Orange Poppyseed Cookies

Very rarely does a sweet recipe make its way onto my blog unless it's in cocktail form. I must say it's mainly because I don't trust sweets. Artificial flavoring and they're addictive, plus they offer up no nutritional value. But alas, they make people feel good, something about baking for people makes them smile and in return you smile as well when they fall in love with the taste. So I suppose I will make one occasionally here and there for people, the things I do for you!

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsps baking powder
• ½ tsps salt
• ½ tsps ground cardamom
• 2 tbsps poppy seeds
• 1½ cups sugar
• zest from 2 oranges
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• 15 oz of ricotta cheese

For the glaze:

• 1½ cups powdered sugar
• 3 tbsps freshly squeezed orange juice
• zest from 1 orange

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Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease with non stick spray. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom, and poppy seeds. Stir, then set aside.
3. Next, in a large bowl, combine sugar and orange zest. Mix gently until well incorporated. Add butter to the mixture and beat until light and fluffy. Slowly add eggs one at a time, whisking them in. Beat in the orange juice, vanilla and ricotta cheese. Make sure it is mixed well.
4. Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until there are no dry clumps. This dough is a lot more moist than regular cookie dough because of the ricotta
5. Dollop 2 tbsp of dough for each cookie on a baking sheet. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until slightly golden at the edges. 
6. Remove from oven and and let them cool so you can add your frosting.
7. For the glaze: In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar, orange juice and zest well. Then drizzle an even amount onto each cookie (roughly 1 tsp). Let the glaze harden.
8. Serve!

Happy Eatings Everyone!