Italian Christmas Cookies

Cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. After the third egg scrape the bowl and beat 1 minute.
Beat in the ricotta cheese and vanilla extract.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Use a whisk to blend the dry ingredients together.
Add ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the creamed sugar and butter mixture at a time beating it in. Switch to a wooden spoon if the mixer starts to strain. Mix until combined completely. No streaks of flour should be visible. Scrape the bottom of the bowl where flour tends to accumulate.
Refrigerate the dough 1 to 2 hours before making the cookies. The soft dough needs to firm up or the cookies will spread.
Drop the cookie dough by a rounded teaspoon or a 1 inch dough scoop onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Leave 2 inches between each cookie.
Bake the cookies in the 350 °F. degree preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and almond extract together until creamy.
Add ½ cup of powdered sugar to the bowl at a time and beat into the butter.
As the butter and sugar mixture gets difficult to beat add 1 tablespoon of milk at a time. Continue until all the powdered sugar and milk have been added. The frosting will be thick and fluffy.
To frost the cookies hold a cooled cookie by the bottom edges and kiss the top of the cookie to the surface of the frosting. Lift the cookie straight up and place it down on a clean cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Immediately sprinkle the top with nonpareils or sprinkles of choice. Repeat with each cookie. There is enough frosting to decorate the entire batch of cookies.
Allow the frosting to harden and form a crust before storing or the tops of the cookies will get messed up. This can take up to a few hours or even overnight depending on the temperature and humidity of your home.
Once the frosting has hardened store the cookies in an airtight container in a single layer. Refrigerate the cookies until needed.
This recipe will make ninety-six or 8 dozen 2 ½ inch cookies.