It’s nice to add a new recipe to the repertory. This is a nice pleasant cookie – soft, sweet but not too sweet, with gentle overtones of vanilla and lemon – and a nice sugary (but not overbearing) glaze on top. (You can decorate them with colored sugar if you are so moved. I thought about it, but didn’t bother. They’re very good as is.)
I found this recipe in one of those local magazines that you pick up for free – something like “Rhode Island Local,” I forget. It was in an ad for Supreme Ricotta, a local brand. It looked interesting and simple, and like nothing I’d ever made before. I made a batch for Partner and myself as a test – and, believe me, Partner pulls no punches where baked goods are concerned – and these passed the test. I will bake more of these in future.
(Postscript: I described this recipe to Apollonia and she cried, “Egg biscuits! You moron, you’ve rediscovered the recipe for egg biscuits!” Yes, of course they are, I knew I recognized them from somewhere. They’re a traditional Rhode Island recipe. It’s nice to be able to make them at home, though.)
Herewith the recipe:
- ½ cup (one stick) butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup ricotta (I used Stop & Shop, but use what you like, or what you can find)
- The zest of one lemon (the original recipe called for lemon extract, but the zest is nicer, and gives you a chance to scrape the skin off several of your knuckles)
- 2 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) In a large bowl, cream butter with sugar.
3) Add egg and vanilla, and mix thoroughly.
4) Add ricotta and lemon zest. Mix for one minute.
5) In a separate bowl, combine flour with baking powder and baking soda.
6) Add flour mixture to ricotta mixture, and mix well.
7) Drop in teaspoonsful on a cookie sheet. (Do yourself a favor, invest $2.49 in a roll of parchment paper. Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper. You’ll never regret it. Nothing will ever stick again.)
8) Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until cookies are brown on the bottom (they took almost exactly nine minutes in my (very fast) oven).
9) Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. Ice them with a mixture of powdered sugar and milk (only a few drops of milk for maybe two or three tablespoons of powdered sugar, mixed in a small bowl). A few drops of icing are enough for each cookie; it’ll spread around.
Makes 3-4 dozen cookies, depending on how generous you were with the cookie dough. I like them a little smaller; they’re easier to deal with later, and you can get more of them on a cookie sheet. (By the way, I’ve reduced the original recipe by half. What were those people thinking of? We don’t have ten kids each anymore! However: Partner and I polished off a plate of 30+ cookies in about two days . . . . )
Also – hippie alert! – I used soy milk in the icing. It was very nice.
Don’t say I never done you no favors. This recipe is one.
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