During the holidays it can be hard to stray from traditional bakes. Every family has a few dishes that feel like they must make it to the table no matter what at some point during the holidays. One of ours is Sicilian Chocolate Spicy Cookies – definitley worth a try too! So it can be hard to fit in something new or even have the time to try a new recipe. But this year I’m giving a new (to me) recipe from Allrecipes a try. We always love a good ricotta cookie and Orange cranberry is a classic flavor combo for winter, so it seems like the perfect choice.
It can also be a little nerve racking to try something new, especially if it’s to serve to family at the holidays, so I figured I would give the recipe a trial run before committing them to the Christmas dessert spread. I’m happy to report, they worked out really well! Not that I doubted Allrecipes, but sometime things don’t go or taste as you expect. So I have learned the hard way to not try something new when serving to a large group. Especially if you’re going to replace a traditional family dish with a newbie.
Here are the few modifications I made to the recipe –
- I kept most of the ingredients the same, except for:
- I swapped unsalted butter for salted – I’m always a fan of controlling the amount of salt in a recipe.
- I added 1 tsp of orange extract in addition to vanilla. I wanted a bit more of an orange flavor than I thought would come from just orange zest.
- I made the cookies smaller than they have listed. We like slightly smaller cookies as a family, so 3 Tbsp of dough just seemed bigger than necessary. So I was able to get 34 cookies instead of 20 out of this recipe.
- We like a cakey cookie, so I didn’t flatten them the way they suggest. I think that may have been the reason why I had to bake them for 12 minutes even though they were smaller.
- Next time I think I will skip the cranberries on top. They looked fine, but I couldn’t get them to really couldn’t get them to lay on top the way I wanted to. The cranberries in the cookies add to the flavor, not the ones sitting on top.
Overall it’s a good recipe that I’ll definitely try again, next time I think I’ll swap the cranberries for mini chocolate chips…because chocolate is always a yummy option. 😊
Orange Cranberry Ricotta Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
- 1 cup White Sugar
- 1/2 cup Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
- 4 oz Cream Cheese, softened
- 1 Large Egg
- 2 tbsp Milk
- 1 tbsp Orange Zest
- 1 tsp Orange Extract
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3/4 cup Dried Cranberries
Glazer
- 1½ cups Powdered Sugar
- 1 tbsp Orange Zest
- 3 tbsp Orange Juice
- 1/4 cup Dried Cranberries, chopped
Instructions
Make the cookies
- Pre-heat over to 375° and line cookie sheets with parchment paper or use Silpat mats.
- Whisk together all dry ingredients, set aside.
- Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Then add ricotta, cream cheese, and milk. Add egg, orange zest, and extracts; beat until just combined
- Beat in flour mixture until just combined. Fold in dried cranberries
- Use a spoon or a #40 scoop (approx. 2 Tbsps) to portion dough onto cookie sheet.
- Bake at 375° until only the bottom edges will turn golden brown, 10 - 12 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool.
Make the glaze
- Whisk all ingredients together to make glaze. Be sure to add the orange juice slowly to get the consistency you're looking for. It is always easier to add more if it's too thick.
- Spoon a small amount of glaze on each cookie. Glaze only a few at a time and sprinkle chopped dried cranberries on before the glaze sets.
- Make sure the glaze has set before storing.
