One of my mom friends at school is an amazing cook. She’s the type that drops off homemade carrot cake cupcakes loaded with nuts and dried fruit and super soft cream cheese icing when her daughter comes for a playdate (as I hide the bag of chips and Oreos I set out) or brings super nutritious and delicious salads with roasted beets and sweet potatoes (another recipe I need to share…) over for dinner to go with the pizza you’ve ordered. You might think that I would be that type of mom, too, but I’m definitely not… sometimes I can be, but not on a regular basis anyways.
She brought these lemon cookies over for a casual dinner one night last spring and I could not stay away from them. Apparently they are based on the Nordstrom Lemon Ricotta Cookies, but in our house they are called Lia’s Lemon Cookies. left : Cello Bags & Satin Ribbon
The dough is rather soft so cookies require freezing before you bake to ensure that they are moist and tender inside. I used a Small Scoop to form them, then put them in the freezer on a small baking sheet to freeze them. When they were frozen solid (after a couple of hours) I transferred them to a plastic bag. I just baked 8 at a time a large baking sheet and will save the rest for later – one of my typical tricks. 
Lia’s Lemon Cookies
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 tablespoon of fine sea salt
2 sticks of butter, softened to room temp
2 cups of sugar
2 large eggs
16 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese
zest of 6 lemons (save the lemon juice for glaze)
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
glaze :
1 stick of butter
3 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
zest of lemon (for garnish that I forgot)
In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together with the paddle attachment for 3 minutes. Add eggs in one at a time. Mix in ricotta cheese, lemon and zest. Gradually add the flour, baking powder and sea salt and mix just until combined. Do not over mix – it will be very soft.
On a Small Baking Sheet lined with Parchment Paper scoop out the dough using a Small Scoop Freeze for a couple of hours until solid.
Transfer to a plastic bag and freeze until you need to use them, or bake.
Shape the scooped dough into balls by rolling in your hands. I did not do this for the first batch and they looked sort of like footballs. Baking on a Large Baking Sheet lined with Parchment Paper Sheets Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. 
Let the cookies cool before you glaze.
To make the glaze, melt the butter in the microwave. Meanwhile, sift the powdered sugar so there are no lumps. Using a whisk, mix together the melted butter, sifted powdered sugar and lemon juice until a nice thick glaze forms. Add more powdered sugar if too thin, or lemon juice if too thick.
This is a new tool in my kitchen. My daughter insisted on it now that she’s been watching Kids Baking Championship – apparently, they all sift their dry ingredients. I am not really that much of a perfectionist for baking, but I do use it when I don’t want any lumps in my super smooth and shiny glaze. We’ve also used it to strain seeds out of our strawberry jam and to sift almond flour when making macaroon.
Spoon over the lemon glaze on top of each. You could drizzle if you prefer, but I love the generous dollop on top that runs down the sides.
I might not have waited for these to completely cool, which may have made the glaze run a little too much. See the back right one? : )
I packaged some up in Cello Bags and tied with my favorite special satin ribbon. Products Used : Small Baking Sheet Large Baking Sheet Parchment Paper Sheets Small Scoop Large Mesh Sifter Cello Bags Satin Ribbon The Medium Bag has 4 cookies and the Small Bag has 2 cookies. It would be a darling favor for a spring shower – gobbled up as soon as they got in the car.