Christmastime in Connoisseur Tom’s house has always meant tons of home cooking, it’s the time of year to bust out all of your most decadent, traditional, and complex recipes and have at the kitchen making merry. This year Jenny and I made a few different types of cookies and candy, one of the more popular being Lime Meltaways. Anyone who knows me knows my love of these delicious citrus fruits, so translating them to cookie for was a logical step.
For this recipe you will need:
1 ½ Sticks of unsalted, softened butter
1 cup Confectioner’s Sugar
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 7/8 cup of flour (2 cups minus 2 tbsp)
2 tbsp of Cornstarch
Zest of 2 limes (not the pith, and make sure you chop it up very fine or you’ll have people picking zest pieces out of their teeth.)
1 Tsp Vanilla
¼ tsp Salt
Cream the sugar and butter and then add the lime juice & zest as well as the vanilla; mix until well incorporated. In the mean time mix together remaining dry ingredients and then add the butter mixture and combine thoroughly until fully integrated. Divide the dough in half and roll it, in plastic wrap or parchment paper, to the desired diameter, ideally 1 ¼ inches or so, then place the two rolls of dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour so the butter can firm back up and the starches can hydrate a bit.
When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 and remove one dough log from the fridge. Unroll the plastic wrap or parchment and slice the dough into 1/8 inch cookies, uniformity is key because these puppies will burn really quick on you if you’re not careful. Load up a cookie sheet with the dough rounds, spaced an inch or so apart, they don’t spread out much so there’s not much worry of them sticking together. Bake the cookies until they just begin to show some color, I found this to be around 10-12 minutes, but keep a close eye on them. Cool the cookies on a wire rack for about 5 – 10 minutes so they are still warm for the last step. Fill a zip top bag with confectioner’s sugar and drop the still-warm cookies, 6 at a time, into the bag, shake it about, and extract the delightful treats. These tangy creations keep in an airtight container for two weeks or so. Have a limey Christmas!