Triple Zested Ricotta Cookies

triple zested ricotta cookies

Zesty and soft with a cake like texture these triple zested ricotta cookies will be your new favorite. What I love about ricotta cookies is that you can adapt them to any holiday or special occasion by changing up the frosting and sprinkles, but in general most ricotta cookies are lemon flavored.

This version has a little twist to it, they’re infused with the brightness of lemon, lime and orange zest inside and out, so they’re perfect to serve for your spring and summer parties as well as the Easter holiday which is right around the corner.

citrus zest

There’s nothing like the smell of freshly zested citrus, it screams springtime to me which is very welcoming after a long cold winter.

ricotta cookies

Ricotta cookies are surprisingly easy to make, not a lot of ingredients either which is a good thing, and everyone seems to gobble them up when they’re sitting out on a platter, they’re just irresistible!

triple zested ricotta cookies

With each bite you’ll taste a rich burst of citrus flavor because the zest is in the dough as well as the frosting which gets brushed on top.

 

triple zested ricotta cookiestriple zested ricotta cookies

Think wedding and baby showers, Mother’s Day, graduations, picnics, family gatherings and holidays, these ricotta cookies will fit right in for those special occasions.

triple zested ricotta cookiestriple zested ricotta cookies

I would say that these triple zested ricotta cookies are destined to become your new favorite cookie once you try them!

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5.0 from 3 reviews
Triple Zested Ricotta Cookies
 
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Ingredients
  • orange, lime and lemon zest about 2 tablespoons each
  • 1 cup, ricotta (dry and drained of moisture. Instead of deli style look for a good brand that's packed in a container that you can buy in the refrigerated section because they're usually dryer in texture)
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • FROSTING
  • lemon juice
  • 1 cup, powdered sugar
Instructions
  1. Mix the zest together.
  2. Heat oven to 350F. and line a baking sheet with parchment.
  3. In a large bowl add the ricotta, softened butter, sugar, vanilla, salt and egg, mix them together on low speed until incorporated.
  4. In a smaller bowl add the flour and baking soda, use a whisk and incorporate by hand.
  5. Now on low speed add the flour mixture to the ricotta mixture making sure all is incorporated.
  6. Add in 1 tablespoon of the zest to the mixture and blend til it's throughout the dough.
  7. Take a teaspoon size piece of dough and roll it into a ball like a meatball and place onto the parchment lined baking sheet.
  8. Bake for ten minutes on lower rack then pull them out of the oven and take the back side of a flat spatula and gently press down on the tops, this is not necessary but my preference because it gives a nice surface for the frosting.
  9. Then place them back into the oven on the upper rack for 3 more minutes, make sure bottoms are nicely golden.
  10. Take them out and let them cool completely on a rack before frosting.
  11. FROSTING
  12. Mix the powdered sugar with lemon juice until you have the right consistency then take a pastry brush and brush each cookie one by one with the frosting, then sprinkle a pinch of the tripled zests that you mixed together on the tops of each cookie. Repeat until they're all frosted, one by one.
  13. Let them set for a couple of hours so frosting can dry, store in an airtight container between waxed paper. You can also freeze them, this recipe makes around 30 cookies.
  14. Feel free to double or triple the recipe!

 

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Tis The Season To Be Baking!

By now you’re probably deep into baking all your favorite holiday treats, pulling out recipes you haven’t made in a year or so. I started my baking last week, placed them in pretty tins ready to give away and share with family and friends. Here is a few of the things I baked so far.

Traditional ANISE BISCOTTI, it’s a huge favorite of my husband and brother-in-law, they love that sweet licorice taste of the anise. These biscotti are perfect for dunking in your coffee or espresso and great to have on hand when someone stops by.

To get that true anise flavor I always use anise oil instead of the extract and along with that I also mix in some anise seed, the oil is really strong so you don’t need very much but the flavor and smell lingers forever (or as long as your biscotti last,) in fact there’s still a lingering aroma of anise inside my house and I finished baking them a week ago!

The dough comes together very quickly it’s the baking that will take you the longest since you have to twice bake them. After first baking your logs you want to make sure they cool down before you cut into them for that second baking otherwise you’ll have a pile of crumbs. I use a heavy serrated knife to cut through mine, but I just recently got a great tip from my sister-in-laws from Florida, they cut their biscotti with an electric knife! Isn’t that a great idea? I’ll be on the lookout for electric knife for next year.
The great thing about biscotti is that they last weeks after you bake them and they taste just as good as the first day, if properly stored. I like to put mine in tin cans layered between wax paper, they stay all nice and crunchy that way!

ANISE BISCOTTI

Ingredients


5 cups unbleached flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of softened butter (2 sticks)
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon of anise oil, or 2 tablespoons of anise extract
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon of anise seed
Nuts are optional, I would use 1 cup of sliced almonds for this recipe

Directions
Sift dry ingredients together, including the anise seed. Set aside. In a large bowl with a mixer beat butter, sugar, until fluffy, add eggs one at a time along with the anise oil or extract. Add flour mixture and beat on low until blended. Divide mixture into 4 parts. Each part becomes a log measuring around 2 1/2 inches by 9 or 10 inches long. Place logs on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 25 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom. Remove from the oven and let them cool down on a rack. Carefully cut them 1/2 inch thick, turn each piece on their side and bake on each side for 12 minutes or until lightly golden.
Makes around 75 biscotti depending on size.

If you were to ask me what my personal favorite biscotti was I would have to say it would be this FIG and PISTACHIO version. Dried fig with just a hint of orange and anise flavors the crunchy biscotti that is studded with pistachio’s. You can’t beat this with a warm cup of espresso on the side, every bite is so full of flavor! If you like figs you will love these!
I’ve shared them on my blog before, so if you’re craving these crunchy goodies you can check out the recipe here.

Next up is PUFF COOKIES, I make them every year and I always will, they remind me of my mom and aunt. You’re probably familiar with these almost every nationality has their own version of them, also known as Mexican Wedding cookies, but to me and my family they’ll always be Puff Cookies!

Like puffs of snow these rich and buttery cookies just melt in your mouth, great as a gift in a pretty tin or just placed on a platter for any special occasion, either way they will be most appreciated. I also shared these on my blog way back when I first started blogging, you can find the recipe here.

And finally, I always like to put a new cookie into the mix, well new for me anyway. I’ve tasted RICOTTA COOKIES before but I haven’t ever made them myself until I saw Claudia’s version over at Journey of an Italian Cook. Poor thing she lives in Minnesota and just got hit by that big blizzard recently, stuck in the house she’s been cooking and baking up a storm! (no pun intended). I’m sure her family has been very grateful for the snowfall!

These cookies are truly addictive, the taste and the texture is perfect, not to sweet, just right!

Please, go out and get some ricotta, you still have time to make these and add them to your cookie tray, I promise you won’t regret it!

I’m sending you over to Claudia’s blog to get the recipe, the only thing I changed up was that I doubled the lemon zest in the batter, and then for the glaze, instead of 1 teaspoon of vanilla I did 1 teaspoon of lemon extract and more fresh lemon zest. I had a lemon theme going on and it went wonderful with the ricotta flavor, I will make these over and over again and so will you!
Happy Baking, and Buon Appetito!

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