Orange Ricotta Cookies with Chocolate Swizzles

The other night I made my Orange Chocolate Pinwheel cookies (I use Alton Brown's Chocolate Peppermint Pinwheel recipe and sub out the peppermint flavorings for orange zest and orange extract)  for my winning bidder of Tina's bake sale.  The pinwheel cookies are awesome, but are pretty time consuming since you have to chill the dough a couple different times during the process.  I worked on the pinwheels for a couple hours on Monday, and once finished I had a nice little batch all set to go, but I felt like my winner deserved some additional cookie goods for her generous donation.  Unsure of what flavor cookies she liked besides orange and chocolate, I decided to attempt an additional batch of cookies using these same flavors.

Enter Orange Ricotta cookies with Chocolate Swizzles.

The ingredients:

1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature.
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
7 oz ricotta cheese (or about half a 15 oz container)
1/2 teaspoon of orange extract
The zest of a small/medium orange
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
About 3-4 oz melted chocolate (I used chocolate chips).

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, using a mixer, combine butter and sugar til light in color.

 
Add eggs, ricotta, orange flavors and blend well.
Add flour, baking powder, and salt and blend.
Drop by rounded tablespoons on to cookie sheets 2 inches apart. 

Bake about 12-15 minutes, til edges are lightly golden.

Let cookies cool a few minutes on sheet, then transfer to wire rack to finish cooking.
Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second intervals, stirring til melted.
Once cookies are cooled, place back on parchment sheets.  Use a fork to "swizzle" chocolate over the top.

I'd say I still like the pinwheels best, but the ricotta makes these cookies seem much lighter and airier.  They actually reminded me a little of scones, meaning, they are totally acceptable to eat for breakfast, right?


I sent a box of these babies, along with the pinwheels off to my winning bidder in Ohio.  Hope she likes them!