Ricotta Cookies
Biscotti alla ricotta
Ricotta cookies are a specialty from Tuscany, where they serve as a soft and chewy alternative to the tooth cracking cantuccini almond biscuits.
These ricotta cookies with their chewy bite and nice orange fragrance were an instant hit it this house. In fact they were gone less than two hours after leaving the oven, so I don’t know if they will remain mellow and moist for days, but they are definitely irresistible. And I imagine it would be good to dunk them in a cup of cappuccino or a glass of vin santo. So now they are part of my cookie repertoire along with lemon squares and jam biscuits.
If you can keep your family or housemates from away from the cookie jar for long enough, you might decorate the ricotta cookies with icing and sprinkles.
Ingredients
1 tbsp butter
150 g ricotta
1 egg
120 g sugar
180 g flour type 00
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla sugar
Grated zest of 1 organic orange
Preparation
Mix ricotta with butter and sugar to a homogeneous mass.
Stir in the egg.
Sift vanilla, grated orange zest, flour and baking powder into the batter and knead well.
Spoon the cookie dough onto a non-stick baking sheet, and bake the ricotta cookies in the oven at 175 C / 350 F for 20 minutes.
Many Italians would maintain that my ricotta biscuits are too dark. In the original version the biscuits are not supposed to colour, but I prefer golden to pale.
Looks just like cookies I would love. Perhaps try it with lemon zest too!
I’m sure lemon zest could make nice variation, although they might compete with lemon squares, another classic family recipe.