Best Italian Ricotta-Cheese Cookies

There are some flavors that scream Italy. This best Italian ricotta-cheese cookies recipe is the perfect example of those signature Italian flavors. Rich, creamy and taste just like Nonnas kitchen. Lenda, the creator of this cookie recipe, has shared an authentic cookie recipe straight from Nonna. Easy and delicious these cookies can be made for Easter, Christmas or any old day. You won't be able to have enough of these, and all your friends will be wanting the recipe.

Some off you may not be familiar with the rich, creamy ingredient which makes these cookies so delicious. Ricotta is a whey cheese typically made from sheep milk whey, which is the product left over from making cheese. Ricotta actually means recooked, which makes sense when you think of the process of how this cheese is made. It's a creamy, white cheese, that is slightly sweet and extremely versatile. It can be used in dessert recipes, main dish recipes and sometimes is used as a substitute for mayonnaise. It's one of the main ingredients in another Italian dessert recipe, the cannoli. Another rich and creamy dessert made possible with the help of ricotta. It also adds that delicious creamy layer in a lasagna recipe, sometimes paired with spinach and salt and pepper. An Italian staple at its core. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and believe me, you'll want to.

My nonna makes a variation of this cookie recipe. Every nonna has one. Feel free to play around with the flavoring. The author suggests adding almond to the recipe to give it a sweet nutty flavor. Another delicious pairing would be to add some lemon to the recipe. You can either put it in the batter or add some of the lemon zest to the icing that goes over the cookies. Lemon and ricotta go great together.

The nice thing about this Italian ricotta cheese cookie recipe is that there is a ten minute step by step video recipe tutorial by Rosella Rago and her Nonna Romano. You will want to take a look at this cute video and get all the secrets to this delicious cookie recipe. The ingredients you will need for this recipe include sugar, softened butter, ricotta cheese, vanilla extract, eggs, all purpose flour, baking powder, salt, confectioners sugar, milk and some colored sprinkles if making for holidays.

To start preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.Then in a large bowl, set the mixer at low speed,and beat the sugar and butter until blended. Then increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy, approximately five minutes. At medium speed, beat in the ricotta, vanilla, and eggs until well combined. Then reduce the speed to low. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and beat until dough forms. Then drop the cookie dough by level tablespoons, places a couple of inches apart, onto an ungreased cookie pan. Bake about approximately 15 minutes or until the cookies are very lightly golden.

Then using a spatula remove the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough. When the cookies are cooing, you can prepare the icing. For the icing recipe, use a small bowl, and stir the confectioners sugar and milk until smooth. Then with a small metal spatula or knife, spread the icing onto the cookies. And if making this cookie recipe for the holidays, you can sprinkle with red or green sugar crystals. Then set cookies aside to allow icing to dry completely, approximately one hour. A little recipe tip for these cookies is to use almond flavoring or a flavoring that you choose.