Zucchini Ricotta Cookies are super soft, cake-like cookies with a light lemony flavor and a big burst of blueberry!
**Please Note - The printable recipe card with detailed instructions, complete ingredient measurements, and nutritional information for making Zucchini Ricotta Cookies is available at the end of this post. OR you can hit the "jump to recipe" button (found above) to be taken directly to the recipe.
The ingredient list:
**Note - The following lists of ingredients plus kitchen tools and equipment contain affiliate links (highlighted in blue) for your consideration and shopping convenience. #CommissionsEarned
- shredded zucchini
- butter
- granulated sugar
- eggs
- whole milk ricotta cheese
- pure vanilla extract
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- lemon zest
- kosher salt
- fresh blueberries
- confectioners sugar (for buttercream drizzle, or sugar dusting)
- butter (for buttercream drizzle)
- lemon juice (for buttercream drizzle)
Kitchen tools and equipment needed:
- mixing bowls
- box grater, rotary grater, or food processor (for grating the zucchini)
- hand mixer or stand mixer
- flour sack towels (for removing water from the zucchini)
- measuring cups and spoons
- whisk
- lemon zester
- citrus juicer (optional)
- spatula
- medium cookie scoop
- baking sheets
- parchment paper
- cooling racks
- kitchen timer
- sieve or sugar shaker (for powdered sugar dusting)
- disposable piping bags (for the buttercream drizzle) optional
How to store these cookies, and for how long:
Store them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Can the blueberries be omitted from these zucchini ricotta cookies?
Yep.
If you're not a fan, or maybe don't have them available, please feel free to omit them.
The texture of the cookie will not change too much if omitting the blueberries.
Can these cookies be frozen after baking?
Yes, but I'm guessing the texture of these zucchini ricotta cookies will be even softer once they're thawed than they were without freezing.
However, I've not tried freezing them so I can't 100% guarantee the texture will change. I'm just guessing.
How to remove excess water from shredded zucchini?
What about the lemon buttercream drizzle? Can that be omitted?
Sure thing!
I happened to be making a lemon buttercream icing for another sweet zucchini recipe (a Zucchini Gingerbread Bundt Cake, recipe coming soon). I had some leftovers so I decided to use it for these cookies to spruce the end product up a bit.
While it's certainly not necessary to drizzle these cookies with lemon buttercream icing, it's certainly not a bad thing either. LOL
Should you choose not to use the buttercream drizzle, but want to give your cookies a more finished appearance, once they're out of the oven (and totally cool) why not dust them liberally with confectioners sugar?
Yum and Yum!!
The step-by-step photo instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375-degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together 8 tablespoons of butter along with 1 cup of granulated sugar.
- Add 2 large eggs, and 1½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Blend until creamy.
- Add 1 cup ricotta cheese to the mixture and blend to combine.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour baking powder, and salt.
- Add half the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and blend.
- Add the remaining flour mixture to the batter and blend until combined.
- Add the lemon zest, shredded (dried) zucchini, and blueberries to the batter and stir gently with a spatula to combine.
- Use a medium cookie scoop or two tablespoons to drop the cookie batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of space between the cookies. I did 8 cookies per baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies for a total of 22-24 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through the baking process.
- Remove to cooling racks to cool completely before frosting or dusting with confectioners sugar.
Additional sweet and/or savory zucchini recipes:
*Eggplant Zucchini Bread (shown below and featured in the video)
Yep, you read that right… Eggplant Zucchini Bread. It’s so moist and flavorful, AND it’s a great way to bump up the nutrition level of your next zucchini quick bread without anyone being the wiser.
*Zucchini and Sweet Corn Souffle (not shown)
When you’re looking for an unusual vegetable dish that pales all others in comparison, then this Zucchini and Sweet Corn Soufflé is just the recipe you need.
*Italian Layered Zucchini Parmesan (shown below)
Layered Zucchini Parmesan has all the flavors you love about pizza or lasagna but without all those annoying carbs to weigh you down.
*Chocolate Zucchini Muffins with Peanut Butter (not shown)
Three great tastes that go great together. These Chocolate Zucchini Muffins with Peanut Butter are a delicious twist on a sweet zucchini muffin that I’ll bet you didn’t see coming!
*Zucchini Ricotta Cookies with Lemon and Blueberry (shown below) THIS IS THE PLACE!!
Below is the printable recipe card along with the exact ingredient measurements and nutritional information for making today's sweet zucchini cookies.
⭐If you've made this recipe, or are excited to make this recipe, I'd appreciate it if you'd take a moment to leave it a star rating on the recipe card, along with a comment if you're so inclined. Thank you. 🙂
Zucchini Ricotta Cookies with Lemon and Blueberries
Ingredients
For the cookies:
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, softened (I use salted butter)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1½ cups shredded zucchini, well dried
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest from approximately 2 large lemons
- 1¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cups blueberries
For the drizzle topping:
- 4 tablespoons butter softened
- 1 cup confectioners sugar plus additional (if needed) for desired consistency
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice plus additional (if needed) for desired consistency
Instructions
- To make the cookies:
- Preheat oven to 375-degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together 8 tablespoons of butter along with 1 cup of granulated sugar.
- Add 2 large eggs and 1½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Blend until creamy.
- Add 1 cup ricotta cheese to the mixture and blend to combine.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour baking powder, and salt.
- Add half the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and blend.
- Add the remaining flour mixture to the batter and blend until combined.
- Add the lemon zest, shredded (dried) zucchini, and blueberries to the batter and stir gently with a spatula to combine.
- Use a medium cookie scoop or two tablespoons to drop the cookie batter onto parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving plenty of space between the cookies. I did 8 cookies per baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies for a total of 22-24 minutes, rotating the cookie sheets halfway through the baking process.
- Remove to cooling racks to cool completely before frosting, or dusting with confectioners sugar.
- To make the lemon buttercream drizzle:
- Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and blend with a hand mixer until you reach your desired drizzle consistency.
- Add more liquid for a thinner drizzle, and add more confectioners sugar for a thicker drizzle.
- Drizzle over cookies by using a piping bag, or spoon a light drizzle over the cooled cookies.
Notes
Nutrition
I sincerely hope you've enjoyed today's sweet zucchini recipe for Zucchini Ricotta Cookies with Lemon and Blueberries as much as I've enjoyed bringing it to you!
Diana says
These cookies sound heavenly. I'm going to making some and sharing them at work this week.
Ashley says
These are so delicious! I love the combo of flavors.