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-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.
Ingredients for keto ricotta cookies
This recipe calls for basic keto ingredients that you likely already have on hand. Just grab a tub of ricotta the next time you’re at the store! You will need:
- Butter
- Granulated sweetener – I recommend Swerve for the right consistency.
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Ricotta – preferably full fat
- Lemon or orange zest
- Almond flour
- Coconut flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Heavy cream
- Sugar free sprinkles (optional)
How to make keto ricotta cookies
The method is easy and straightforward. Here are my best tips for getting it right:
- Mix the wet ingredients. Beat the butter with the sweetener first, then beat in the egg, vanilla, ricotta, and zest. Because the texture of ricotta is curdled, it won’t be perfectly smooth and creamy at this point.
- Add the dry ingredients all at once. No need to whisk them together first, as they get well mixed into the wet ingredients.
- Roll the dough into balls. These cookies do spread as they bake so make sure you leave enough space between them on the pans.
- Flatten just slightly. I found that pressing the balls down just a bit helped keep the tops from cracking as they baked. You want the cookies to still be about ¾ inch high before going into the oven.
- Bake until golden. Look for that golden brown color just around the edges of the cookies. They will still be quite soft coming out of the oven. Let cool completely on the pans.
- Whisk the glaze. This is a very simply glaze of powdered sweetener, whipping cream, vanilla extract, and a little water to thin.
- Dip the cookies. I found that dipping the tops right into the glaze worked well. If you gently shake the cookie (right side up), the glaze spreads itself evenly over the top. You can also spread some on with a small spoon and then shake the cookie.
- Garnish as desired. I love the holiday sprinkles from The Sprinkle Company!
Flavor Variations
When I was researching ricotta cookies, I saw a number of possible flavor options. Most of the conventional recipes I consulted used lemon zest and vanilla extract.
I used orange zest and vanilla extract for a holiday feel and thought they were outstanding that way.
But feel free to use just vanilla extract, or use some almond extract instead. Or even try anise extract for a classic Italian flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Keto ricotta cookies are a bit soft and cake-y as it is, so BochaSweet or allulose may work here. I just can’t guarantee it as I didn’t try it out myself. Allulose does tend to over-brown cookies on the outside, in my experience.
For the glaze, you need a powdered sweetener and I recommend Swerve. If you use powdered BochaSweet or allulose, it may not set up and harden properly.
Unfortunately, I don’t think so. Coconut flour is too absorbent and sunflower seed flour has a greyish color that won’t make for attractive ricotta cookies.
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.
Well, if you’re feeling very industrious, you can make your own sugar-free sprinkles. Or you can decorate the keto ricotta cookies with a little lemon or orange zest, or shaved sugar-free chocolate. You could also skip the glaze and simply dust them with powdered sweetener.
More delicious keto ricotta recipes
- Keto Spinach Stuffed Chicken
- Lasagna Stuffed Peppers
- Keto Almond Ricotta Cake
- Ricotta Fritters
- Spaghetti Squash Casserole
- Chocolate Ricotta Pudding
Carolyn Recommends:
Silicone baking mats are the best way to protect the bottom of your keto cookies! I own several in different sizes.
Keto Italian Ricotta Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- ¼ cup butter softened
- ½ cup Swerve Granular
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup full fat ricotta room temperature
- 2 teaspoon orange or lemon zest
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Glaze
- ½ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 to 2 tablespoon water
Garnish
- 2 tablespoon 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 ¾ 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.
Elizabeth Godfrey Ford says
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!
Catherine P says
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.
Texas Shopper says
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!
Steph says
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!
Carolyn says
They should be fine for 3 or 4 days.
Gladys says
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 !
Carolyn says
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.
Sarah Scoggin says
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!
George Macaulay says
Love these!! Personally, my preference is to eat them without the glaze. Delicious either way.
Marie says
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.
Robin says
Very good, glad I found this recipe for my first try at keto cookies.
Marla J. Ybarra says
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)?
Carolyn says
No idea! I don’t ever purchase or use cottage cheese… I am not sure it has the same consistency.
Misty says
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
Carolyn says
So glad to hear it!
cherlybo says
These were fantastic and I think they taste even better cold!
Molly says
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.
Gaby says
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! ☺️????
Jessica Grubb says
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?
Carolyn says
It would be gorgeous!
Elaine Meyer says
Can these be frozen – before or after frosting?
Carolyn says
Before frosting!
Gigi V. says
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!
Ema says
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.
Carolyn says
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.
Ema says
Many thanks for the tips -second batch was much better and just as tasty. 🙂
Tracy says
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!
Shari Ciancio says
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!
Shari Ciancio says
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!
Angela says
I use THM sweeteners. Which one for the cookies? Gentle sweet?
Carolyn says
Not entirely sure since I don’t use it. Swerve is mostly erythritol.