Lime Meltaways
Originally published at BlackTabi Blog. You can comment here or there.
Welcome to my week of Christmas cookies. We’ve been baking up a storm over the past several days, preparing for the holidays and festivities. I chose seven different kinds of cookies (and candies) to make this year, and thought it would be fun to showcase all the recipes - some new to us, some family traditions - here on my blog.
This first cookie is a new one to me. I couldn’t resist taking a stab at these lime meltaways after I saw them, selecting them in honor of my brother, Isaac, who has always had a love for all things sour. Many are the times we shared a box of sour patch kids at the movies, and the whole family still jokes about how he’d eat lemon slices as if they were oranges, even when he was quite small.
The cookies themselves aren’t as tart as I’d have expected, owing in part to the subpar limes I found, I think, but they definitely get their point across. Small round disks that give a pleasant snap when bitten, followed by a zing of lime.
Based on many reviews I found all over the internet, I stuck with this tried and true Martha Stewart recipe for my first run.
Makes about 10 dozen.
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Grated zest of 2 limes
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1) In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until fluffy. Add lime zest, juice, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
2) In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined.
3) Between two 8-by-12-inch pieces of parchment paper, roll dough into two 1 1/4-inch-diameter logs. Chill at least 1 hour.
4) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Place remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove parchment from logs; slice dough into 1/8-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.
5) Bake cookies until barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag; toss to coat. Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.