Recipe experimentation

I've been experimenting with recipes for delicious baked concoctions. I thought I would at least record [and hopefully thus share] some of my recent discoveries.

Ricotta Cookies (modified from Richard's Ricotta Cookies recipe #78956 at RecipeZaar)

1 stick unsalted butter (softened, please)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. ricotta cheese
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
lemon zest
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda

Glaze
1 c powdered sugar
2 tsp milk
dash vanilla

In medium bowl combine flour, salt, and baking soda. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar, add one egg, add ricotta cheese and mix well. add vanilla, almond extract, lemon zest and mix well again to incorporate air. Add dry mixture to wet little by little, mixing well after each. Drop the dough onto cookie sheets in small mounded teaspoons. Batter will spread a lot in the oven. Bake at 325 F for 10-12 minutes till bottom edges are just golden. Allow to cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet, remove to racks. While cookies are warm, drizzle with glaze. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Ricotta Sour Cream Cheesecake (modified from Kim 127's Sour Cream Cheesecake recipe #60044 on Recipezaar.com)

Crust:
10 graham cracker squares, crushed well
½ stick butter
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Filling:
2 eggs, separated
1 c sugar
8 oz cream cheese, softened
½-2/3 c. Ricotta
1 c. sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
Lemon zest
¼ tsp salt

Instructions: Mix the crust ingredients together thoroughly, and press into bottom of pie plate. You can use a springform pan for this recipe if you want to have a nicer presentation, but I find a springform cheesecake to be way too big and a little harder to arrange.

Beat egg yellows well, add in sugar, cream cheese, ricotta, extracts, lemon zest, and salt. Mix for a long time to incorporate lots of air into mixture. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until they form soft peaks uniformly in bowl. *For these last two parts you need to add ingredients very carefully and mix as little as possible). Fold egg whites carefully into egg-cheese mixture. Add sour cream and just barely mix to make uniform. Pour overtop of crust. Bake at 350 F for 40-50min in a water bath to prevent cracks in the cheesecake. Allow to cool for at least one hour in the oven, then allow to slow cool outside for another 1/2 hour. Then remove to refrigerator to complete chilling process. Slow cooling of the cheesecake is very important.

Optional: you can add a fruit topping on top of the cheesecake.