Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Ricotta: Full fat ricotta is recommended as it adds richness and moisture to the cake. You can substitute for low fat but be aware that the results may vary.

Salted butter: A good butter brand is best. I know you’ll often hear ‘unsalted is default’ when baking. I understand but I hate buying and storing two types of butter! I use one brand and get to learn the level of saltiness, and quality. I use a high fat %, lightly salted grass-fed butter therefore add no salt in this recipe. Yes you can use unsalted but add 1/4-1/2 tsp salt as desired.

White sugar: I prefer to use a fine caster/bakers sugar in the cake as it creams nicely with the butter and dissolves quicker. With more sharp edges to cut through fat (in this case butter), cake or cookie batters become aerated more rapidly. Using caster sugar will also prevent a cake cooking with a speckled crust. Yes you can add granulated sugar but you can also make your own caster sugar! Simply add to a blender and… blend! The smaller the granule size means its quicker to dissolve.

Lemon juice & zest: For a true hit of lemon, use zest and juice. The natural essential oils are held in the skin and have an incredible aroma in them. This will give you a wonderful lemon flavour and smell but the tanginess will come from the juice. Invest in a good microplane tool (take care!) so that you can harvest as much of the yellow skin but leave behind the bitter white part.

Large egg: Large eggs are always recommended when baking so that they give consistent results every time and you avoid having an ‘eggy’ taste. Use eggs in cartons labelled “large eggs” which are 55 – 60g / 2 oz each. This is an industry standard and most international bakers’ recipes use this size. In a pinch and have larger eggs? Crack egg into a bowl, whisk then measure out 90 ml / 100 grams. Ta-dah!

Plain flour: Nothing fancy here, just your good ole all purpose/plain flour. This recipe is old school but that being said if you want, you can swap out for a gluten free blend! Be aware that different flour blends may create different results therefor you may need to tweak.

Baking powder: The classic leavener you’ll need when it comes to most cakes, cupcakes and muffins. The ratio of flour to baking powder is lower to give you just enough aeration but leaving with you a slightly denser cake.

Almond meal / flour : Almond meal is finely ground whole almonds used in place of flour to extra moistness to these cookies with a lovely nutty flavour. Almond flour is a little different, it is made with blanched, peeled almonds with no skin. It has a finer texture and while it can still be used, it gives a lighter result and less nutty taste. Both can be found in the nut section of your grocery store.

Flaked Almonds: Simply, they are blanched almonds which have been thinly sliced. These are used to top the cookies to give a bit of ‘crunch’ when you bite into them. The extra textural element its so good in my opinion and i also like the almond flavour.

Powdered icing sugar: The key to our simple lemony glaze. Powdered icing sugar is also referred to as ‘Soft’ icing sugar and not to be confused with ‘Pure’ icing sugar. Soft icing sugar contains a little cornflour/starch to keep it soft as pure sugar is ‘hygroscopic’. This simply means that it absorbs moisture from the air. This is why your white and brown sugar sometimes clumps together. To prevent this, cornflour is added to stop this and keep it soft. Pure icing sugar has no cornflour/starch added and may set solid. It is used in recipe like royal icing when you want it to set firm.