=Lemon Ricotta Cookies=

This is a quick & easy recipe to make a soft, light cookie, not too sweet, with a refreshing  lemony flavor. They're perfect for an afternoon tea. They go great with coffee after dinner. They're also good at breakfast. Or for binging in the middle of the night when you can't sleep. Or for nibbling mindlessly when you're watching TV or cruising the internet. Or when you're just passing through the kitchen. So far I haven't found a time when they aren't suitable. Maybe while you're mouth is full of pizza. 

There are tons of recipes for making this cookie on the internet and this is a kind of mash-up of several of them. Most of the recipes you find are written to make four dozen cookies! But if you want a recipe that'll make only about a dozen, especially if you're afraid that if you make 48 cookies you'll eat 48 cookies, I've improvised a recipe for an abbreviated yield here:

In one bowl mix together two-thirds of a cup of flour, one-quarter teaspoon of baking powder, and a quarter teaspoon of salt. 

In a second bowl, cut up a quarter stick of butter and add a half cup of sugar and one large egg. Beat this all together with an electric hand mixer until its thick and creamy. Then add eight ounces of ricotta cheese, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, a tablespoon of lemon juice and a tablespoon of lemon zest. Go heavier or lighter on the lemon juice and zest according to your taste. Take up the electric hand mixer again and cream together the new ingredients, slowly adding the bowl of flour, baking powder, and salt.

Preheat the oven to 375, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and plop out about two tablespoons of dough to form each cookie. Slide the cookie sheet into the oven and bake for between 15 to 20 minutes until the cookies are just starting to turn golden brown around the edges.

Most recipes finish the cookies with a glaze made of powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. The glaze will make the cookies sweeter—and shinier—but you'll also have to wait an additional hour or two until the glaze hardens. As an alternative, and if you're hungry right now and/or are into immediate gratification, you can simply grate a little powdered sugar over the cookies and dig right in.