My lemon ricotta cookies recipe brings the perfect tart lift to any party, tea, or midnight craving! While many chefs view lemons as a summer fruit, I also adore lemon in cookies during the winter months. Not only does it lift the cold with each bite, but you can use seasonal-friendly Meyer lemons to ramp up these lemon cookies.

Even better: these fruit cookies use cheese. Ricotta is a common addition in Italian cookies, the same way we add cream cheese or sour cream. This recipe is eyes-roll-back-in-your-head good!

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade and bake some extra lemony cookies like my luscious lemon bars, lemon sugar cookies, lemon brownies, and lemon white chocolate chip cookies!

Let’s bake these!

What I Love About This Recipe

Easy to make
The tart, tangy flavor
Simple ingredients
Quick prep and bake time

Recipe Notes For Ricotta Cookies

Meyer vs Lemons: Meyer lemons are the smaller, slightly sweeter counterpart to the more commonplace sour lemons. They’re the lemons that people often use in desserts thanks to their higher sugar content, but they can be finicky about their season. Typically, Meyer lemons are only around during the winter months. But they’re definitely worth the wait!

Folding- Do not be tempted to beat the flour into the wet batter with your mixer. You’ll knock the air out of the fluffy ricotta and eggs, and your cookies will be flat and dense. To fold, sprinkle about ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet batter.

I try to distribute the flour mixture across the entire surface of the wet batter and not dump a big pile in the center to decrease clumps. Draw your spatula through the middle of the dough and then scoop around the side, folding the batter over the dry ingredients.
Keep repeating this process, adding in a little of the dry ingredients at a time. I like to rotate my hold on the bowl as well to help prevent little pockets of dry ingredients. Be patient! Folding shouldn’t be rushed!

Zest it up! There are many ways to get that top layer of yellow flesh off of lemons. For this recipe, you’ll want to use either a zester or a grater, to get the really fine, thin strips of zest.

Squeeeeeze: My preferred method of juicing lemons is to use a citrus juicer, and then run the juice through a strainer to make sure I don’t get any seeds or pulp in the final juice.

Glaze- This is where you can really showcase the lemon flavor! Adjust the powdered sugar to your level of sweetness. If you want more lemon, add more juice. Just play with it a bit until you find the perfect balance of tang!

Storing + Freezing + Make Ahead

How To Store? Because the glaze on my ricotta cookies recipe contains milk, I do not recommend letting these sit at room temperature for very long. Move to the fridge when you’re not actively eating them — they’ll last there, in a sealed container, for up to a week.
- I, personally, think these cookies taste better after they’ve been refrigerated anyway! Something about the glaze solidifying thoroughly is just scrumptious.
Can You Freeze These? You can freeze pre-baked or after baking.
- To freeze these easy cookies before you bake, scoop the dough onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet and put the sheet in the freezer. Freeze for several hours or until completely frozen. Transfer the frozen dough balls into a freezer bag to store.
- If you’re freezing after baking, I would hold off on the glaze until you’re ready to serve. Make sure your cookies are completely cooled before you put them in the freezer bag to freeze.
- You can glaze them before they’re completely thawed, but I suggest letting the outer layer warm up a bit so the glaze sticks better. Baked cookies will be fine in the freezer for months.
Make-Ahead: You can always make these cookies and store them in either airtight containers or bags. But what about making the dough ahead of an important event? Yep, you can actually freeze your cookie dough!

Recipe Variations

Italian Ricotta Cookies: Try my original ricotta cookies next.

How To Make Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Mix in eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Mix in ricotta, 3 tablespoons lemon juice and zest of 1 lemon. Beat until incorporated. Fold in flour mixture just until combined. Do not overmix.
Scoop dough (about 2 Tablespoons) onto prepared baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven, until edges just begin to turn slightly golden, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheets for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and the zest of 2 lemons. Thin glaze as needed, with extra lemon juice, to achieve a thick pourable consistency.
Spoon glaze on each cookie. Allow glaze to set for about 2 hours.

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