Tiny Lemony Turnovers

These little turnovers are Italian bakery-style cookies with a buttery sugar cookie dough wrapped around a creamy lemon ricotta filling. Topped with a brush of egg white and rainbow nonpareils, they look festive enough for a holiday cookie tray.

The dough is a straightforward butter cookie base: creamed butter and sugar, an egg, flour, and baking powder. Chilling for an hour firms it up enough to roll thin and cut into neat squares without sticking or tearing. Work with half the dough at a time and keep the rest cold.

The filling is three ingredients stirred together: part-skim ricotta, powdered sugar, and grated lemon zest. It’s bright, creamy, and just sweet enough to complement the buttery pastry without being cloying. One teaspoon per turnover is plenty. Too much filling and the edges won’t seal.

Pro Tips

• Roll the dough between wax paper or plastic wrap so it doesn’t stick to the counter or the rolling pin
• Seal the edges firmly with a fork. Unsealed turnovers pop open during baking and the filling leaks
• Brush the tops with beaten egg white for a glossy finish that helps the nonpareils stick
• These are small cookies, so check at 12 minutes. They should be set and barely golden, not browned

Variations

• Add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the filling for a lemon-vanilla combination
• Use orange zest instead of lemon for a different citrus profile
• Skip the nonpareils and dust cooled turnovers with powdered sugar for a more classic Italian look