any occasion (not that you need an occasion for cookies!).
I make them for Easter fairly often, too. You can jazz ’em up with different colors – red for Valentine’s Day, green for St. Patrick’s Day, etc. And rainbow colored sprinkles are always a hit!
And luckily, my kiddo is usually excited to help with clean up, too 😉
You can also check out my Lemon Ricotta Cookie variation a while back. It’s just as delicious but different enough to feel like a totally different cookie.
Looking for more dessert recipes? Check out some of our favorites:
- Rich Cocoa Brownie Bites
- Elvis-Style Frozen Bananas
- Sweet + Salty Dark Chocolate Clusters
- 5-Ingredient Samoa Cereal Bowls
- Orange Scented Cannoli Dip
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies with Vanilla Icing
- Dessert Nachos with Fresh Baked Cinnamon Tortilla Chips
- Tolon’s Strawberry Basil Shortcake
- Cranberry Orange Snickerdoodles
- Bourbon Bacon Pecan Pie with a Whole Wheat Crust
- Chocolate Cream Pie with Orange Zested Whipped Cream
- Great Grandma Francesca Cardile’s Cookies
- Triple-Chocolate Pumpkin Pie
Ricotta Cookies
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: About 7 dozen cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
This simple dessert recipe makes lots of pillowy soft, tender cookies that are sure to be a family favorite! Perfect for cookie exchanges & holiday parties.
Ingredients
For Cookies:
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 15 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 4 tablespoons milk, plus more if needed
- Sprinkles (I find that the nonpareil style works best)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a in large bowl with an electric mixer), beat together sugar and butter and on low speed until combined. Increase speed to high and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula and stir gently. Add ricotta, vanilla, and eggs and beat on medium speed until combined. Scrape the bowl again.
- Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Return mixer to low speed and continue to beat until dough forms.
- Drop the dough by small scoopfuls (I used a #50 scoop) onto the lined baking sheets. Place 12 on each baking sheet, leaving space between each scoop of dough.
- Bake in preheated oven until cookies are very lightly golden, about 13-16 minutes (cookies will be soft). Using a spatula, carefully transfer cookies to wire rack to cool before decorating.
- When cookies are completely cool, prepare the icing. In small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, add a little more milk. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar. Spread a little icing over each cookie, then top with sprinkles while the icing is still wet. Allow the icing to dry completely before storing cookies in an airtight container.
Notes
Use the paddle attachment with your stand mixer if you have one.
Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 82
- Sugar: 7.6 g
- Sodium: 34.8 mg
- Fat: 3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 12.5 g
- Fiber: 0.2 g
- Protein: 1.4 g
- Cholesterol: 12.8 mg
Keywords: Italian dessert, ricotta cookies, Christmas
Ashley
Ashley Covelli is a food photographer, recipe developer, and culinary instructor based in Ossining, New York. She loves helping people become enthusiastic and adventurous in the kitchen so that they can build skills and confidence to cook for themselves and their loved ones. She can almost always be found with at least 3 different beverages within arm's reach.
62 Comments
Velva
These cookies would definitely be on my try list. I wish I would have seen these ricotta treats earlier, they would have been perfect for the cookie swap (darn).
Happy New Year to you and your family. I am looking forward to enjoying all your posts n 2011.
Cheers.
Velva
Ashley
Velva – you won’t be disappointed in these! They’re fluffy and delicious! Cookie swaps are dangerous 😉
Happy New Year to you as well!
katidyd
Lilly and I made these today and they are phenomenal!! They were so good I wasn’t even upset when Lilly spilled sprinkles all over the floor.
Ashley
I’m so glad you liked them! They’re really one of my favorites…I bet they’re extra good when you have a little one helping you out 🙂
Theresa
These were so good!
BigFlavorsFromATinyKitchen
They’re one of our favorites! So glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Thus
These are delicious! This may be a silly question, but do the cookies have to be refrigerated since they have ricotta cheese in them?
BigFlavorsFromATinyKitchen
Not a silly question at all! I’ve never refrigerated them afterward. They’re cooked and they stay nice and fluffy for several days… if they last that long!!
Karen
Excited to try these, but I have two questions:
• Can you halve the recipe? (7 dozen is too many)
• Can they be frozen?
Ashley
Hi Karen! Thanks for the questions. The recipe should be fine to cut in half. As for freezing, cool them completely and freeze them, undecorated. They’re best frozen without the icing/sprinkles. Then when you’re ready for them you can make a quick batch of icing for decorating once they’ve thawed. Hope that helps!
Katy
Just made these over the weekend… delicious and light and fluffy!!
Sue
These cookies are delicious! I made them last year for Christmas and everyone devoured them. Quick question: Can you make the dough a day or two ahead? I want to make the dough today and cook right before Christmas.
BigFlavorsFromATinyKitchen
A friend of mine is experimenting with that (and freezing them!) this year. I haven’t tried either method, so I’m not 100% sure it would work, but I think it would be fine in the refrigerator. Please do report back if you do – I’m making them again this year and would love to know how that works out.
Shan
Was there ever a verdict reached on the ability to make the dough ahead of time? I love this recipe and have made it so many times, but would love to get a head start on Christmas baking 🙂
BigFlavorsFromATinyKitchen
I just checked in with her and she said she had planned to do that last year but ended up eating them/handing them all out instead! The original recipe’s notes say that the COOKED dough freezes well, but not raw. So I’d guess you can bake the cookies, freeze those, and then frost them the day of.
I made a lemon variation of these this year and they turned out SO well!
Denise Hackett
I froze them with the frosting and they come out wonderful! A great thing to make ahead for Christmas and take a few out a time.
Ashley
That’s great to know!! I may just try that this year, too!
Homemade & Yummy
These sound like a winner to me. I am a cheese lover. The fact you have some “young” helping hands is a bonus. Happy Holidays to you and your family.
Abby
Confession: I’ve only ever used ricotta in lasagna. Your cookies look to-die-for, though, and they’re adorable for Christmas goodies!
Helene Dsouza
oh ricotta cookies! i dont think i had anything like that before. They would be the hit in my family and I bet my friends would love to get introduced to them too in a cookie exchange. 🙂
Kate Minor
Oh my goodness. It’s Christmas cookie season and I am obsessed! These look amazing!
Julie
I’ve never put ricotta in cookies before! I love all the sprinkles on top – so festive. 🙂
prasanna hede
Oh these looks so fluffy and yumm! I had never used ricotta in cookies, looks like a recipe to save for Holidays!
Michele! West Via Midwest
I love that I can get 7 dozen cookies out of a recipe… thats a win in my world! adding this to my holiday list to make!
Mackenzie Ryan
I love that this recipe gives you 7 dozen cookies! I always feel like I’m making endless batches to get enough to go around, and this recipe will be a big win in many ways! I can’t wait to make it this year!
Carol Borchardt
Your little boy is too cute! These cookies look like they would melt in your mouth! Love that the recipe makes so much! Perfect this time of year!
Marisa Franca Stewart
I like using the scoops too — when making cookies or when we make meatballs. That way you get consistency. What a cute little helper you have. Certainly brings back memories. Your cookies look delicious.
Monica
I love that this makes a huge batch – definitely necessary during the holidays, when you want to be able to share freely without having to worry about mixing up another batch the next day! I bet they are amazing with the ricotta, too! Pinning to try. 🙂
Sweet Silly Sara
These look so pretty! I have never made them, but now I want to!
Carole Mason
I want to make these cookies and the Ricotta Cheese Cake, very much.
I tried to print out your recipes and, not being expert at computers….I ended up printing 5 unwanted pages to get the cheesecake. I didn’t even try with the Ricotta Cookies ~ I saved it and, hopefully I can find a way to print it out for future use.
Ashley
Hi Carole – sorry you had trouble with printing! If you scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post (or click the “jump to recipe” button up at the top), you can click on the “PRINT” button right on the recipe card. That should make it so just the recipe prints, and not all of the text and photos from my post. The Ricotta Cheesecake recipe is an older one and it doesn’t have a recipe card like this post does (yet!) but I’ll go in and revamp it soon so that it does. The posts from the past 2-3 years all have the recipe cards embedded, but that’s something that wasn’t available back when I started Big Flavors. Thanks so much for bringing that to my attention!
Samantha
I just made these cookies for Easter and they are amazing!!
Heather
This recipe turned out great! I’m not any kind of great baker, but this recipe is really easy! I sure didn’t need 7 dozen cookies lying around my house, so I halved the recipe. I also love almond flavoring so I added a little bit of almond extract to the glaze and they were perfect! So soft and pillowy! I just finished the last of these off and they lasted two weeks and never tasted stale! I can’t wait to try to the lemon version!
Ashley
So glad that you enjoyed them so much, Heather! I’m making the lemon ones today to bring to Christmas dinner. They’re always a hit.
Connie McDonald
Hi, Ashley!
I made these this year and found the icing to be very thin and runny. Am I doing it wrong somehow? I am sure I used 2 C powdered sugar and 4 Tbs milk. Even though I waited for it to set up a bit before adding them, the colors of the sprinkles ran. 🙁 Any suggestions on making it better?
Also, I’d love the lemon variation. Do you have it in another blog post?
Ashley
I sometimes have to add more powdered sugar or milk to make it thicker/thinner but it’s definitely more of a thin icing than a thick one like you’d use on a cut out cookie. Usually the colors start to bleed a bit after 2 days or so. Sorry it gave you a tough time!
The lemon variation is what I made for our family Christmas this year – the recipe is here: https://bigflavorstinykitchen.com/lemon-ricotta-cookies/
Connie McDonald
Just for the record, in the big picture these cookies did not disappoint! They were yummy and we all enjoyed them.
Thanks for the link to the lemon ones. I will need to pin them to make next year.
Ashley
Glad to hear that, Connie! I’m happy that you enjoyed them!
Mel
I just have a question can you make half the amount by just equally cutting everything in half?
Ashley
I haven’t personally done it but I’ve had a few people mention making smaller batches so I think it would work. You can also freeze them (before icing) and they hold up well if you wanted to make the full batch and only use half.
Deb
My cookies we’re delicious and the next day they were a mess! How should they be stored?
Ashley
I’m sorry to hear they didn’t hold up well! I usually make sure they’re completely cool before icing and then let the icing dry completely before storing them in an airtight container. I typically put a layer of paper towels on the bottom of whatever container I use to help absorb excess moisture.
Angela
Hi there. Your recipe says 2 Tbs for baking powder. Is this correct? I found an identical recipe that says 2 tsp. I’m about to make these and I’m going with teaspoons instead of tablespoon.
Ashley
Yes! 2 tablespoons is correct. It makes a ton of cookies and they’re nice and fluffy. Just be sure that your baking powder doesn’t contain aluminum, as this can cause a sour or metallic taste. I’ve ruined cookies with that before! Rumford, Bob’s Red Mill, and Clabber Girl are all brands that I can think of offhand that are aluminum-free. Hope that helps, Angela!
Angela
Wow! I’m so glad you’re available to respond before I got started. I’m using Clabber Girl but I see Sodium Aluminum Sulfate is listed. That means I can only use 2 tsp, correct?
Ashley
Hmmm I’m not sure. The ones I’ve seen said “aluminum free”. I wouldn’t change the amount of baking powder but I’d caution you that there’s a possibility that the aluminum will ruin them. I need to update my post with a warning about that – it happened to me during a cookie swap once and also once when making corn bread muffins for my son’s class at school. It’s often not noticeable but when you’re using a large amount, such as the 2 tablespoons needed in this recipe, it very likely will be. Is there any chance you’re able to hit up the grocery store before you bake? Look for a package that specifically says “aluminum-free”.
Ashley
If you have baking soda, cornstarch, and cream of tartar, you can make this as a homemade baking powder: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/229290/homemade-baking-powder-recipe/
Angela
Thanks for sharing the alternative. I do have all 3 of them. I called my local grocery store and every brand they carry has aluminum. I was about to leave and drive to Walmart because they carry Rumford. But I will use the alternative for now. Thanks so much for your help and time Ashley.
Ashley
Let me know how it works out for you! And I’m glad I caught your comments when you posted them today. And now you know for future baking powder purchases!
Angela
Can you confirm if I’m supposed to use that alternative recipe as single or double in your recipe? It calls for 2 tsp cream of tarter, 1tsp baking soda & 1tsp cornstarch. I’m guessing I should double it since yours calls for 2 Tbs baking powder.
Ashley
You’d need to double that recipe and measure out 2 tablespoons of that mixture if I’m reading the amounts right. You need 2 tablespoons of your homemade baking powder for the cookies (you’ll have a little leftover).
Angela
Ashley, I wasn’t sure if you were able to confirm so I used a single serving of the alternative plus 2 tsp of my Clabber Girl baking powder since that was the other recipes amount. I’m pleased to report my cookies taste and look excellent!
I got to thank you again for recommending the alternative baking powder recipe and confirming your recipe didn’t have a typo because you use aluminum free baking powder. I tell you the truth I wasn’t aware that even existed. That’s why I had a hard time believing you use 2Tbs. It’s available in my area (northwest PA), but not all stores carry it. Perhaps I will switch when I run out of the regular stuff.
By the way, not only does your recipe earn 5 stars, but you as a person earned 5 stars as well. You went above and beyond to help me and it’s Friday night! Thanks a bunch. -Angela
Ashley
Awww I’m so glad to hear that it worked well for you, Angela! I did reply about it but I think it got nested underneath another of my responses maybe. I’m replying from mobile. But I’m so, so glad it worked out for you! They’re some of my favorite cookies. I’m planning to offer a virtual holiday baking class for this recipe and I’ll be sure to make notes about the baking powder in that as well. It’s not a super well-known issue but it really can ruin baked goods, which is unfortunate when you spend so much time working on them. Thanks again for reaching out and for your lovely comments!
Rebeca Sibley
So fluffy and delicious!! I am not a great baker but was able to follow instructions easily. Can’t wait to share at a holiday party!!
Ashley
I’m so glad these were a hit!! They’re always gobbled up at holiday parties over here.
Kristen M
I am NOT a baker but this recipe was so easy to follow! I’ve made these cookies twice now and they’re so yummy and fluffy! My husband requested them the second time! Honestly, best cookie ever! Thanks, Ashley, for sharing this super easy to follow recipe!!!!
Ashley
I’m so glad these have been a hit in your house more than once, Kristen! They’re a favorite around here for sure.
Kristen M
Five stars delicious!!
Colleen Crosby
We can’t stop eating these pillowy soft cookies!
We added orange zest to the batter and subbed orange juice for milk in the frosting.
So good!
Ashley
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies. Love the idea of subbing the liquid in the icing – thanks for sharing!!
Mike
I made these to share at Christmas. Note that I used a flax egg instead of a real egg because Daughter in Law has egg allergy. Very delicious cookie and they went over well with all who tried them.
Ashley
Thanks so much for this review, Mike! I love that it worked with a flax egg. It’s always nice to be able to speak to whether or not ingredient swaps can work in various recipes.