Lime Meltaways

So yesterday was a craptacular day. And by craptacular I mean that rainy, gloomy, cold kind of day where you just wanna stay under the warmth of your covers and watch Cash Cab. Unfortunately, I had some things to tend to so an afternoon in bed was not in the cards.

However, if there's one thing I can't stand, it's being cold and my house was freezing. Sure I could have cranked the heat but the stubborn part of me said "It's freakin' May. People should not be running heat in MAY!" So I did what I always do to warm up. Took a screaming hot shower....the kind where you're like just shy of giving yourself 2nd degree burns. And then I decided to bake something. It's gotta be more efficient to warm up the house with the oven rather than the furnace, right? And the furnace doesn't make cookies either.

So yeah, I decided on Lime Meltaways from Martha Stewart. I've had it in my "recipes to try" folder for a while and it sounded like a perfect summer-y kind of dessert to make me think of warmer weather. I stuck to her recipe except I increased the amount of zest and juice. I read reviews that the original was a little lacking in the lime taste...

Lime Meltaways
adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes 3-4 dozen

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1 cup confectioners' sugar
Zest of 3 limes
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions:

1) Put butter and 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar in a bowl and mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add lime zest, juice and vanilla, and mix until fluffy.

2) Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add to butter mixture, and mix on low speed until just combined.

3) Divide dough in half. Place each half on an 8x12 sheet of parchment paper. Roll in parchment to form a log 1 1/4 inches in diameter. Refrigerate logs until cold and firm, at least 1 hour.

4) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove parchment from logs and cut logs into 1/4 inch-thick rounds. Space rounds 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 13 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, toss cookies with remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 weeks.


Lemme start out by saying that the original recipe claimed it made 10 dozen. That's a load of crap. I even measured my logs with a ruler so I know they were the right size. They must use magical flour or something in the Martha Stewart test kitchen because I only got about 40 cookies out of it.

Anyhoo, I love that my camera has a food setting on it. I'm so happy with how these turned out.....

I only used 2 of the 3 limes I zested to get the 4 tablespoons of juice. No worries though...I have big plans for that naked lime in my produce drawer...

I use a cheapy Proctor Silex hand mixer that I bought when I moved into my first apartment. The thing is a beast and still works like a charm 12 years later. Still, I dream to own this one day...

Woah...what's that you ask? It's HOMEMADE vanilla extract given to me by one of my most favorite people ever. I hope to do a collaborative blog post with her at some point because well, she's awesome!

See Martha, I measured. What gives?

Oohhh, pretty :)

They're not much to look at but wait....

Tah Dah!

The verdict? Very easy to make and they are pretty delish....and cute looking too. I can totally see Martha serving these for afternoon tea with her lady friends.

Yeah, it'll be a cold day in hell before I host an afternoon tea. I'm thinking more like reggae show in the park with my girlfriends tomorrow. Yeah mon!