It’s cookie season! Lime-ricotta treats hit the spot

On this bleak, fog-ridden day at the beginning of Christmas season,  I needed to bake some cookies. Something cheery, and something that didn’t taste anything like Thanksgiving.

Here are all the reasons I chose this recipe:

— I have a Bearss lime tree loaded with ripening limes outside my back door.

— The ricotta cheese left over from baking a Thanksgiving vegetable tart needed to be used.

— In my frig is a new sourdough starter, which means plenty of discard from getting it going. I didn’t want to just throw out all the discard — it includes my good flour!

Epicurious provided the answer to my search, a recipe from Emilie Raffa’s cookbook “Artisan Sourdough Made Simple.” It sounded perfect, as in, a flavor opposite from pumpkin spice.

I did make some adjustments, based on what I had on hand. (Did not want to go to the store!) I also upped the amount of lime zest; I really wanted to taste those limes. (Feel free to add even more zest, or substitute tart lemons, as desired.)

My adaptation made 50 2-inch cookies, 32 of which I baked and the rest I froze as unbaked dough balls.

Is sourdough discard a must for this recipe? It’s preferred, but ultimately I would say no, because there is plenty of baking powder, plus an egg, for leavening. The discard provides some moisture and tang, which could be replaced with a combination of flour and plain Greek yogurt. (See note below recipe for details.) 

Lime ricotta sourdough cookies

Makes about 4 dozen

Ingredients:

Zest from 2 large Bearss limes or several smaller Key limes, about 2 teaspoons, divided

8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup (120 grams) sourdough discard*

3/4 cup whole milk ricotta, preferably without stabilizers

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon fine salt

Glaze ingredients:

3/4 cup confectioners sugar

Juice from one of the zested limes above

1/2 teaspoon lime zest, reserved from zest above

Optional: Zest from a 3rd lime, to decorate cookies

Instructions:

Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

From the 2 teaspoons lime zest, remove and reserve 1/2 teaspoon for the glaze.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter with the granulated sugar until fluffy, then stir in the egg until the mixture is thoroughly combined.

Add the sourdough starter, the ricotta, the remaining 1-1/2 teaspoons lime zest and the vanilla, mixing together gently. The ricotta will make the mixture look a bit bumpy, but that’s OK.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. The dough should be thick but not dry. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

When ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Make sure the oven racks are in the bottom half of the oven, about 4 inches apart.

Placing cookies about 2 inches apart, scoop out the dough onto the prepared pans with small cookie scoop or a tablespoon. Alternately, roll it into small balls with your hands. (I used a scoop and left the dough whatever shape that emerged.)

Place one pan on each rack. Bake for 8 minutes, remove the pans temporarily, and slightly flatten the top of each cookie with two fingers or a small spatula.

To balance browning, replace the pans in the oven on the opposite racks that they started on. Bake 7 to 9 more minutes until the cookie tops are set and the bottoms are golden brown.

Note: My pans together held 32 cookies; the remaining dough was frozen. If desired, bake all the dough, one pan at a time, but remember to flatten the cookies halfway through baking.

Remove the pans to cooling racks and allow to cool while making the glaze.

For the glaze: Combine the confectioner’s sugar (sifted if desired) with the juice of 1 lime and the reserved 1/2 teaspoon lime zest. Drizzle it over the cooled cookies. Optional: Sprinkle on more zest before glaze dries.

Store cookies in a tightly covered container.

*Replacement for sourdough discard: In a small bowl, stir together equal amounts (by weight) of flour and Greek yogurt: 1/2 cup flour (60 grams) and 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (60 grams) until combined. It likely will be thicker than the discard would be. Add to the butter-sugar-egg mixture as above. If the finished dough seems too thick to scoop, incorporate some lime juice from one of the zested limes.