Homeless for the Holidays Bake Sale, Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Beginning tomorrow, the MSPCA Animal Care and Adoption Center is holding its “Homeless for the Holidays” bake sale to raise money for the shelter animals.  Thursday 12/9 – Sunday 12/12, from 9-5, delicious baked goods will be available to the public, including some bearing the Bacon, Butter & Booze logo!

After exhausting myself baking gazillions of treats for the shelter’s Howl-O-Ween bake sale, I swore I wouldn’t do this again unless I had help, but alas, I got down to business and baked my little heart out.  After all, it’s for the animals, and they don’t understand the concepts of being too busy or too tired.  So, I dropped the gloves (OK, oven mitts) and squared off to fight my fatigue in order to bake Roasted Garlic Focaccia Bread (click here for recipe), Canine Crumpets (click here for recipe), and several batches of delicious, moist, almost cake-like Lemon Ricotta Cookies (recipe below). 

If you are in the Boston area and able to swing by South Huntington Ave., you can sample some of these fabulous treats along with other homemade goodies and donations from some of Boston’s best bakeries.  If you cannot stop in, do try this yummy cookie recipe at home! 

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 2/3 cups whole milk ricotta cheese, drained if necessary*

Zest from 2 large lemons

Juice from 2 large lemons, separated

1 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 375.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened butter and the sugar.  Use an electric mixer, mix for approx 3-5 minutes, or until the sugar and butter are consistently combined.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well. 

Next, add the ricotta, lemon zest, and juice from one of the lemons.  Beat this again until well-mixed, then add the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Mix until wet and dry ingredients are fully incorporated and a sticky dough is formed. 

Using a spoon, portion approximately 2 tablespoons of the dough (roughly golf ball size) per cookie onto a baking sheet, leaving enough room between cookies for them to expand (they will end up about 3 inches in diameter).  It is best to prepare each baking sheet just before it is to go in the oven; if you prepare the sheets ahead of time, the dough will ‘melt’ and your cookies will turn out flatter, less fluffy, and may collide with each other on the sheet.   Bake for 15 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown slightly. 

While the cookies are baking, prepare the glaze.  In a small bowl, combine the juice of the 2nd lemon and the powdered sugar.  Stir until a smooth glaze forms.  Set aside.

Once you remove each round of cookies from the oven, give them about 20 minutes to cool a bit.  Using a small brush (silicone ones are best, as you don’t have to worry about bristles falling out), brush each cookie with the glaze and set aside to allow the glaze to harden for at least 2 hours. 

OPTIONAL:  Channel your inner artist - sprinkle the glaze with colored sugar while the glaze is still wet, or, once the glaze has hardened, use colored icing or glaze in a small-tipped tube to draw fun shapes or designs.

*  Use a high-quality ricotta (I prefere Dragone brand) – some brands tend to be watery, which will affect the texture of the cookies.