Mini Tiramisu Cookies with Mascarpone Frosting

This is the perfect bite-sized cookie that blends the iconic tiramisu flavors in one - chocolate, coffee and mascarpone. A dream come true! These mini tiramisu cookies are pillowy soft, topped with a mascarpone frosting that is sweet and velvety and then dusted with cocoa powder. All the magic of a tiramisu in a mini cookie - I promise you can't just have one!

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love Mini Tiramisu Cookies
• Ingredients You'll Need
• Step-by-Step Instructions
• Substitutions and Variations
• Equipment
• Making Ahead and Storing
• FAQ
• Tips and Tricks
• Related
• Mini Tiramisu Cookies with Mascarpone Frosting

Why You'll Love Mini Tiramisu Cookies

• Easy to make ahead. If you don't want to leave things for the last minute, you can absolutely make the tiramisu cookie dough and the mascarpone cream frosting ahead of time and just assemble once you're ready.
• Luxurious creamy frosting. The mascarpone cheese takes the frosting up a notch. You can use it in other recipes, too, like as a filling or topping to crepes, add a dollop to a slice of maple apple cake or even as the cream in individual tiramisu cups!
• A cookie party fave! Everyone will love these mini tiramisu cookies at gatherings, cookie parties and celebrations - guaranteed. These cookies actually won the best taste award at my latest holiday cookie party so it's definitely a winning recipe!

Ingredients You'll Need

• Unsalted butter. Keep it room temp so it blends nicely with the sugar.
• Ricotta. This gives the cookies a subtle softness that results in a cookie with a brownie-like texture!
• Vanilla bean paste. I'm a sucker for the vanilla bean flecks in vanilla bean paste - but vanilla extract works just as well, too!
• Egg. Helps to bind together the cookie dough.
• Granulated sugar. Make your mini tiramisu cookies nice and sweet!
• Instant espresso. Important to use instant espresso powder and not just ground espresso. I like using decaf instant espresso powder so you can have the cookies day or night without worrying about too much caffeine.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder. Gives the cookies a chocolatey touch that's iconic in tiramisu! You'll use unsweetened cocoa powder in the cookie dough and as a dust after icing with the mascarpone cream frosting.
• All-purpose flour. No need for fancy flour for this recipe.
• Baking powder. This helps your cookies puff up and lift just a bit.
• Kosher salt. Necessary to balance out the sweetness!
• Mascarpone cheese. The star of the cookie, in my opinion! Mascarpone cheese is iconic in tiramisu and it makes this frosting next level.
• Powdered sugar. Use this sugar in the mascarpone cream frosting so it blends easily with the rest of the ingredients.
• Heavy whipping cream. This makes the mascarpone cream frosting creamy and dreamy - just make sure you don't over whip it!

Step-by-Step Instructions

For the Tiramisu Cookie Dough

• Drain the ricotta. I like to put the ricotta in the middle of a paper towel and then fold the paper towel in half for about 5 minutes and then flip the paper towel so the other side of the ricotta drains for another 5 minutes. This way, the paper towel absorbs the excess moisture from the ricotta quickly and efficiently!
• Combine the wet ingredients. In a medium bowl, blend the softened butter, drained ricotta, vanilla bean paste and egg together. I like to use a handheld mixer for this but a stand mixer works well, too.
• Incorporate the sugar. Add the granulated sugar gradually until its all well incorporated with the butter-ricotta mixture.
• Add in the dry ingredients. Slowly add the dry ingredients - instant espresso, unsweetened cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt - until the mixture is smooth and combined.
• Rest the cookie dough. Cover the bowl and rest in the refrigerator for an hour. This will help the cookie dough set and prevent your cookies from spreading too much once baked.
• Shape + bake. Once the hour is up, pre-heat the oven to 350°F. To make shaping your dough a breeze, scoop the dough using a tablespoon cookie scoop - the goal is to make small cookies that are uniform in shape. If you don't have a scooper, you can absolutely shape these using a tablespoon or a regular spoon. Roll the cookie dough into a ball and then press together in your hands to flatten before placing on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-10 minutes and let cool completely before frosting.

For the Mascarpone Frosting

• Combine ingredients. In a medium bowl, use a handheld mixer to combine the mascarpone cheese, vanilla bean paste and salt. Gradually add in the powdered sugar and mix until combined. Then, add the heavy whipping cream.
• Form stiff peaks. Beat the mixture together for about a minute or a minute and a half until stiff peaks form. You want to be careful in this step because if you under beat the cream, the frosting will be too runny and if your over beat the cream, the frosting will be too stiff and the cream may separate. As a good rule of thumb, constantly check if your frosting and stop beating immediately after you get stiff peaks.
• Decorate your cookies + serve. Place the frosting in a piping bag or zip top bag and pipe it onto your completely cooled cookies. Get creative and make any design you want! Just make sure each cookie has plenty of frosting - that's the best part, in my opinion! Then, dust the tops of each cookie with unsweetened cocoa powder and serve.

Substitutions and Variations

• Ricotta. While I wouldn't omit or substitute the ricotta in these mini tiramisu cookies, you can absolutely choose between using part skim or whole milk ricotta. I've found that these two types of ricotta don't make a significant difference in the case of taste or texture in this recipe - choose what works for you!
• Instant espresso. I usually make these cookies using decaf instant espresso so people can enjoy them day and night. Feel free to use caffeinated or decaf! However, I recommend you use the instant espresso powder instead of an actual shot of espresso. If you use an espresso shot rather than the powder, your batter will be runny and the cookies may spread out too much in the oven.
• Vanilla bean paste. You can use good quality vanilla extract as a substitution of vanilla bean paste. I use the paste because I love the look of the vanilla bean flecks but a good quality vanilla is totally fine to use instead. Alternatively, you can also use the seeds of a vanilla bean pod as a substitution.
• Mascarpone cheese. While mascarpone cheese is a traditional ingredient in tiramisu and provides a dreamy, creamy taste, you can substitute it with cream cheese. The iconic tiramisu taste will change if you use cream cheese but, in a pinch, you can sub it.
• Frosting. These cookies do not need to be frosted. While they are meant to be frosted, feel free to eat as-is once they're cooled. They'll remind you of chocolate espresso brownies!

Equipment

• Electric handheld mixer. While you can definitely mix the tiramisu cookie dough and mascarpone cream using a whisk, I highly recommend a handheld mixer or even a stand mixer to make your life a little easier.
• Small cookie scoop. This tool makes scooping a breeze!
• Piping bags. It's so much easier to decorate the cooled tiramisu cookies with the mascarpone cream using these piping bags.
• Small strainer. To get that perfect dusting of cocoa powder, use a strainer (big or small!) to top off the mascarpone cream frosting.

Making Ahead and Storing

The cookie dough for the mini tiramisu cookies can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

The baked, unfrosted cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. If you store these in the fridge, make sure to let them come up to room temperature before serving or eating for at least 30 minutes. The unfrosted mini tiramisu cookies can get pretty hard in the fridge so it's key to eat them at room temperature.

As for the mascarpone frosting, you can store this in the fridge for up to 4 days in an airtight container or in the same piping bag you plan to use to decorate your tiramisu cookies.

If you have frosted cookies you'd like to store, make sure to store them in one layer in the fridge in an airtight container. If you stack the frosted mini tiramisu cookies, the mascarpone cream frosting may smear and spread onto the other stacked cookies! The frosted tiramisu cookies should last well in the fridge for about 4 days in an airtight container.

FAQ

Tips and Tricks

• Drain your ricotta. You want to make sure the ricotta is as dry as you can get it. The more wet it is, the longer you'll have to bake the cookies. If your ricotta is very wet, drain it for about 45 minutes to an hour, flipping halfway, instead of 10 minutes like the recipe calls for. Or, bake the cookies for about 15 minutes instead of 11 minutes. I usually use Polly-O ricotta because it's relatively dry but still creamy while Trader Joe's ricotta is very wet and takes a while to drain.
• Let the cookies cool! Before icing the mini tiramisu cookies, let them cool completely. If you top the cookies with the mascarpone cream while they're still warm, the cream will slide right off. I like to cool mine on a cooling rack or straight onto a plate.
• Caffeinated cookies. I like to use decaf instant espresso for these tiramisu cookies but feel free to use fully caffeinated if that's more of your jam. Decaf just makes it easier to enjoy these cookies in the evening without any sleep repercussions for me!

Did you try out this recipe? I'd love to know how it went! Leave me a comment and rating below or tag me on Instagram at @AFabulousBite!

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