Lacy Brown Butter and Ricotta Cookies Recipe (2024)

Why It Works

  • Brown butter gives the cookies a toasted, nutty flavor.
  • Ricotta helps the cookies spread out lacy and thin.
  • Baking soda improves browning and spread.

Two days after Christmas, while playing around with some leftover ricotta, I made a delicious mistake. The goal had been to make a batch of Italian ricotta cookies with a brown butter twist, but, thanks to some miscalculation, the experiment fell flat...literally. The cookie dough started out nice and thick, then puffed up beautifully in the oven, but seconds later, it collapsed and spread into a paper-thin puddle of bubbling goo.

The attempt had been something of a crapshoot anyway, a last-minute attempt to use up a few tablespoons of extra ricotta so I could clean out the fridge. With more pressing concerns on my mind than a rando-cookie failure, I set the tray of molten dough aside until it could cool enough to be tossed without melting a hole in my trash bag (been there, done that).

When I came back to clean up my mess, I found the cookies had cooled enough to turn snappy around the edges, with centers that were slightly squishy to the touch. Out of idle curiosity, I took a bite, and it felt like mainlining brown butter—an almost shocking hit of nutty richness. The cookie was all toasty and crisp around the edges, yet unbelievably soft and chewy at the same time, an amazing feat of contrast for a cookie so thin.

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I ate anotherhalf dozen or soto be sure it wasn't a fluke. They were an epic failure as an Italian ricotta cookie, but a total win as whatever it was they were.

How Ricotta Affects Texture

Since that day, I've made these cookies in five kitchens across two states, with every type of ricotta under the sun. Several dozen batches in, I've found that their appearance can vary dramatically with the specific fat and moisture content of the ricotta itself, whether store-bought or homemade.

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My preference is for a high-quality, part-skim commercial ricotta—for baking, it's hard to beat the balance of a factory formulation. That formulation, however, is almost laughably different from brand to brand.Homemade ricotta, which is usually more of a farmer's cheese, can be especially variable—its water, fat, and protein contents, not to mention its pH level, are all dependent on the specific ingredients and method involved. But despite any aesthetic differences, the cookies have tasted about the same no matter what ricotta I've used. Since the recipe is a mistake by nature, I'm inclined to roll with the punches and enjoy the cookies regardless of their outward inconsistencies.

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Making the Cookie Batter

If you'd like a delicious disaster of your own, the first step is to brown some butter. It's a quick job in a wide skillet, and if you happen to have a used vanilla bean in the pantry somewhere, you should toss it on in. This is a totally optional step, but one that can help youget more mileage out of a leftover vanilla bean, while lending the cookies a deeper and more nuanced flavor than vanilla extract can achieve on its own.

To keep the butter from splattering, start by melting it over medium-low heat. From there, you can crank it up to medium to cook off the water. As it bubbles and roars, stir and scrape the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula to prevent the milk solids from burning, and be sure to turn the heat down should they seem to be browning too fast. When the brown butter is done, it will go quiet as a whisper, and you'll see lots of golden-brown bits along the bottom.

Immediately pour the brown butter into a large bowl, and let it cool until it turns slightly thick and opaque, but not totally solid. After that, you'll stir in all the remaining ingredients in stages, starting with plain ortoasted sugar, vanilla extract, salt, and baking soda.

Really take your time stirring in those first few ingredients. When they're thoroughly combined, stir in the ricotta, followed by the all-purpose flour (I use bleached Gold Medal). Once the dough is nice and smooth, divide it into about 35 one-tablespoon portions. It's extremely fast and efficient to usea one-tablespoon scoop, but a pair of dinner spoons will do the trick.

Baking the Cookies

Don't be tempted to make larger portions. Those seemingly tiny blobs of dough will spread like crazy in the oven, so much so that it's impossible to fit more than eight on ahalf sheet pan. So go small, and give each ball plenty of space.

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Bake until the cookies are lacy, thin, and golden around the edges, then let them cool to room temperature. The cookies are squishy, almost greasy, while warm—a texture that resolves itself into something pleasantly soft and rich as they cool. Plus, giving the edges time to crisp up is more than worth the wait.

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They may not be traditional ricotta cookies, but these delicate wafers have an undeniable charm all their own. I can guarantee I'll be making this mistake over and over again in the years to come.

February 2018

Recipe Details

Lacy Brown Butter and Ricotta Cookies Recipe

Prep10 mins

Cook70 mins

Active15 mins

Cooling Time25 mins

Total105 mins

Serves35 cookies

Ingredients

  • 5 ounces unsalted butter(about 10 tablespoons; 140g)

  • 1 leftover vanilla bean pod, optional (see this article on working with leftover vanilla)

  • 7 ounces plain ortoastedsugar (about 1 cup; 195g)

  • 2 teaspoons (10g) vanilla extract

  • 1 teaspoon (4g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use about half as much by volume or the same weight

  • 1/4 teaspoon (1.25g) baking soda

  • 4 ounces cold ricotta (about 1/2 cup; 110g), strained if watery (see notes)

  • 4 1/2 ounces all-purpose flour, such as Gold Medal (about 1 cup, spooned; 125g)

Directions

  1. Getting Ready: In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat. When it has completely melted, add vanilla pod (if using) and increase heat to medium. Simmer, stirring and scraping with a heat-resistant spatula while butter hisses and pops. When butter is golden yellow and perfectly silent, remove from heat and pour into a medium bowl, making sure to scrape up all the toasty brown bits from along the bottom. Cool until slightly thickened and opaque, but still slightly warm, around 80°F (27°C). This will take about 75 minutes at room temperature or 25 minutes in the fridge; if refrigerating, stir butter every 6 minutes or so to prevent it from hardening around the edges of the bowl.

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  2. Make the Dough: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 350°F (180°C). When brown butter has cooled, remove vanilla pod (if using) and stir in sugar, vanilla extract, salt, and baking soda. Stir until baking soda is well distributed, about 1 minute, then fold in cold ricotta. Once ingredients are combined, stir in flour to form a soft dough.

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  3. Portioning the Dough: Divide into 1-tablespoon portions and arrange on a parchment-lined half sheet pan, leaving about 4 inches between cookies to account for their significant spread. (If you like, the dough can be placed on a parchment-lined plate and frozen until firm, then transferred to a zip-top bag for storage. It can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months.)

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  4. Bake until cookies are lacy, thin, and golden brown around the edges, but still rather pale in the middle, about 12 minutes. Cool completely on baking sheet, as the cookies will be doughy and soft while warm. Portion and bake remaining cookie dough (see note). Enjoy after cooling, or store up to 1 week in an airtight container at room temperature.

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Special Equipment

Half sheet pans, one-tablespoon cookie scoop (optional)

Notes

The appearance of these cookies will vary with the fat and moisture contents of the ricotta, which differ wildly from brand to brand, but their delicious flavor will remain the same.

If you have two half sheet pans, you can save a lot of time by baking a batch of cookies on the second sheet as the batch fresh from the oven cools.

Read More

  • Taste Test: The Best Ricotta Cheese
  • Fiori di Sicilia Cookies
  • The Serious Eats Guide to Cookie Styles
Lacy Brown Butter and Ricotta Cookies Recipe (2024)
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