Italian Ricotta Cookies and a special giveaway announcement!

Italian Ricotta Cookies and a special giveaway announcement!

Oh my goodness, are these cookies ever the bomb! I'm probably late on the band wagon with these cookies, but honestly, the first time I ever ate one was almost a year ago. We were invited to our new neighbors house for their daughter's birthday. We met some more of our new neighbors, one of whom had made these awesome cookies that I didn't want to stop eating. They were the perfect cookie, soft and tender with an awesome lemon flavor in the cookie and the icing. I fell in love.

The next month I had a surprise birthday party for Grumpy. I thought it would be a good way to get to know our new neighbors more and an opportunity for me to feed people! Of course when Stacy, one of our new friends asked what she could bring, my first response was her Italian Ricotta Cookies!

I decided these would be a great cookie to make to wrap and give as gifts to a few special people this year so I asked Stacy if she would mind if I made her recipe and blogged about it. Of course the response was positive 'cause here I am!

This also is the "pre-announcement" of my 4 year blog anniversary giveaway! I have never really celebrated a blog anniversary and this year I felt it would be a great time to do so. I have made so many friends through blogging over the last 4 years and several of those friends will be joining me on December 27th to celebrate on their own blogs. Watch for the post coming up next week to see what the prize will be along with all the wonderful foodie items that my friends and I will be sharing with you! I have some very special people in the bloggy world that I will be talking about and showing my appreciation for - you don't want to miss any of it!

In the meantime, if you need to make some other treat that is quick, easy AND delicious, definitely make these cookies. They take very little time and you will become the star of the day by serving them to those you love. Thank you Stacy for sharing your recipe with me. Your awesome!

Italian Cookies (Ricotta)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and lemon flavorings (you can also substitute Anise flavoring for the lemon). Stir in the ricotta cheese.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to batter and stir until combined.

Drop by teaspoons onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Cool, frost, and decorate with sugar sprinkles or lemon zest (which I did with some!) If you love fresh lemon, you will LOVE these cookies. They are so soft and tender and lemony! Enjoy!

NOTE: I used two different cookie scoops - one large one and 1 small one and got 2 dozen large cookies and 1 dozen small

Lemon Icing

2-1/2 to 3 cups confectioners sugar

Juice of 1-1/2 lemon

zest of 1 lemon

Mix well going with the smallest amount of sugar first and adding more as needed for the consistency you want for your icing. You can go thick or thin....if you do a thin icing, you can just dip the cookie tops in the icing and sit them on a cooling rack to dry. Sprinkle with sugar sprinkles and/or lemon zest. Let dry completely and store in airtight container.