Sweet Ricotta Peach Cookies

Remember these pretty mushroom cookies from last year? Well, these peach cookies are the distant cousins of those. Originally, peach cookies are made the same way as the mushroom cookies, their shape being the only difference. When flipping through Southern Italian Desserts, I found their version of peach cookies — filled with ricotta. These sweet orange ricotta peach cookies are simply divine — soft, with just enough bite and crunch, moist, aromatic and so very adorable.

Yield: 22-24 cookies. Category: Dessert.

1. Make ricotta filling: In a medium bowl, whisk the ricotta with sugar until smooth and creamy. Stir in orange zest and vanilla. Chill the mixture, covered with plastic wrap, while you make the cookies.
2. Cookies: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (350°F) with rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
3. Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until combined. Whisk in milk, melted butter and lemon zest until smooth. Mix the dry ingredients into wet in 2-3 additions, until well incorporated. Finish mixing the dough with your hands and press it into a ball. If it's very sticky add another tablespoon or two of flour until it sticks together. Let rest for 5 minutes.
4. Roll the dough into 44-48 small balls (shape them with your hands until smooth) and transfer them to the prepared baking sheets. Place them about 2.5cm (1 inch) apart, as they will rise during baking. Press down each ball slightly, so the bottom flattens. Bake the first round for about 15 minutes, until bottoms are golden brown (the tops will remain pale). Rotate the pan halfway through baking. As you take the first tray of cookies out, put the second one in the oven.
5. While the cookies are still warm, cut a circle in the bottom of each cookie and scoop out enough of a cookie for it to hold some filling. (Be careful, don't pierce the cookie too deep or you risk breaking it.) Set aside. Do the same with the second tray. Next, find a pair for each cookie, you want the halves of the peach to be of similar size.
6. Assemble cookies: Fill each cookie hole with enough ricotta filling that it covers it (about a teaspoon). Press the two flat sides of each half together and gently wipe away any filling that comes out at the edge. Brush each peach with food coloring (you can add a splash of rum to it), gently roll it in sugar and place on a large plate. Continue with the rest of the cookies.
7. Chill cookies, covered with plastic wrap, for a few hours before serving. This will harden the ricotta and moisten the cookies. Decorate the cookies with small mint leaves before serving, to mimic peach leaves. (These cookies keep for about 4 days and taste best on the first two days. Leave them out at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes before serving.)

Notes

• ON FOOD COLORING: Dilute the food coloring with water according to the instructions on the package, if it needs diluting at all. Once diluted you can add flavor to it. Rum is a traditional choice, but you can get food flavoring in strawberry or lemon or peach. All 3 fit this cookie well. The food colors I most often use are from Rainbow Dust and Wilton. I hear people have great experiences with Americolor too. I've experimented with natural food dyes but none gave these peaches enough color. The one thing I haven't tried yet is beet powder. You can also skip the coloring completely and moisten the cookies with some sweetened water instead.
• TIP FOR MELTING BUTTER: The fastest trick is to put the butter in a 500ml (1 pint) Pyrex measuring jug and melt it in the microwave. Once melted, cool it by placing the jug in a sink filled with ice cold water. Stir the butter occasionally to speed the process up.
• [update] KEEPING THE SHAPE: As you fill these cookies, make sure you put in enough filling — it needs to reach the edge of the hole you made into the cookie. Once you press the two halves together, some of the filling will come out. This is good as it is the glue that keeps the two cookies together; just wipe away any filling that sticks out of the "peach". While you fill and color the cookies, the ricotta filling will get warm and softer. This is why you need to chill these cookies before you serve them. The ricotta needs time to set.