Pillowy soft Keto Ricotta Cookies are a sweet Italian-style treat. These classic cookies are just as tender and delicious as the original, and totally sugar- and gluten-free!
I am over the moon about these fabulous Italian Keto Ricotta Cookies. They’re so mouthwateringly tender, I might start putting ricotta in all of my keto cookie recipes! And they will most certainly be gracing my keto Christmas cookie platter for years to come. They’re easy to make and look so bright and festive.
I asked my followers on Facebook recently for their all time favorite holiday cookie. There were plenty of requests for keto snowball cookies and keto sugar cookies. And spritz cookies came up quite a few times as well.
Italian ricotta cookies got a few mentions and I knew they were perfect for a sugar-free keto makeover.
Why you will love these cookies
Ricotta cookies are rather unassuming little treats, but don’t be fooled. That plain exterior belies some serious deliciousness. And the most wonderful pillowy soft texture! I was surprised by how much I love them.
They’re also very easy to make. You simply beat the wet ingredients, add the dry ingredients, and form into flattened balls. The glaze is quite simple as well.
You can make the cookies in advance and freeze them for later. Which always helps if you are planning ahead for the holidays!
And a serving of two cookies has less than 3g net carbs per serving. So it’s a perfect low carb sweet treat when you need one.
Reader Reviews
“Absolutely love them…made with lemon zest and orange zest. delicious both ways. thank you for my new favorite cookie. my husband agrees!!” — Dawn
“I am three weeks into Keto and these Ricotta Cookies give me reason to live! I did not have keto sprinkles but sprinkled some crushed almonds on top. Delicious!” — Nancy
“These were delicious. I love almonds so I added a little almond flavor as well as the vanilla. I tried without the icing with a bit of chocolate chips on top and the icing was better.” — Clair
Ingredient Notes
- Ricotta: I used full fat ricotta for this recipe. There is no need to drain it in advance.
- Butter: You also need a little butter for the base of these cookies. I often use salted but unsalted is just fine too.
- Sweetener: You need a granulated sweetener for the cookies and a powdered sweetener for the glaze. Please see the Tips for Success for more information.
- Keto flours: I find that mostly almond flour, with just a little coconut flour, gives these keto cookies the best consistency.
- Lemon or orange zest: A little citrus zest is classic in ricotta cookies. But some readers add a little almond extract instead.
- Heavy whipping cream: Heavy cream plus powdered sweetener creates a lovely white glaze.
- Sugar free sprinkles (optional): You can also do chopped nuts or citrus zest.
- Pantry staples: Eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, salt.
Step by Step Directions
1. Combine the wet ingredients: Beat the butter with the sweetener until well combined, then beat in the egg and vanilla extract until creamy. Beat in the ricotta and the zest.
2. Add the dry ingredients: All at once, add the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat in until the dough comes together.
3. Form the cookies: Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on the 2 baking sheets lined with silicone baking mats. With the palm of your hand, press down to flatten slightly (they should still be rounded and about ¾ inch thick – this helps them crack less on the tops).
4. Bake the cookies: Bake at 325ºF for 15 to 20 minutes, switching the pans partway through baking, until lightly browned. They will still be very soft. Remove and let cool completely on the pans.
5. Prepare the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the sweetener, cream, and vanilla extract. Whisk in the water, a little at a time, to thin it out. The glaze should be thin enough to dip the cookies.
6. Glaze the cookies: Dip the top of each cookie in the glaze, turn right-side up, and shake the cookie slightly to even it out. Place on a cooling rack and add the sprinkles, if using. Let set 1 hour.
Tips for Success
Most of the conventional recipes for ricotta cookies call for lemon zest and vanilla extract. I used orange zest for a holiday variation. But you can use just vanilla extract or some almond extract instead. Or try anise extract for a classic Italian flavor.
I sincerely feel that the coconut flour helps the consistency of this recipe. But if you absolutely feel it’s necessary, you can replace it with another 3 to 4 tablespoons of almond flour.
Sweetener Options
These keto ricotta cookies work best with erythritol based sweeteners in both the cookies and the glaze. Allulose may work in the cookies but it can cause them to darken more quickly so please keep your eye on them.
For the glaze, powdered allulose tends to make it so soft that it almost disappears when used to coat things. It also never quite firms up properly. If you need to use something like allulose, I recommend adding a little softened cream cheese to give it structure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ricotta cheese is an excellent choice for the keto diet. Whole milk ricotta has only 7g of carbs per cup, as well as 28g of protein. And it’s wonderful in both sweet and savory recipes.
Absolutely! The baked cookies freeze well and can be stored for several months. I recommend glazing them after thawing so it’s fresh and bright.
Soft cookies like these are more moist and tender than most. They are fine on the counter for 3 or 4 days but should be refrigerated if they will be around longer than that.
These tender keto cookies have only 5.1g per serving. They also have 2.2g of fiber. That means that they have 2.9g net carbs per two cookies.
More delicious keto ricotta recipes
Keto Italian Ricotta Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1/4 cup (56.75 g) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (91 g) erythritol sweetener
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup (183 g) whole milk ricotta, room temperature
- 2 tsp orange or lemon zest
- 2 cups (210 g) almond flour
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) baking powder
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) baking soda
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
Glaze
- 1/2 cup (91 g) powdered sweetener
- 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 tbsp water
Garnish
- 2 tbsp keto sprinkles, optional
Instructions
Cookies
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line 2 baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
- Beat the butter with the sweetener until well combined, then beat in the egg and vanilla extract until creamy. Beat in the ricotta and the zest
- All at once, add the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat in until the dough comes together.
- Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. With the palm of your hand, press down to flatten slightly (they should still be rounded and about 3/4 inch thick – this helps them crack less on the tops).
- Bake 15 to 20 minutes, switching the pans partway through baking, until lightly browned. They will still be very soft. Remove and let cool completely on the pans.
Glaze
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sweetener, cream, and vanilla extract. Whisk in the water, a little at a time, to thin it out. The glaze should be thin enough to dip the cookies.
- Dip the top of each cookie in the glaze, turn right-side up, and shake the cookie slightly to even it out. (You can also spread the glaze on, and shake the cookie gently to even it out). Place on a cooling rack and add the sprinkles, if using. Let set 1 hour.
Notes
Nutrition
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HOLY MOLY! Soft, sweet, pretty, and fun to make! These cookies are SO refreshing! Like they actually scratch that itch for something fresh while being a sweet treat. It’s like drinking a sprite if that makes sense? Haha Not the taste, just that refreshing citrus feeling – ooooh no like drinking a FRESCA! Yeah that’s it… I sound insane. I know. It’s okay.
Anyhoo – This is the first one of your dessert recipes I made for my celiac mom – she said “I NEED HER COOKBOOK!” So I proceeded to buy her a copy of every single one. She’s living the high life now! She said anybody who could use alternative flours and make them actually good was a winner in her book!
These were absolutely delicious!
I put a little cannoli spin on them by adding a few Lily’s dark chocolate chips in the dough and rolling the balls in crushed pistachios before baking. The texture of these cookies is pillowy soft and I like that they are not super sweet.
Made these several times over Christmas because they are so good. They taste just like the regular flour/sugar version. Super easy recipe that turns out every time. Yum! Thank you for yet another keeper recipe!
Absolutely delicious!
I left these on thy counter at night…. Are they still okay to eat because of r icotta in them? I didn’t even think of that!
They should be fine for 3 or 4 days.
I’ll be honest…
I don’t leave comments on recipes for various reasons.
But I’ll make an exception for this one.
My husband and I desperately needed to get our health in control, and after consulting our dr, he recommended a low carb diet.
For the most part, this hasn’t really been in issue. Except when it comes to desserts.
We love them
All of them.
Imagine our displeasure when realizing we couldn’t enjoy them anymore (we might have over indulged a time or two).
This all changed when I stumbled on this specific recipe (which THANK GODS led me to your website)
These cookies are the best I’ve ever had, pre diet change included.
I’ve made them twice now, the first time with lemon zest (and lemon glaze-but I didn’t realize until I made them again today that I forgot to add the hwc the first time around) and the second time with orange zest. When I made the glaze, I omitted the vanilla extract, and replaced the water with the orange that I zested, plus a little orange zest. Don’t forget the hwc in the glaze like I did, what a huge difference it makes!
I have one small not really worth mentioning problem. The dough is not rollable at all, more like a drop cookie. This doesn’t bother us at all. I noticed in another comment someone else had the same issue and you had recommended straining the ricotta. Now, I’ve only ever seen ricotta as a very very thick yogurt, does ricotta come any other way? How else can I reduce the liquid in the recipe without sacrificing flavor?
Thank you thank you thank you for this and many other recipes, it’s been a game changer for us !
Ricotta is usually not like a thick yogurt… Instead, it’s more like a thicker cottage cheese with smaller curds. So it is your ricotta causing the stickiness and you can simply add a little more flour.
These are so good! I did lemon zest with mine and they were just the perfect treat. Tender, just the right amount of sweetness and that hint of lemon just makes them perfect! Going to try the orange zest next! Thank you for these amazing cookies!
Love these!! Personally, my preference is to eat them without the glaze. Delicious either way.
These ricotta cookies just earned me first place in my family’s Christmas cookie contest, so thank you! Nobody even knew that they were keto.
Very good, glad I found this recipe for my first try at keto cookies.
I’ve made these twice so far and both times they turned out great. I was wondering if I could sub cottage cheese for the ricotta ( blending in a food processor first)?
No idea! I don’t ever purchase or use cottage cheese… I am not sure it has the same consistency.
I didn’t have the zest so I used 1 tsp orange extract. These cookies were delicious and even passed my picky, “none keto”, “don’t like substitute sugar”, family
So glad to hear it!
These were fantastic and I think they taste even better cold!
Carolyn, I’ve made A LOT of your recipes, and this is my new favorite! Anyone who loves a soft, cakey cookie will be very pleased. I eliminate the lemon zest, add a tiny bit more vanilla, and put almond extract in the glaze. Rather than hand rolling, I use a small cookie scoop to plop them out on the parchment-lined pan. This is a quick and easy recipe with very little clean-up.
These cookies are sooooo delicious!!! I made them a couple of days ago, just with a little twist. Don’t have sugar free sprinkles so I decided to add a bit of lemon juice to the icing and sprinkle some lemon zest on them 😉 my entire family loved them! My boys (including my hubby) are not super fan of my Leto baking but, boy oh boy, these cookies were a HIT! Thank you Carolyn! ☺️????
Have you ever tried almond extract for the glaze? I use to use almond extract in my sugar cookie icing and everyone loved it. Just wondering if it would pair well with these cookies?
It would be gorgeous!
Can these be frozen – before or after frosting?
Before frosting!
Love love love these! I’m making a keto cookie smorgasbord this year (admittedly most of the recipes are yours!), and these are a lovely centerpiece!
I used lemon zest (because I had some leftover after converting a quadruple batch of I Breathe, I’m Hungry’s lemon bars into mini lemon tarts with almond shortbread crusts), and Neilsen -Massey’s vanilla bean paste, which yes, has a bit of carbs, but is sooo good. I also used Galbani whole milk ricotta, FWIW, and Wellbee’s almond flour. I also used half granular Swerve and half powdered Bochasweet in the cookies themselves (but all Confectioners Swerve in the frosting.) Oh, and salted butter, which tasted fine to me.
But I gotta say, how in the WORLD does anyone only get 24 cookies from this recipe?? I prepped for 5 batches – again, I’ve a long list of cookie recipients! – and then discovered that when I used a 1″ disher to scoop the dough into roughly 1¼” balls, I got 60(!) cookies per batch!!! And the dough *was* soft, yes, but after I wetted my hands, the dough was very easy to roll into smooth rounds.
I mean, it all works out because they’re so spectacular, but I wish I could’ve known how prodigious the recipe would be before I brought more than a quart of ricotta up to room temp!
Hey, these taste great – will make again! However, the dough was very wet – had to make like drop cookies rather than roll as instructed. Should the ricotta be strained before use? Just wondering if this might have affected the consistency of the dough.
The ricotta should not need to be strained but it sounds like yours was pretty liquidy or there wasn’t enough flour. Try avoiding the liquid and scooping up just the curds the next time.
Many thanks for the tips -second batch was much better and just as tasty. 🙂
These were wayyy out of my normal comfort zone (ricotta in cookies????) but something compelled me to try them and not I was not disappointed! Dreamily soft textured cookies that melt in your mouth. I brought to a holiday staff party and my coworker who is full blooded Italian said they were amazing. Major score, I will be making again for our family’s Christmas gatherings!
These are absolutely fab! I want to share a couple of substitutions I had to use as I cannot eat coconut flour nor erythritol, bocha sweet, nor allulose containing sweeteners. So I substituted oat fiber for the coconut flour (same amount) and stevia glycerite (1/2 tablespoon) for the Swerve. They were a hit with my husband and a friend with whom I shared them. I chose not to frost them, to keep the carbs down as well as make them more versatile as I had them on a cheese board. The texture and taste were just wonderful and I’ll definitely be baking these again, not just for holiday treats. Thank you Carolyn, for the recipe and recently re-posting them on Facebook!
Oops. I meant to keep the calories down, not carbs, when I mentioned not frosting the cookies. BTW. They taste even better the next day after refrigerating them!
I use THM sweeteners. Which one for the cookies? Gentle sweet?
Not entirely sure since I don’t use it. Swerve is mostly erythritol.