Traditional Italian Christmas Cookies

Melt-in-your-mouth texture meets festive, joyful elegance in every bite of these Traditional Italian Christmas Cookies. These almond-flavored ricotta cheese cookies are topped with a luxurious vanilla and almond butter frosting and decorated with festive colored sprinkles. 

Ricotta cheese adds a uniquely moist, tender, and slightly cake-like texture to these Italian Christmas cookies while contributing a subtle, rich creaminess that enhances flavor without overpowering it. Whip up a large batch in just 30 minutes!

These are my new go-to Christmas cookies because they are so light and fluffy. One batch makes quite a few, so after frosting, I keep on a baking sheet in the fridge. I’ve brought plates of cookies to my neighbors for homemade gifts this year, and everyone raves about how light and fresh these cookies are! Everyone loves the almond flavor!

What are traditional Italian Christmas cookies?

These Italian holiday cookies combine a buttery sugar cookie base with moist and flavorful ricotta cheese, giving the cookies an irresistible cake-like texture. They’re decorated with a sweet and buttery frosting with colored sprinkles for a pop of Christmas cheer. 

They’re perfect for holiday cookie exchange parties, when hosting for the holidays, or as an easy and delicious treat for the family to enjoy in the comfort of your home. 

Ingredients needed to make traditional Italian Christmas cookies

• Butter: Softened for easy mixing. I prefer unsalted butter, but salted butter works too – just omit added salt in the ingredients list.
• Granulated sugar: For sweetness and crisp edges.
• Large eggs: Allow the eggs to reach room temperature for a smooth blending into the rest of the ingredients. 
• Ricotta cheese: Whole milk ricotta adds rich flavor and creamy texture. I don’t recommend using low fat ricotta for these Italian holiday cookies.
• Vanilla and almond extract: I’ve used vanilla and almond extract in this sprinkle cookies recipe for depth of flavor. Feel free to omit the almond extract and only use vanilla, if you prefer. 
• All-purpose flour: Spoon and level to avoid dense cookies.
• Salt: Balances and enhances flavors. Skip if using salted butter.
• Baking soda: Helps to create the perfect rise in these ricotta cookies.

• Frosting: This butter frosting combines softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and almond extract, and 2% milk.
• Colored sprinkles: For a touch of holiday flair!

How do you make these Italian holiday cookies 

Make the cookie dough:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease baking sheets. 
2. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl for about 5-7 minutes until light and fluffy. 
3. Add 1 egg at a time, beating well between.
4. Beat in the ricotta and extracts. 
5. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. 
6. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix until just combined.

Bake the cookies:

1. Drop a tablespoon of cookie dough per cookie onto the prepared sheets, making sure to leave 2-inches between each cookie. 
2. Bake the cookies at 350 degrees F for 11-13 minutes or until lightly browned. 
3. Transfer the baked cookies to wire racks to cool completely. 

Frost and decorate the cookies:

1. Add the frosting ingredients to a large bowl to cream together, adding just enough milk to achieve a spreadable consistency. Adjust as needed. 
2. Frost the cooled cookies and decorate them immediately with the sprinkles to serve or store. 

Serving

These Italian holiday cookies are the perfect treat to enjoy with your favorite holiday beverage. 

Serve them alongside other festive Christmas desserts when entertaining, such as 3-Ingredient Peppermint Hot Fudge Bites, Hot Cocoa Dip, and Gluten Free Peppermint Brownies. 

Sandy’s tips and substitutions:

• Storage: Keep leftover Italian Christmas cookies with frosting in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Unfrosted ricotta cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.  
• Freeze: For longer storage, freeze the cooled cookies (without the frosting) in a single layer before transferring to a freezer-safe bag or container – they’ll last for up to 3 months. Thaw them at room temperature and then frost and decorate with sprinkles before serving again. 
• Extracts: I love the combination of almond and vanilla extract in these ricotta cookies, but you could omit the almond extract and just use vanilla instead, if you prefer. 

• Uniform-sized cookies: Use a cookie scoop to create uniform sized cookies that will bake evenly at the same rate and look more appealing. 
• Cool before frosting: Make sure that the cookies have cooled completely as any residual heat and steam will make the frosting runny. 
• Chilling cookie dough: This recipe doesn’t require the dough to be chilled before baking, but you can if you prefer. Chilling cookie dough is a common baking technique that helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much. That way, you’re guaranteed to get soft and pillowy cookies every time.  
• Add sprinkles immediately: Make sure to add the sprinkles over the frosting before it sets so that the sprinkles stick. This still applies if you’ve decided to add a glaze or melted chocolate drizzle. 

Variations:

• Citrus twist: Replace the almond extract with 1 tablespoon of freshly grated lemon or orange zest and 1 teaspoon of lemon or orange juice. This brightens the flavor of these cookies beautifully.
• Glazed Italian Christmas cookies: For a lighter option, mix 1 cup powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons of milk and 1/2 teaspoon extract. Drizzle over the cooled cookies and decorate with the colored sprinkles. 
• Add-ins: Fold chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, or macadamia nuts), white chocolate chips, or finely chopped dried cranberries into the cookie dough for extra texture and flavor. 
• Gluten-free Italian Christmas cookies: Replace the all-purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. 
• Holiday-inspired ricotta cookies: Adjust the color of sprinkles to match a specific holiday you want to celebrate, such as Valentine’s day (pink, red, and white), St Patrick’s day (green, yellow and gold), Easter and baby showers (pastels), 4th of July (red, blue, and white), or Halloween (orange, black, purple, and green).
• Chocolate coated Italian Christmas cookies: Drizzle melted drizzled white chocolate over these ricotta cookies as a decadent alternative to try!

For more irresistible baked treats with ricotta cheese, check out Baked Lemon Custard with Ricotta, Cherry Ricotta Cake, and Lemon Ricotta Pie with Ritz Cracker Crust. 

More Christmas cookies you may want to try:

• M and M Christmas Cookies
• Christmas Crack Cookies
• Mexican Wedding Cookies
• Coconut Macaroon Cookies with Pecans
• Chocolate Sprinkle Cookies

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Traditional Italian Christmas Cookies

Sandy Coughlin

Celebrate this holiday season with these melt-in-your-mouth Traditional Italian Christmas Cookies. These soft, cake-like ricotta cookies are topped with rich butter frosting and festive sprinkles. Makes 5-6 dozen depending on the size of scoop.

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 12 minutes mins

Total Time: 27 minutes mins

Yield: 60

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Ingredients

 

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For the cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 15 oz ricotta cheese, full fat
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda

For the Frosting

• ¼ cup butter, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp almond extract
• 3 to 4 TBSP 2% milk
• Colored sprinkles

Equipment

• Baking sheet
• Parchment paper
• Cookie scoop

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease baking sheets.
• Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl for about 5-7 minutes until light and fluffy.
• Add 1 egg at a time, beating well between.
• Beat in the ricotta and extracts.
• In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda.
• Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and mix until just combined.
• Drop a tablespoon of cookie dough per cookie onto the prepared sheets, making sure to leave 2-inches between each cookie.
• Bake the cookies at 350 degrees F for 11-14 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Transfer the baked cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Make the frosting:

• Add the frosting ingredients to a large bowl to cream together, adding just enough milk to achieve a spreadable consistency. Adjust as needed.
• Frost the cooled cookies and decorate them immediately with the sprinkles to serve or store. TIP: If you wait too long to add sprinkles, the frosting will harden. If this happens, press the sprinkles down with your fingers into the frosting.

Notes

Sandy’s tips and substitutions:

• Storage: Keep leftover Italian Christmas cookies with frosting in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Unfrosted ricotta cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.  
• Freeze: For longer storage, freeze the cooled cookies (without the frosting) in a single layer before transferring to a freezer-safe bag or container – they’ll last for up to 3 months. Thaw them at room temperature and then frost and decorate with sprinkles before serving again. 
• Use Full Fat Ricotta for this recipe.
• Extracts: Optional to omit the almond extract and just use vanilla instead, if you prefer. 
• Holiday-inspired ricotta cookies: Adjust the color of sprinkles to match a specific holiday you want to celebrate, such as Valentine’s day (pink, red, and white), St Patrick’s day (green, yellow and gold), Easter and baby showers (pastels), 4th of July (red, blue, and white), or Halloween (orange, black, purple, and green).

Cuisine: Italian

Course: Appetizer

Calories: 94kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 18mg, Sodium: 91mg, Potassium: 15mg, Fiber: 0.2g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 131IU, Vitamin C: 0.002mg, Calcium: 5mg, Iron: 0.4mg

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