Lime Iced Sugar Cookies

If y’all missed my recipe for Lime Margarita Cake last month, do me a favor. Pause, check it out, and when you sober up from the insane amount of tequila that I dumped into it, rejoin me here.

Ready?

Good. Because the importance of this recipe is lost completely if you don’t know about the ABSOLUTELY LIFE-CHANGING LIME CURD that it entails. I wrote about it in the margarita cake post, but I really didn’t spend enough time on it. So I created a whole new freaking post dedicated to it. Obsessed? Maybe.

When I tasted the lime curd for the first time, my life was changed (quick shout-out to the team at HonestlyYum for the recipe). I’ve been obsessed with sour things ever since I was a kid and started asking to eat the lemons out of everyone’s sweet tea glasses at restaurants (and yes, this is something I still do). So I’m extremely happy to report that with the juice of 4 (or 5, who’s counting) limes, this curd has the perfect tartness that I’m looking for in a citrus recipe. Of course, the sugar helps keep it balanced, and the two combine to make something that you wouldn’t mind spreading on toast in the morning – or eating straight out of the bowl.

But as good of an idea as that is, just try and restrain yourself long enough to dip these cookies into that tart, creamy goodness. I was trying to think of other desserts to use this curd in besides cake, when I came up with the idea of using it as alternative icing. I whipped up some sugar cookies, slapped the curd on top, covered the whole thing with whipped cream, and called myself a genius. I even had some friends try them just to make sure I wasn’t deluding myself into thinking that everything with this curd tasted great. Good news: I’m not crazy, and these cookies actually are the bomb! Try them out with a nice little margarita or sangria on the side for a summer picnic that you won’t forget. I’m calling it now: Summer 2017 is the summer of the lime! (Mostly because I bought so many limes and made a heck ton of stuff out of them, but you’ll see. I’m gonna make it happen.)

Lime Iced Sugar Cookies

Buttery sugar cookies iced with a tart and sweet lime curd and finished with a dollop of whipped cream. Perfect for a sunny summer picnic!

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Prep Time 25 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 1 hr 40 mins

Servings 36 cookies

Ingredients

  

For the cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla

For the curd

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup lime juice (about 4 limes)
• 6 eggs
• 12 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth (about 3 minutes). Add the egg and mix, slowly adding the dry ingredients, until the dough comes together.
• Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and place onto a baking sheet. Flatten the tops slightly with your hand before putting them in the oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes until they are brown around the edges. Set aside on a wire rack to cool.
• While the cookies cool, make the curd by whisking the eggs, lime juice, and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the butter a bit at a time. Whisk constantly for about 15 minutes until thickened. Strain through a sieve and leave to cool.
• When both the cookies and curd are cooled, use a knife or spoon to spread the curd on the cookies. Top with either store-bought whipped topping, or whip sugar with heavy cream to make your own. Store unused cookies and curd separately, as the curd can soak into the cookies and make them lose their crunch if left too long.

Notes

• The sugar cookie recipe was based off this one found on Add a Pinch, and the curd recipe comes from HonestlyYum (as mentioned above).
• If you're lazy like me, feel free to use store-bought whipped cream. If you really want to go the extra mile and whip up your own, I'm sure it'll make it even better!
• Like I mentioned in the recipe, only spread curd on the cookies you're going to eat within the next few hours. Keep any unused cookies out on the counter and the curd in the fridge, then make more as you need them. If you spread them all at once, those left behind will get soggy after a few days.