One of the ways I wanted to use up my big box of Meyer lemons I picked up at Costco the other day was in some baking for neighbor/teacher/friend’s gifts. These little Meyer lemon cookies brighten up any Christmas treat plate you plan on gifting. They are tart and sweet and zesty and chewy and so dang good.
I have to plate and wrap them as soon as they cool to stop myself from scarfing them down myself. I also have to hide them from Monkey Boy because he was a huge fan. I just might have to bake him his own batch!
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 {15 oz} container ricotta cheese {I used the whole milk rich kind}
3 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
1 teaspoon Meyer lemon zest
For the glaze:
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
1 teaspoon Meyer lemon zest
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with silpats or parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
In a stand mixer, combine the butter and the sugar. On medium speed, beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice, and lemon zest and stir until fully combined. With the mixer off, pour in the flour mixture and mix on low just until combined.
Spoon 1.5-2 tablespoon-sized scoops of dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges are slightly golden. Let cookies cool for 20 minutes.
While the cookies are cooling, make your glaze. In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest and stir until smooth. Once the cookies are completely cooled, drizzle each cookie with about 1/2 teaspoon of glaze. Let the glaze harden {up to two hours} before storing or plating cookies.
Looking to get your cookie fix? Check out more Cookie Recipes.
Laura says
How important is it to use unsalted butter? Can’t you just use regular and reduce the salt in the recipe? I skip any recipe calling for unsalted butter, since I don’t have use for it otherwise.
Cheralee says
@Laura, that’s so funny because we are on the opposite end of the butter scale! We never buy or make salted butter, but I am sure you could adjust your recipe as you suggested. To be completely honest, in twenty years of baking, I have never tasted something and even knew whether it was made from salted or unsalted. I find it harder to find stores that offer the same sales on unsalted that they do on salted. If there is a $2-$2.50/lb sale (a good price here), I have to hunt out the unsalted and ask specifically for them to honor it. Crazy.
sharon says
Have you ever used regular lemons? If so how did they turn out. I am having a hard tie finding Myer lemons.
Brandi @ Savvy Student Shopper says
Nice Swiss Chalet plate!