lifeinflux

Day 8 – Lime Zingers

// January 4th, 2011 // A State of Yum

To say we love citrus in this house is putting it mildly. Drue was popping lemon wedges in her mouth and eating the flesh off the rind before she turned a year old. So when I found the recipe for lime zingers, we decided to include it in the pool of cookies to bake year-round. The reality of my busy schedule is that I really only bake cookies around the holidays. So lime zingers have become part of our holiday tradition. If you like the taste of lime, you should include these lovely cookies as part of your holiday baking tradition as well! Hope you love them as much as we do!!

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons grated lime peel
1/4 cup lime juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped hazelnuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed 30 seconds. Beat in sugar until combined. Beat in lime peel, the 1/4 cup lime juice and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in flour and nuts. Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface roll each half of the dough to about 1/4-inch thick. Using 1 or 2-inch cookie cutters, cut into desired shapes. Or you can take the lazy approach and simply scoop up the finished dough by the tablespoon, roll them into balls and place them on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 350F for 8 to 10 minutes, or until light brown around edges. Immediately transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool.

Lime Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
food coloring (if desired)

For frosting, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice and vanilla. with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Tint frosting as desired with food coloring. Spread over cooled cookies.

Day 7 – Chocolate Dipped Butterscotch Logs                                                   Day 9 – Peanut Cookies