Vegan Lemon Ricotta Cookies
I will be honest, my baking skills used to be fairly rudimentary just a few years ago. Lately, I have discovered the value of baking from scratch rather than using a box mix. I don’t think the taste is radically different or that box mix is a horrible option, but I see the difference in someone’s face when they know you’re gifting them a dessert that is homemade. They know the time and effort that takes and I think that makes these eggless recipes even more rewarding.
When I first made these cookies they just melted into puddles in the oven and I thought that I should just toss them. I glazed them anyway and decided that maybe I could crumble it up into a brittle or something. When I went to lift up the cookie I noticed it was super soft and decided to give it a taste. My world lit up in an instant. I gave these out in a sampler box of multiple baked goods to friends and family to get their thoughts and every single person sent me a compliment on these specific cookies! I even converted my aunt who swore up and down that she hated citrus desserts! That alone motivated me to post the recipe! Afterward, I tweaked the recipe a bit and got a stiffer dough to be able to pipe these out in a more uniform shape and got the perfect cookie.
These cookies are based on Giada de Laurentiis’ recipe but I used a half cup of unsweetened apple sauce and a half cup of flour as the egg replacement. I also used Kite Hill Vegan Ricotta for this recipe and it came out perfect!
First, start by preheating your oven to 375°F. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together for a few minutes. You want it to be nice and combined. I actually didn’t have a problem with butter nodules still in my batter, my final cookie was still great!
Add ricotta cheese, applesauce and mix until uniform. Add in dry ingredients slowly until you get a cohesive dough.
Add the dough to a piping bag or a Ziploc with the tip cut off and pipe onto parchment paper or a silicone mat. Additionally, you can form into “patties” with your fingers if you don’t have a piping bag or Ziploc available.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until ever so slightly golden around the edges.
While the cookies are baking, whisk the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest together until uniform. The glaze should be fairly thick, the heat from the cookies will melt it to make it more spreadable.
Dip or spoon the glaze over the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven and let it sit for an additional 45 minutes.
Vegan Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 c. All-Purpose Flour
- 1 c. granulated sugar
- 8 oz. vegan Ricotta cheese
- 2 oz. unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 stick unsalted butter softened
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- juice and zest of 1/2 lemon roughly 1.5 tbsp. of juice
Lemon Glaze
- 3/4 c. powdered sugar
- juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together for a few minutes. Add ricotta cheese, applesauce and mix until uniform. Add in dry ingredients.
- Add the dough to a piping bag or a Ziploc with the tip cut off and pipe onto parchment paper or a silicone mat. Additionally, you can form into "patties" with your fingers if you don't have a piping bag or Ziploc available.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until ever so slightly golden around the edges.
- While the cookies are baking, whisk the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest together until uniform.
- Dip or spoon the glaze over the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven and let it sit for an additional 45 minutes.
- Once the glaze is set you can store the cookies in an airtight container or start nibbling away.
Notes
2 Comments
Pali
Hi this recipe looks great but I wanted to ask, do you add lemon juice and lemon zest into the cookie dough too? The recipe calls for lemon juice and zest for the dough but you never mention it in the directions.
preeyabhakta
My apologies yes I add both!