How To Make Giada’s Famous Lemon Cookies with Greek Yogurt

Frosted Lemon Cookies (with Greek Yogurt) are a cake-like cookie featuring the tanginess of Greek yogurt instead of ricotta cheese the way Giada makes them. Ice cookies with a lemon-zest-speckled powdered sugar glaze for over-the-top lemon flavor.

We recently attended a convention in Las Vegas related to my husband’s job. I tagged along to get out of town. Although Vegas is close to the bottom of my list of favorite vacation spots, two events were memorable.

One was the Donny and Marie show. Loved it and highly recommend it if you enjoy clean, fun, and slightly retro entertainment.

Even more exciting was eating at Giada’s new restaurant. I knew who she was. I read one of her latest cookbooks a couple of months ago.

When talking to our waitress about the possibility of seeing Giada, she mentioned that Giada was in town. She added that Giada would occasionally walk through the restaurant visiting with patrons.

And then it happened:

In less than 5 minutes, Giada herself appeared. making her way from table to table. I could hardly contain myself as she made her way from table to table, then headed our direction. What a gorgeous, charismatic ball of energy!!

I was impressed with how tiny Giada is and her million-dollar smile. How does she maintain her weight considering how much she cooks and must think about food all day, every day? She said people ask her that question more than anything else. Guess that’s why she shares her secrets in Giada’s Feel Good Food cookbook.

Dining at Giada’s restaurant. Do I look star-struck?

The brown bag in the picture holds cookies we ordered from the dessert menu. I was too excited to think about removing them from the bag for the picture. The assortment included Giada’s famous Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Icing.

Her recipe from “Giada’s Kitchen” was my inspiration for these Frosted Lemon Cookies (with Greek Yogurt). They taste very similar to me.

Substituting Greek yogurt for ricotta cheese:

I substituted Greek yogurt for the ricotta cheese since I always have homemade Greek yogurt in my fridge. The tanginess of yogurt plus the tartness of lemon equals a perfect marriage of flavors. If your Greek yogurt is not as thick as ricotta cheese, you might want to strain it to remove more of the whey so the texture is more ricotta cheese-like. I also reduced the sugar slightly and cut the recipe in half because I rarely need a whole recipe of any dessert.

One more thing…

If you want to go all out for a party or shower, ice the cookies twice, letting the frosting dry for 30 minutes after the first layer.

Frosted Lemon Cookies (with Greek Yogurt)

Yield: 20 cookies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 17 minutes

Total Time: 37 minutes

A cake-like cookie featuring the tanginess of Greek yogurt and the tartness of lemon--covered by the sweet crunchiness of a lemon glaze

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Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter (room temperature)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• grated rind of 1 small lemon
• 1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3/4 cup thick unflavored Greek yogurt
• 1 cups powdered sugar
• grated rind of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

1. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Set aside.
2. In large mixing bowl, whip soft butter until smooth. Add sugar and continue beating until mixture is fluffy. Add egg and keep mixing until smooth again.
3. Combine lemon rind, lemon juice, and Greek yogurt with above mixture.
4. Stir in dry ingredients making sure there are no stray pockets of butter that aren't mixed with the flour in the bowl.
5. Spoon a generous tablespoon for each cookie onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.
6. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 15-17 minutes (depending on whether it is the first batch or the last) until edges are beginning to brown.
7. After 10 minutes, pull the cookies away from the paper and allow to continue cooling on a rack or tea towel. Smoothly coat the top with lemon frosting. Allow cookies to set for 2 hours to allow time for frosting to dry. For extra decadence, apply a second layer of icing after the first coat dries for about 15-30 minutes.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 111 Total Fat: 3g Saturated Fat: 2g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 16mg Sodium: 91mg Carbohydrates: 20g Fiber: 0g Sugar: 13g Protein: 2g

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