Lime Sugar Cookies

I’ve been distracted this week.

Not only did T-ball season start (which honestly, is the best way to enjoy baseball),

Isn’t he adorable?

But I started reading that book for my book club.  Now I’m pretty sure that if you’re a woman, a woman who has friends, and/or especially if you are a woman in a book club, you know exactly what book that book is.  (If you don’t, ask a friend or two, they’ll be more than happy to tell you, I’m sure.)

Let’s just say that that book is distracting.

So, this week has been all about baking, because I can continue to read between the recipe’s steps.  I’m hoping to get back to some dinner cooking again next week.

Anyhow, I decided to go with this cookie recipe since tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo – and I love any excuse to make a sweet/tart/sour treat – and my last lime-y excursion was so successful.

The Recipe:

Lime Sugar Cookies, adapted slightly from Sweet and Crumby

1 1/2 sticks of butter, softened

1 1/2 c granulated sugar

2 T lime zest (zest from two limes approximately)

2 egg yolks

1/2 c sour cream

1 T lime juice

2 1/2 c all-purpose flour

2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 c confectioners sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line (or spray) cookie sheets.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter on sugar on medium speed.  Add the lime zest, egg yolks and lime juice and combine.  Then add your sour cream and mix on low until just incorporated.

In a medium-sized separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour through salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and combine on low-speed until just mixed in.  Don’t over-mix.  Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out balls of cookie dough and place on the cookie sheet.  Bake for 12-14 minutes or until slightly golden on the outer edge.  The cookie should be just a little bit firm when touched lightly.

Sift powdered sugar on top of them while they are still warm.  (This will help the powdered sugar stick onto the cookie.)

{Printable Recipe}

The Results:

The cookies, themselves, were a breeze.

(I did learn that I like the shape for the cookies when rolled into a ball – though on my first sheet I just dropped them with the scoop.)

I kind of had a small snafu with my sifter while they were cooling, though.  Instead of a gentle snow dusting on top of the cookies, it decided to dump a truckload all over.

I’ve always known that the sifter was not my friend.

Anyways, the second cookie sheet went much more smoothly with the rounded balls of dough and my conquering of the sifter.

Now, let’s move on to the taste.  Geni has done it again, folks, with the perfect ratio of sweet sugar to tart and sour lime.  As she suggests, serving them with a salty margarita will be on my list of things to do this weekend.

Lesson for all you food photographers out there: do not place items covered in powdered sugar on a colored plate. It will not look good.

I think you should add it to your list, too.

(And I sincerely apologize for the over-sized pictures – WP won’t let me size them down for some reason.)

Now off to finish my book.  😉