Lemon ricotta cookies with lemon glaze

Are you a fan of leftovers? I am, depending upon what they are and how much time I've got on my hands. When I'm at home watching our daughter on my own, sometimes she doesn't give me much time to cook. There are just some days where I have to rely on leftovers for dinner.

I was taking an inventory of my kitchen and pantry supplies and saw that I had half a container of ricotta cheese left over.  I also had some lemon juice that I didn't use (I used the zest for something else). I didn't want these things to go to waste, so once again, I did some research to look for a recipe that could use up these ingredients.

I came across these lemon ricotta cookies with lemon glaze from Giada De Laurentiis on the Food Network website. I read through the ingredients, and the recipe seemed very simple. Since I only had half a container of ricotta and the juice of one lemon, I decided to halve it. Plus, who needs 44 cookies?  Ok, I probably do, but my thighs and hips do not.

The cookie dough came together very easily - in about 10 or 15 minutes.The cookie seemed light and refreshing, almost like a glass of lemonade (except not quite as tart). The glaze didn't overpower the cookie and actually enhanced the lemon flavor but provided a bit of sweetness. They would be great to serve at a cookout or party!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15 ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese
• 3 TBSP lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested (I omitted)

Glaze

• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 TBSP lemon juice
• 1 lemon, zested (I omitted)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat (use an electric mixer if you have one) until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the ricotta cheese, lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat to combine. Stir in the dry ingredients.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper (I used my imitation Silpat). Spoon the dough (about 2 tablespoons for each cookie - I used a medium cookie scoop) onto the baking sheets.

Bake for 15 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 20 minutes.

For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in a small bowl and stir until smooth. Spoon about 1/2 teaspoon onto each cookie and use the back of a spoon to gently spread. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours.

Yield: About 44 cookies (I halved the recipe and got 23 cookies)

Source: Giada De Laurentiis, via the Food Network