Italian Ricotta Cookies Recipe

 A week before Christmas we went to a Tango Milonga(gathering to dance) in New York State.

My friend who had invited us brought a plate of cookies to share. I tried one and knew that was the cookie I wanted to make for Christmas this year! The Italian Ricotta Cookie! Moist, tasty, aromatic.

 I found the recipe, gathered my ingredients, and off I went baking!

 This recipe makes a lot of cookies. I think I made 7 dozen. Not bad...

 Ingredients

1/2 lb of butter

2 cups sugar

1/2 tspn salt

1 lb Ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1 tspn vanilla

Zest of one orange

4 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp BP

1 tsp Baking Soda

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter; add the sugar and continue creaming. Add eggs, ricotta and vanilla; beat well. Sift together flour, BP and baking soda, salt. add to batter. Mix well.

Drop one teaspoon of dough on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I had to shape the cookies. Bake at 350 oven for 10 minutes. The cookies will be light colored but if you bake them longer they will get hard. They are done after 10 minutes.

Icing 

2 cups confectionner's sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

5 tablespoons Orange juice

Mix all ingredients together to make an icing. Top the cookies and add colored sprinkles.

The cookies were tasty even without the frosting. You can vary your flavorings according to taste. Use anisette or lemon if you prefer.

Merry Christmas!

Maria