Lemon-Lime Cookies
Submitted by Shari33
Lemon-lime cookies with fresh citrus zest and juice, egg yolks, and butter, pressed thin and baked until crisp with a generous sugar sprinkle. Make-ahead dough keeps up to a month frozen.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
10 minREADY
30 minThese citrus cookies get a double punch of bright flavor from both fresh lemon and lime zest and juice. Four egg yolks (no whites) give the dough richness and a tender, almost shortbread-like snap when baked thin and crisp.
Chilling the dough for at least two hours is non-optional. Fresh citrus juice makes the dough sticky, and cold dough shapes into clean 1-inch balls without sticking to your hands. Even better, the dough can be made up to three days ahead or frozen for a month, making these a great plan-ahead cookie.
Flattening each ball with a floured glass bottom gives you uniform, thin rounds that bake evenly and crisp up in about 10 minutes. The generous half cup of sugar sprinkled on while they’re still hot sticks to the surface and adds sparkle and crunch. Rotate your baking sheets halfway through for even browning.
Pro Tips
- Use fresh citrus juice and zest, not bottled. The oils in fresh zest carry the real flavor.
- Mince the zest finely. Large strips of zest taste bitter and look rough in a delicate cookie.
- Reflour the glass bottom between presses. The dough sticks otherwise and tears.
- Transfer cookies off the baking sheet immediately. They continue crisping on the hot pan and can overbrown.
Variations
- Add poppy seeds to the dough for a lemon-poppy seed cookie with extra crunch.
- Use all lemon or all lime for a single-citrus version with more focused flavor.
- Sandwich two cookies together with lemon curd for a filled citrus cookie.
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, preferably of an electric stand mixer, cream together the butter, 1 cup of the sugar, the lemon and lime zests, and salt.
One at a time beat in the egg yolks; stir in the lemon and lime juices.
Add 2½ cups of the flour and mix until just combined.
Transfer the dough to a container and chill it for at least 2 hours.
(The dough can be prepared up to 3 days ahead and refrierated or frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost the frozen dough in the refrigerator before using.)
Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 375℉ (190℃).
Grease several baking sheets.
Working in batches, by rounded tablespoonfuls, measure out the chilled dough and form it into 1-inch balls.
Place the balls of dough on the baking sheets, spacing them well apart.
Use the remaining flour to coat the flat bottom of a glass or measuring cup.
Flatten the balls into 2-inch rounds about ¼ inch thic, reflouring the glass a necessary.
Bake the cookies, exchanging the position of the sheets on the racks from top to bottom and from front to back, for about 10 minutes or until the cookies are crisp and the edges and bottoms are lightly colored.
With a spatula, transfer the cookies immediately to parchement paper and sprinkle with generously with the remaining ½ cup of sugar.
(The cookies can be baked 1 day ahead and stored in an airtight container.)
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