The prevalence of Italian-American culture, particularly where food is concerned, is one of the tremendous joys of living in the Philadelphia area. That is never more evident than during the holidays, and these lovely cookies never fail to make an appearance every year. Sadly, in the midst of this past season’s baking (and non-baking) madness, they got left by the wayside. It wasn’t hard to get upstaged by a gluten free roster that included Peanut Butter cookies, Snickerdoodles, Chocolate Fudge cookies and those wonderfully simple chocolate Barks. After the recent trip to Italy, though, these moist, rich, and almost cake-like morsels popped back onto the radar in a big way. One of Kyle’s travel companions bought an assortment of baked goods from a bakery in Florence and everyone proceeded to sample them as “sustenance” during their sightseeing adventures. Much “ooo”ing and “aah”ing ensued, but it was the lemon ricotta cookies that stopped everyone in their tracks, catapulting the treats right back onto the “Must Bake” list. These days, that list also tends to be the “Gluten Free Adaptation” list, so here we are.
Wanting to recreate the beautiful texture and balanced sweet/tart flavor of the cookies, he set about searching for the perfect base recipe after he returned home. A recipe for “Grandma Dorie’s Italian Ricotta Cookies” over at NYT Cooking literally took the cake.
Obviously, the one significant tweak to the original version was to substitute our workhorse Gluten Free Cookie Flour Blend. There was a moment of concern that while this blend results in indiscernible gluten free versions of more traditionally textured cookies, the cakiness of these cookies would be adversely affected.
True to form and previous experience, though, with the addition of a little xanthan gum this magical blend once again yielded mind- and tastebud-boggling results. This gluten free version is as rich, tender and flavorful as its traditionally made counterpart, evoking the same “stop you in your tracks” remembrance of that day in Florence.
Unlike many less fortunate attempts at gluten free baking, their is no grittiness or other off-putting textural quality here, nor is there any lamentable or ruinous aftertaste. Not for nothing, but that flour blend is on a path to legendary status if you ask us. In our entire archive, you will not find a single misstep or failure where it’s concerned. Wanting to further evoke the flavor of the cookies from the bakery in Florence, Kyle also increased the amount of lemon zest in the dough and lemon juice in the icing.
In the interest of full disclosure, the gorgeous sunshine color of the cookies pictured here is the result of a little dash of food coloring. While it is technically the first day of Spring (Hallelujah!), the northeastern US has been subjected to the final, dreary throes of Winter in recent days and a little extra brightness goes a long way toward staving off the resultant seasonal doldrums. The sugar doesn’t hurt either. The white sprinkles are a much needed nod to the whimsy of childhood. Feel free to follow suit.
This recipe yields a lot of cookies. By “a lot,” we mean, like, five dozen, so feel free to cut the recipe in half. Just bear in mind that unlike most gluten free baked goods, these cookies have a much longer shelf life thanks to the glorious amount of butter and the additional moisture provided by the ricotta, so don’t think for one second that they’ll go to waste.
Given the fact that these are mystifyingly even better the second day, you’ll be hard pressed not to devour all sixty of them by day three. Don’t worry, no one here can actually attest to their quality after the third day either. Another batch might be in order for, um, “research” purposes. Fortunately, they’re kind of small, so you can temper your guilt accordingly. Mangia!
Adapted from NY Times Cooking.
Find the recipe for Gluten Free Cookie Flour here!
- 2 sticks (1 cup) plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 425 grams sugar (about 2 cups)
- 1 ¾ cups ricotta cheese (15 ounces), preferably fresh
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 480 grams gluten free cookie flour (about 4 cups)
- 4 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 10 grams baking soda (2 teaspoons)
- 6 grams fine sea salt (about 1 teaspoon)
- 450 grams confectioners’ sugar (about 4 cups)
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon to ¼ cup milk, as needed
- Using an electric mixer, cream 2 sticks butter with sugar until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add ricotta, lemon zest and 4 teaspoons vanilla and beat well. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula, then beat in flour, baking soda and salt. Cover dough and chill for at least 2 hours and up to a week.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees and line several cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick liners. Shape tablespoons of dough into balls. Place 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake until pale golden on the bottom, about 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool on wire racks.
- Melt remaining 2 tablespoon butters. Whisk confectioners’ sugar to break up any large lumps, then whisk in melted butter, lemon juice, remaining 1½ teaspoons vanilla and enough milk to make a spreadable icing. Spread icing on cooled cookies, then let set for at least 20 minutes before serving.
Sherry says
What is your gluten free flour recipe, I’ve tried many and have never been happy, I would love to try yours!