Lime Meltaways

Back in the springtime, our neighbors travelled to Savannah, GA for a vacation junket. SB and I were left to watch the fish and the turtle and keep the house for them while they were playing with family and friends. When they returned, they brought us a small tin of lime flavored shortbread cookies that were just wonderful! I have just found a recipe for the same type cookie! SCORE!!!

These cookies are as close to those little citrus packed shortbreads that I can come! So delish and just a small bite of a cookie. Each cookie is the size of a 50 cent piece. It is loaded with fresh lime zest, lime juice, butter and a conservative amount of sugar. The REAL sugar comes when they are tossed in a bag of confectioner's sugar while they're still warm. This coating makes for a sweet hit on the tongue before one chomps into the super tangy lime burst of the shortbread. Heaven with a cup of hot tea or even a cold glass of iced tea.

The original tin for April's cookies ... and my sweet little doppelgängers ... lime meltways !!! I took these cookies north into Vermont this weekend when I went to grab my friend Nancy and head to the Vermont Quilt Festival. It was a sweet weekend in more ways than one! I got to cuddle Nancy's little grand-daughter, Beatrice, see some of the most beautiful quilts made in recent years, listen to a very accomplished quilter named Joe Cunningham talk about his career in the quilting arts industry, go out to dinner with friends, sip on my first ever Pimm's Cup cocktail, and catch up on 'old friends gossip'... ALL weekends should be this terrific!

Here's the recipe for the small cookies ... it makes about six dozen little round bites ... easy peasy!

Lime Meltaways

a Martha Stewart recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

1 c. confectioner's sugar, divided

finely grated zest of 2 limes

2 tbsp. lime juice

1 tbsp. good quality vanilla extract

1 3/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. all purpose flour

2 tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. Kosher salt

Making the Cookies:

1. Place the butter and 1/2 c. of the confectioner's sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Whiz until creamy yellow and smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary.

2. Add the lime juice and vanilla and pulse to combine.

3. Whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt in a small bowl and add it to the food processor bowl, pulsing to combine, and scraping down the bowl to make sure everything mixes uniformly.

4. When the dough has balled up and is combined, turn the lime zest in by hand, using a wooden spoon.

5. Divide the dough into two balls and roll each into a log that is 1 1/2 inch in diameter. Square off the ends of the logs and wrap each log in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least three hours.

6. When you want to bake the cookies, line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place the reserved confectioner's sugar in a small zip lock bag and set it aside. Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

7. Unwrap the cold cookie dough and slice the logs into 'coins' that are about 1/4 inch thick. Place the coins on the parchment paper about 1/2 inch away from each other.

8. Bake the cookies for about 14 minutes ... until they are just beginning to color and the under edges are beginning to get a golden color.

9. Remove from the cookie sheets and cool for a few minutes on cooling racks.

10. While still warm, place cookies, six at a time, in the bag of confectioner's sugar and toss gently to coat with sugar. Place in single layers in a tin and sprinkle just a bit more confectioner's sugar atop to make them look pristine white.

11. If you must make a second layer of cookies in the tin, just lay a sheet of parchment paper atop the cookies and begin a second layer.

12. once the cookies are completely cooled, store the cookies with the tin lid tightly in place.