Lime Flowers

I had a few limes left over from cooking, so to use them up, I went searching for a lime dessert recipe. :) I found another one, in my Martha Stewart Cookie Book, and a bit different from the lime meltaway cookies I made last month. But I have say, I didn't like these as much as the lime meltaways. The meltaways was a shortbread cookie, a bit crumbly and melted in your mouth. People loved them when I brought them to work. These, they were a bit chewier-not a crisp cookie or a soft cookie. Kind of in the middle. But I did like the lime flavor and they turned out pretty cute! The recipe says it makes about 2 dozen cookies, but I used smaller flower cutters and made about 4 dozen!

Ingredients

-2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
-1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
-1 cup granulated sugar
-2 tablespoons finely grated lime zest, plus 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 4
limes total)
-3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
-1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl; set aside.

Put granulated sugar and lime zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed 1 minute. Add butter, and mix until fluffy, about 2 minutes.


Mix in vanilla and lime juice. Reduce speed to low, and gradually mix in flour mixture.

On a lightly floured work surface, halve the dough. Flatten each half into a 10-inch disk, and wrap each in plastic. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.



Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Working with 1 half at a time, roll out dough on parchment paper to 1/8 inch thick. Cut shapes from dough with a 3-inch flower-shape cookie cutter. (I used a smaller flower cutter..it's what I had haha.. and yielded more cookies..I used another small circle cutter for the middle.)



Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Cut a hole in center of each with a 1-inch round cutter. Repeat with remaining disk. Wrap scraps in plastic. Freeze 30 minutes; reroll, and cut. (the dough softens quickly so you have to work with it fast and refreeze a few times...use flour to prevent the dough from sticking..to your hands, the parchment paper, the rolling pin...)

Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Before serving, sift confectioners' sugar over cookies.

Cute huh? :) Enjoy!