Pumpkin Ricotta Cookies

November 29, 2023 Laura

It’s all documented here just search holiday cookies and you can see some of it. I used to plan a holiday cookie decorating party (mostly with all the neighbourhood kids) and the reality of the event was NEVER the dream. I mean, never.

Here’s the dream: While holiday music plays in the background, children work happily on decorating cookies that are baked perfectly (lightly browned on the outside, warm and soft on the inside). They laugh, share sprinkles, pipe lovely messages or drawings on their cookies and decorate them to look like display pieces.

The reality: While holiday music (purposely too loud thanks to the children) constantly flips from one song to the next because someone in the group “hates this song!”, kids decorate cookies that have been over-cooked because I was distracted with 16 zillion questions about who gets what to notice that the cookies are black. They whine, fight over frosting colours, sprinkles and anything that is in view as they messily adorn cookies that look like they were decorated by blindfolded toddlers who are hyped up on halloween candy.

Thankfully, today, I have the dream. Scarlett is finally at the age where all our traditions matter, like, truly matter, and she cares for our decorating, crafting and baking as much as I do. Along the way, we’ve subtracted some of the numbers so it’s just a few hand-selected friends who love it as much as we do or only “our family,” but the results are always what I imagined the holidays would be like with small people in your home. We now have gingerbread houses worthy of display, cookies that could really be given as gifts and hand-painted ornaments that you can hang on the front of the tree, not in that weird hole in the back.

After all that explanation about our trimming prowess, you’d think this post would be featuring cookies that are a staggering display of our decorating acumen. Alas, they are just buttons of creamy ricotta and pumpkin insaneness that are smeared with cream cheese icing. They’re not wildly holiday-ish since they aren’t in cute shapes or buried in coloured icing, but I promise you they will be the belle of your cookie tray. These pillows are soft and delicious with a warm hint of cinnamon-y pumpkin. And like our holiday prep, the reality of these cookies is every bit the dream.

originated 2019

Pumpkin Ricotta Cookies

Print Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup ricotta or mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie filling
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside
Using a hand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and mix until incorporated.
Add in the ricotta cheese and pumpkin puree; mix until well combined.
In a separate bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.
Add the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture.
Place heaping tablespoon size rounds of dough on prepared baking sheet
Bake until lightly browned on the bottoms, about 12 to 14 minutes. Allow cookies to cool on a wire rack before frosting.
In a bowl, beat cream cheese with butter; beat in icing sugar until thick and creamy.
Spread over top of cookies; decorate with white sprinkles or dragees.