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Prep Time: 1 Minutes Cook Time: 10 Minutes |
Ready In: 11 Minutes Servings: 9 |
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These are the darlings of the cookie plate! They can be adapted to suit any holiday by changing the color of the sprinkles, and they keep well, even when stored haphazardly. Any citrus will wok - I've used standard and meyer lemon and orange, but I think lime and grapefruit would be just as good. The ricotta cheese makes them somewhat more nutritious than other typical holiday cookies. Be sure to cool them completely before frosting them, or the frosting won't harden properly. This recipe is from the January 08 issue of Parenting. Anything in parenthesis are my notes. Prep time includes 1 hour chilling time, and cooking time is per batch. Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose flour (unbleached) |
2 teaspoons baking powder (aluminum free) |
1 teaspoon baking soda |
1/2 teaspoon salt |
1/2 cup butter (unsalted) |
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (natural cane sugar) |
2 eggs |
1 teaspoon vanilla |
1 teaspoon lemon zest (or other citrus zest) |
1 (15 ounce) container low-fat ricotta (whole milk is also okay, for pete sake, don't use fat free!) |
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted |
3 tablespoons lemon juice (fresh please! or use any citrus juice) |
1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional, i added this) |
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
3. In a large bowl, cream softened butter and sugar, then beat in eggs, vanilla, zest and ricotta until blended.
4. Add flour mixture and beat until combined.
5. Cover and chill at least one hour.
6. Shape dough into balls, and place on cookie sheets (if not non-stick, lightly grease or use a Silpat).
7. Bake 10 minutes, or until bottoms are light brown. Cool for one minute or so and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. To make icing, stir confectioners' sugar, juice and zest in a small bowl until smooth.
9. Drizzle icing evenly over each cookie. (I use a teaspoon to put the icing on, and then use the back of the spoon to spread it around a bit.) Garnish with sprinkles. Let stand until icing hardens.
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