Sourdough Lemon Ricotta Cookies are soft, tender, and melt in your mouth amazing. Using ricotta and discard sourdough starter, results in ultramoist cake-like cookies with the perfect balance of sweet and tart.

ricotta cookies on a wire rack with slices of lemon

If you’ve never had ricotta cookies, this recipe is a great place to start. I discovered this recipe from the book Artisan Sourdough Made Easy – Sourdough Key Lime Ricotta Cookies by Emilie Raffa, she has some amazing recipes including these Ricotta Cookies.

Ricotta is a mild-tasting soft cheese that adds moisture to all kinds of baking, and these lemon cookies are no exception!

Making them doesn’t take any more time and effort than your average cookie recipe. The additional ingredient of the discard is all you need to take these from lemon ricotta cookies to elevated sourdough cookies. It’s a great way to reduce waste when making homemade sourdough-starter.

Light and fluffy cookies with a delicate sweetness and a burst of citrus so mouthwatering they’ll be gone in seconds. The simple sweet glaze on top is just icing on the…cookie!

Table of Contents

What is Sourdough Starter Discard?

Making sourdough isn’t hard by any means but it is a process. To begin, you need to start by fermenting the dough (flour and water) naturally over a period of days in a warm area. Eventually, you will discard about half of the starter to leave room to add more flour and water and continue the process. The discarded half can then be used for all kinds of delicious recipes, like this one.

How to make them

Whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat in the softened butter, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and continue beating. Then, while still beating, add the discard, ricotta, zest, and vanilla. Continue until fully combined.

dry ingredients whisked in a bowl and ingredients in the mixing bowl

Lower the speed and add in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to incorporate everything. You don’t want any flour left at the bottom of the batter that hasn’t been mixed in. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

wet mixture mixed in the bowl and mixed into a dough

Towards the end of the hour, preheat the oven and prepare two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Remove the dough from the fridge and using a spoon or cookie scoop, drop the batter by spoonfuls. These cookies don’t spread too much, but you still need to leave room in between each one.

Bake until lightly golden and allow to cool on cookie sheets before moving to a wire rack.

In a medium bowl whisk together the icing sugar, lemon juice, and zest. Once cookies are completely cooled, drizzle the top with the glaze. The glaze is totally optional. Feel free to add just a dusting of powdered sugar if you prefer.

How to store them

If they haven’t all been eaten by the end of the day, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. They also freeze well for up to 3 months, keeping in mind the glaze may not be the same consistency it once was, so it is best to freeze them unglazed. Thaw them overnight at room temperature.

Can I use another citrus flavour?

Yes! These can be made using lemon, lime, and even orange. In fact, switch it up once in a while. Maybe on special occasions, add some sprinkles on top!

What if the glaze is too thick?

If you find the glaze too thick, add a little more lemon juice or milk. If you find it too thin, add a little more powdered sugar.

You can never have too many simple delicious cookie recipes. Whether it’s for the holidays, a special occasion, or just because the mood strikes, keep this recipe handy. Try them out and let me know what you think!