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How to Make Italian Ricotta Christmas Cookies

These holiday cookies are easy to make and bake up light as clouds.

December 19, 2018 By Mary's Nest Leave a Comment

How to Make Italian Ricotta Christmas Cookies

Italian Ricotta Christmas Cookies Recipe Video
Watch the Italian Ricotta Christmas Cookies video

Today, I’m sharing a recipe for Italian Ricotta Christmas cookies that my mother made every holiday season.  They are made with ricotta cheese and are as light and fluffy as a cloud, and they were always my favorite!

*Affiliates note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. My videos and blog posts may contain affiliate links to products and services. If you click through and make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission. It does not affect the price you pay.

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Making and Decorating Italian Christmas Cookies

When I was growing up, my mother always made these Italian Ricotta Christmas Cookies during holiday time. She would make them with different flavorings, such as anise and almond, and put a little extra decoration on each.

For example, in addition to colored sprinkles, she might put a little lemon peel on top of lemon-flavored cookies. With almond-flavored ones, she’d add little chopped almonds, and with the anise-flavored ones, she’d put tiny crushed anise seeds.

I’m happy to share this Italian Ricotta Christmas Cookies recipe with you, along with a recipe for how to make homemade Ricotta cheese.

  • How to Make Homemade Ricotta Cheese – The Easy Way!

More Christmas Recipes

Now that you’ve learned how to make Italian Ricotta Christmas Cookies, try your hand at some other wonderful holiday recipes that are perfect for entertaining.

Easy Yeast Dinner Rolls Cast Iron Skillet Recipe Video
  • Easy Yeast Dinner Rolls – Cast Iron Skillet Recipe
  • How to Make Gingerbread Cake
Cherry Pistachio Baked Brie Recipe Video
  • Cherry Pistachio Baked Brie Recipe for Holiday Entertaining
Giant Party Platter For Holiday Entertaining Video
  • Giant Party Platter – For Holiday Entertaining
  • Orange Marmalade and Ginger Glazed Christmas Ham Recipe
  • Instant Pot Mac and Cheese – The Right Way!

Homemade Christmas Gifts

Check out the following videos to learn how to make various homemade Christmas gifts.

  • How to Make Homemade Traditional Foods Christmas Gifts
Canned marmalade in the kitchen.
  • How to Make Marmalade Jam with Step-By-Step Guide To Water Bath Canning
Mary with 10 favors of homemade extracts.
  • How to Make Homemade Extracts  – Flavored Extracts – Baking Basics

Download Your Free 36-Page Pantry List

After finishing your holiday meal, treat yourself and download my free 36-page Traditional Foods Pantry List. This comprehensive eBook is full of links to recipe videos, helpful articles, and more to help you stock your Four Corners Pantry with traditional foods.

  • FREE 36 Page Traditional Foods Pantry List – Printable Pantry Staples List

Grind Your Own Flour

If you’d like to make homemade flour for your Italian Ricotta Christmas cookies or other homemade baking, you can use different techniques to grind your whole grain from manual to electric, as I show you in the following video.

  • How to Store Whole Grain and Make Homemade Flour

Using the Mockmill Electric Grain Mill

When it comes to electric grain mills, after I did A LOT of research, I decided to buy a Mockmill. And am I so happy I did! The Mockmill is a very affordable but beautifully crafted German-made mill that stone grinds grain with settings ranging from 1 to 10—fine to coarse ground grain.

And I have great news! The folks at Mockmill are very kind to offer my viewers and readers a discount on any of the grain mills that they sell.

  • Use promo code MARYSNEST and this link for a 5% discount on Mockmill Stone Grain Mill products.

You can see me unbox and try out the Mockmill 100 Grain mill in the following video.

Mockmill 100 Unboxing YouTube Video
  • Mockmill 100 Grain Mill Unboxing and Review

Kitchen Academy Videos

Are you looking for more traditional foods videos? If so, I invite you to join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy. Members of this optional paid YouTube community get access to exclusive videos, live streams, and other members-only perks. Plus, your YouTube comments include a special members-only badge.

JOIN NOW
And become a Traditional Foods Kitchen Pioneer

In the following members-only video, I talk about How to Shop for Vintage Cookbooks with Traditional Recipes.

  • How to Shop for Vintage Cookbooks with Traditional Recipes

Stay in Touch with Mary’s Nest

  1. Subscribe to My YouTube Channel for Traditional Foods Videos (Free) - When you subscribe, be sure to click on the notification bell that will let you know each time I upload a new video.

  2. Subscribe to Mary’s Traditional Foods Newsletter (Free) - Get a free eBook for signing up: How to Stock Your Essential Traditional Foods Four-Corners Pantry.

  3. Join the Traditional Foods Kitchen Academy (Optional Paid) - For more detailed videos, live streams, and exclusive members-only perks, join my YouTube membership community.

I look forward to having you join me in my Texas Hill Country Kitchen!

Love,
Mary ♥

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Mary's Nest Italian Ricotta Christmas Cookies Recipe
Print Recipe

Italian Ricotta Christmas Cookies

Learn how to make Italian Ricotta Christmas cookies that are as light and fluffy as a cloud.
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time12 mins
Total Time17 mins
Course: Cookies
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Italian Christmas Cookies, Italian Cookies, Italian Ricotta Cookies
Servings: 5 dozen
Author: Mary’s Nest

Equipment

  • Baking sheet
  • Cooling rack

Ingredients

Italian Ricotta Cookie Ingredients

  • 2 cups Powdered sugar
  • 2 sticks Butter, unsalted This is 1 cup of butter
  • 2 tsp Lemon extract
  • 3 large Eggs
  • 16 ounce Container of ricotta cheese
  • 4 cups All-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup Colorful sprinkles

Icing Ingredients

  • 4 cups Powdered sugar
  • 1 large Lemon, zest and juice
  • 1/2 tsp Lemon extract
  • 1-2 tbsp Water, as needed

Instructions

Italian Ricotta Cookie Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F
  • In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together.
  • Add one egg at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing well after each egg addition.
  • Add ricotta and lemon extract to the butter and sugar mixture and mix well.
  • In a medium-size bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together.
  • Add flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and mix well until a smooth dough is formed. (See video.)
  • Using a teaspoon, drop dough onto a parchment-lined or greased baking sheet.
  • Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until only lightly golden. DO NOT over bake.
  • Once finished baking, remove cookies from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack.
  • Once cooled, drizzle with icing and add sprinkles.
  • These cookies will stay fresh, wrapped, on the counter for a few days. They can also be refrigerated, well wrapped, and will stay fresh for up to a week or two. If you want to freeze these cookies, I do not recommend adding the icing. Wrap them well, and they should stay fresh in the freezer for 2-3 months. Allow them to defrost, uncovered at room temperature, and then add the icing.

Icing Instructions

  • Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl except the water. Icing should be quite thin so as to be able to drizzle over cookies.
  • If the icing is too thick to drizzle, add 1 tablespoon of water to icing in a bowl and mix. If icing is still too thick to drizzle, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached.

Video

Notes

Find this recipe and video at https://marysnest.com/italian-ricotta-christmas-cookies-recipe-video/
Copyright © 2021 Mary’s Nest, LLC, All Rights Reserved

Shop for items used in this blog post or video

Favorite Baking Supplies

  • Favorite Aprons
  • Glass Bowl Set
  • Whisk
  • Spatula
  • KitchenAid Artisan Mini Plus Stand Mixer

More Kitchen Supplies with Discount Codes

  • Mockmill Grain Grinder (for making homemade flour)

Use my Mockmill affiliate link for a special one-time 5% discount on Mockmill Stone Grain Mill products, including Ancient Grains, like Einkorn, Emmer, and Spelt. (The Mockmill discount will appear when you checkout.)

  • Masontops Fermentation Kit

Use promo code MARYSNST for a one-time 15% off Masontops and Breadsmart products on Amazon.com.

Amazon Shop and Shopping Guide

  • Visit Mary’s Nest Amazon Shop
  • Visit my Shopping Guide page
    Learn where I buy my beef bones, electric grain mills, sprouted grains, and more…and get special discounts for Mary’s Nest visitors, including from US Wellness Meats, Mockmill, Masontops, and Cultures for Health.

Recommended Reading

  • Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and Diet Dictocrats
  • Nourishing Broth: An Old-Fashioned Remedy for the Modern World
  • Nourishing Fats: Why We Need Animal Fats for Health and Happiness
  • Nourishing Diets: How Paleo, Ancestral and Traditional Peoples Really Ate

**Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor, a medical professional, a dietician, or a nutritionist. All content found on the MarysNest.com website, including text, images, videos, eBooks or eGuides, social media, or other formats, were created solely for informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or proper nutritional advice. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have watched in a video or read on this website. Use caution when following the recipe in this video. The creator and publisher of this video and website will not be held responsible for any adverse effects that may arise from the use of this recipe and method or any other recipe and method on this website or corresponding video channel.

Filed Under: Cookies, Holiday Recipes Tagged With: Christmas Desserts, Italian Christmas Cookies, Italian Ricotta Christmas Cookies

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