Lime Sugar Cookies
I am a chocolate fan. Like, we’re talking obsession. I don’t care how good any other dessert looks, I’m almost always going to go for something with chocolate in it if I had my choice. It’s a travesty that some people don’t like or can’t have chocolate.
That being said, I am broadening my horizons just a bit as far as desserts go.
A few years ago, my mom came to stay with me for a little while after my baby was born. While she was here, we were discussing her recipe for lemon sugar cookies.
Now, I’m not a fan of lemon, per se. There are rare occasions that I’ll indulge in a little lemon chicken or what have you. But as a dessert? Um, no thanks. So as we discussed this, I suddenly said, “Do you think we could make lime cookies?”
She sat back for a second and said, “I don’t see why not.” I think that was her nice way of saying, “Why would you want to?!” But being a good mother of an emotionally unbalanced post partum daughter, she obliged.
That afternoon, our kitchen turned into a laboratory, perfecting the art of the lime cookie. What I give you now is the product of that day. Two women, bound by blood and love, who created the perfect lime cookie.
Dramatic? Maybe. But totally true.
Lime Cookies

Delicious and refreshing lime sugar cookies with a tangy and sweet frosting.
Ingredients
- 5 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 ½ cups sugar
- 1 ½ cups butter, soft
- 1 – 2 tsp lime zest (no substitutions)
- 2 tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp butter extract
- Lime Frosting
- cups powdered sugar
- ½ tsp lime juice
- ½ tsp lime zest
- TBSP corn syrup
- T milk
- ½ tsp butter extract
- ½ tsp almond extract
- tsp vanilla
- 4 eggs
- (You'll need about 2 – 3 limes total for lime zest and juice.)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Beat together sugar, butter, lime zest, vanilla and butter extract until creamed. Add eggs, mixing between each, until well incorporated. (The longer you beat, the fluffier the dough.) Slowly add the flour mixture and combine well.
- Divide the dough into thirds. Make into logs, roll in parchment paper (or wax paper) and refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Slice dough into pieces about an inch thick. Place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Flatten pieces to ¼ to ½ inch thickness using a spatula or rolling pin or the bottom of a cup! (If you top with parchment paper first, it will keep the dough from sticking to the spatula or rolling pin. Or you can periodically spray the spatula with cooking spray.)
- Bake on 350 for 9 – 10 minutes. Cookies will not brown.
- Make the frosting.
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a spoon until smooth. It should be thick but gooey.
- When cookies are completely cool, ladle a spoonful onto the center of cookie and spread in a circular motion. The frosting should spread but be thick enough not to spill over the side. Let the cookies sit for at least an hour in order for the frosting to harden/form a shell. Let them set overnight if you plan to stack them to store or transport. Otherwise the frosting won’t be hard enough and the cookies will stick to each other.
This is what the dough looks like rolled and sliced.
You can see the frosting is wet, that means it hasn’t hardened yet.
A few notes to remember. You must use real limes. I don’t usually have limes on hand, but for this recipe, you have to use real limes. You need the zest as well as the real (un-bottled) juice. The zest adds these darling green flecks that give the cookies such great character – as well as flavor.
The dough can be made ahead of time and frozen if needs be. Just wrap it properly so it doesn’t dry out.
After the cookies are frosted, make sure you give them plenty of time to harden before you start stacking them. And even then I’d put parchment paper between each row. These cookies look so good, you don’t want to stack them too early. The frosting will crack and stick.
I love that this recipe makes so much! I get anywhere from 5 – 7 dozen cookies depending on how thick or thin I slice the dough. The thicker you slice, the bigger the cookie. Sounds like common sense, but sometimes you just don’t think about those kinds of things.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. They’re sweet and refreshing with the right amount of tang and zest. And since this is an original recipe, you’ll only find it here! ๐
Have you ever created your own recipe? What is your favorite kind of cookie?
I’m not a big fan of lemon flavored things either. These cookies look good though. I may need to give them a try.
Oh yum. You had me at lime. Those sound so delicious! Have to try this recipe.
I LOVE lime. I have a lime shortbread cookie that I make sometimes, but I’ve never tried Lime Sugar Cookies. Can’t wait to try your recipe!
These look fantabulous!!!!! yum
I’m not a lemon cookie fan, but this lime variation seems like something I would probably really enjoy!
I have not had lime cookies before! They look amazing I might have to try out this recipe.
My favorite cookies are mint, but I’ve never thought about making or had lime sugar cookies. I bet they’re amazing — and I bet they made the kitchen smell amazing too!