Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze

These cookies are called cookies, but texture wise they're more like little cakes, soft and pillowy, not crumbly. Whatever you want to call them, they are delicious. They have a nice, tender crumb that's like a more cakey version of a sugar cookie -- only they're infused with lemon flavor.


This isn't the first time I've made these cookies, but the last time I made them was a year ago. Because I had a bunch of Meyer lemons (from making preserved lemons) on hand, I wanted to make them again. I had a small panic attack when I realized that I'd never posted about these -- I use this blog to store recipes I've tried and loved -- and who the hell knew where I'd gotten the recipe in the first place?!?! I beat myself up for about 10 minutes for being so careless as to not keep some sort of record for a recipe I'd loved, then calmed down and thought about it, and remembered. WHEW. Never doing that to myself again!


It was remembering the ricotta part that was key. If you search for "lemon cookies" on the Internet, a whole ton of stuff comes up. But if you search for "lemon ricotta cookies," the one I was looking for, by Giada De Laurentiis, pops right up. She even has an enticing little video to go with these.


They really are that simple to make. Most of the ingredients are ones you probably already have in your pantry and fridge, with the exception of the ricotta. Heck, maybe you have that lying around all the time too. I didn't, so I had to run out and get a tub.


I adapted the cookies slightly by using Meyer lemons, because that's what I had on hand, but I used regular lemons the first time and it was just as fabulous. In fact, if anything, regular lemons made the end result more lemony, maybe because they're not as sweet and subtle as Meyer lemons. I also accidentally made them healthier, because the recipe calls for whole-milk ricotta, and I thought I picked up a tub of that, but it turned out to be part skim. The good news? I didn't notice a difference at all. So yay, fewer calories and you don't have to pay the price in terms of flavor. (Don't worry, there's still plenty of "good stuff" in them to make them delicious!)


Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze (recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis)

Ingredients

Cookies:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 15oz container whole-milk ricotta cheese
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested

Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (using a stand or electric mixer), about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated.
4. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Beat to combine.
5. Stir in the dry ingredients.
6. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of dough for each cookie onto the baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and back to front about halfway through, until slightly golden at the edges.
7. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.
8. While the cookies are cooling, combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Add more lemon juice, a few drops at a time, to thin if necessary.
9. When the cookies have cooled, 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 before packing them into an airtight container.

Preserved Lemons

Preserved lemons are all the rage these days, with cookbooks and food bloggers singing its virtues to the heavens. Used primarily in Moroccan and North African cuisine, preserved lemons have finally come to the attention of the rest of the world, and foodies everywhere are discovering that this extremely versatile ingredient is making a huge difference in their cooking. Added to soups, stews, chicken salad, grilled seafood, and generally any dish where lemon might (or might not!) make sense. I recently had some delicious artisan olives that were marinated with preserved lemon. A little goes a long way, and when you add a bit of it to your dish, you get an extra dimension of flavor that makes people go "Wow."


You may have seen perserved lemons in gourmet grocery stores, but they're fairly pricey considering it's really nothing more than lemon in brine. However, those are ready to use immediately, whereas if you make your own you do have to wait a minimum of 3 weeks before they're ready to use. But homemade preserved lemons are just as good, cost much less (if you have a lemon tree, it's practically free), and if you make a jar (or more) of them, you'll have enough preserved lemons to last a year (at which time you'll want to make a fresh batch, anyway).


Traditionally, preserved lemons are made with regular lemons. In the foodie world, Meyer lemons are popular because they're thinner skinned and sweeter. The peel (with pith) is considered the desired end product, but many people use the flesh as well, particularly in soups and stews where it'll just disappear. The longer they've been preserved the saltier they are, so watch how much salt you add to the dish when using preserved lemons -- always taste!

There's no real recipe to making these beauties. Sterilize a glass jar by running it through the dishwasher (with your other dishes, of course, no need to waste that much water on one jar!) or boiling it, completely immersed in water, for 10 minutes. Quarter your lemons, but don't cut all the way through -- keep them attached at the stem. I've also seen people make one cut almost all the way through, then turn the lemon 180° and rotate it to the side 90° and make another cut there, so that it's almost like an accordion effect. Both methods are pictured here, pick the one you prefer:




Have a big bowl of kosher salt ready (I used coarse salt, but it doesn't need to be), enough for all your lemons. Open your lemon and stuff salt in. Open the other cuts and stuff salt in there as well.


Put the lemon in the jar. Repeat, gently but firmly smashing down the lemons in the jar as you go, releasing their juices, until you've filled the jar about 2/3-3/4 of the way. Top it off with some more salt.


Ideally you'll have enough juice to submerge all the lemons, but you probably won't. Meyer lemons, which are what I used, are super juicy, but I still didn't have enough juice to reach the top. Many people recommend then filling the jar up the rest of the way with extra lemon juice from spare lemons, or even water, but it's not really necessary. Eventually, the lemons will release enough juice to submerge themselves (or if they don't, after the 3-week period feel free to add more lemon juice). Topping it off at the beginning aids in the fermentation process so that you're able to use them sooner, so if that's a factor feel free to do so.


Keep your lemons in the fridge. About once a day (or more), shake your jar of lemons (making sure the lids are tightly closed first!), redistributing the brine and getting the lemons at the top in on the action.

After about 3 weeks, they'll be ready to use. Cut off as much as you need for your dish, then return the jar to the fridge. The lemons should keep for at least a year.