Lemon Ricotta Meltaways

By june

This recipe is from The Secret Life of a Chef's Wife 2013. Many thanks.

Ingredients

• Lemon glaze:
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt (1/4 tsp if using regular salt)
• zest from 1 lemon
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Cream together the butter and granulated sugar in a mixing bowl fitted with a whisk. Add the egg and mix well. Add the ricotta cheese, almond extract, and the lemon juice. Blend well.
Mix the dry ingredients and lemon zest together and add them to the butter mixture. You can now switch to mixing paddles if you want. The dough is soft enough to use the whisk, it's just harder to clean off.
MIx until incorporated, but don't over-mix. It makes the dough tough.
At this point, you can either scoop the dough using a medium scoop and bake on a baking sheet prepared with parchment paper or a silpat liner for 8 minutes at 350 degrees. (Next time I make these, I am going to slightly flatten them. I thought they were a little doughy). Or chill the dough for two hours or so and roll it out to 1/4 inch. Cut 2-inch circles from dough and bake on a baking sheet prepared with parchment paper or a silpat liner for 7 minutes at 350 degrees. The cookies will begin to brown on the bottoms, but not the tops.
For the glaze, mix together powdered sugar and lemon juice in a bowl. Drizzle on cooled cookies. Top with lemon zest or candied lemon peel for a garnish.