Citrus Ricotta Cookies

It’s not unusual for a guy friend of mine to bring along a new recipe when he comes to visit. Anything with ricotta and citrus seems to catch his eye and this recipe has both. (I need to give acknowledgement  to Beads and Basil for this recipe she shared in a monthly values magazine.) When I look at a recipe for the first time I not only anticipate the taste, just how good is this going to be, but also the complexity. Sometimes complexity doesn’t equal a better product. Cookies, I usually bake on a whim. So, the recipe must have a simple list of ingredients (mostly already in my pantry) and must be limited in prep time. This original recipe calls for overnight or at least 8 hours. As you might have guessed this is too long for me, and I found a way to cut the time to 4 hours without changing the outcome in my opinion. The prep is simple and the bulk of time is in the freezing. Hope you enjoy this citrusy taste treat. We did!

Recipe

When baking use a preheated oven at 375 degrees F. Parchment paper is highly recommended for ease of prep and baking.

1 1/4 Cup all purpose flour
2 Teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 Teaspoons salt or 2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 Cube of butter (1/2 cup) room temperature-I almost always use salted in my baking but if you want precise use unsalted. (Salted butter has about 1/4 teaspoon salt per cube.)
1 Cup sugar
1 Egg
1 Cup ricotta (I used skim milk ricotta.)
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lime
Zest of 1/2 orange

Whisk together the first 3 ingredients and set aside.

In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar until well mixed. Add the egg and continue beating until fluffy and light.

Add the ricotta and zest from the citrus. Mix well.

Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just well incorporated.

Cut a large length of parchment paper or waxed paper (about 20 inches). Place the dough in the center along the length about 12+ inches. Carefully roll the paper up & over the dough forming a long length of dough. The roll will have about a 2 inch diameter. The dough is a bit soft but this goes pretty easily on parchment paper especially. Once you have this in log form roll on a smooth counter top to provide a uniform log. Not to worry if it’s not perfectly shaped yet. Place the log into the freezer. After about 1 hour pull the log out and roll on a smooth counter top to form into a perfect log. This gets easier as the dough begins to freeze. Repeat this several times over the next hours to get a perfect log shape. Always replace back into the freezer. After about 4 hours in the freezer the dough is ready to bake.

Preheat the oven and use a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. The cookie sheet needs to be room temperature.

Slice the dough log along the length about every 1/2 inch. Slice only as much as you are going to bake at once. Place the unused dough back into the freezer.

Place the slices on the parchment covered cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.

Bake until the edges of the cookies are golden brown about 15-20 minutes.

Remove from the oven when done. Pull the parchment paper and cookies (at once) off the cookie sheet to completely cool.

If you have only one cookie sheet let the sheet cool to nearly room temperature before placing fresh parchment paper and freshly sliced dough on the sheet.

Frost or not to frost. Good both ways. Let cool to room temperature before frosting.

This recipe makes about 24 cookies.

Frosting 

1 1/2 Cups powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons softened butter
Enough cream or juice to provide spreadability. I start with as little as 2 teaspoons liquid and add as needed. I agree lime juice is best but then it’s my favorite.
1 Tablespoon total zest (lemon, lime or orange or all three together)

Mix together the sugar and butter. It will be very lumpy and not thoroughly mixed.

Now add the liquid small amounts at a time. Add zest and whip by hand.

Spread on cookies when cool.