she’s gonna blow!
Recipe: lime meltaways
It’s a good thing we didn’t end up settling in the Bay Area, because I would have died a long time ago from eating way too much of the incredible food here – and I’m only talking about the Chinese food. If I lived here, I’d get to sample all of the OTHER food too, just that when we’re visiting Grandma, we eat what she likes, and that would be Chinese food.
passion fruit bubble milk tea, green tea slushy, passion fruit slushy
The eating, shopping, walking around marathon has come to an end and I feel exhausted! I’ve probably exerted a small fraction of the energy I expend on a normal day at home, but I’m wiped. The city and this culture is mentally taxing on me. I am most certainly a country mouse, or better yet – a mountain mouse. This mountain mouse will be in her mountain house by day’s end tomorrow. A great time was had by all. More pics to come when I get home to my guy and my baby puppy.
beef noodle soup
I realized last night that I had intended to include a recipe, but didn’t. Sorry ’bout that, kids. I’ll do right by you tonight.
I have a problem with buying bulk sometimes. I see one lemon for a dollar in the grocery store and decide to purchase a bag of 20 for $7 instead. Then I run around like crazy trying to use up my citrus before it spoils. This exact thing happened last week except it was limes and not lemons I needed to polish off.
take that, scurvy!
juice the limes
Some of the limes were already destined for other recipes, but I reserved a handful to make lime meltaways that I had spied on Smitten Kitchen. Remember, I am on a shortbread kick and these cookies are eggless and butterful and mmmmmmmm.
mix in the flour
cookie dough speckled in lovely green zest
Since I had a couple of medical appointments back to back last week, I baked up a double batch of the lime meltaways. These were distributed to several folks at the radiation center, as well as packaged for my oncologist and surgeons at the medical center. The funny thing about these cookies is that they are dead giveaways. Everyone can tell if you’ve eaten one and where you ate it – they need only follow the trail of powdered sugar.
slicing
cool the cookies for just a few minutes
The beauty of these babies is how you can prepare the dough ahead of time and bake as needed. People, you NEED these cookies. I like the tart, sweet, light, crispy, buttery, and meltaway all at once. A great alternative for folks who aren’t big chocolate fiends or folks who love citrus. Let us rejoice and thank our lucky stars for Deb, whom I love with all of my baking equipment and expensive ingredients. Take care when tossing the cookies in the powdered sugar (toss your cookies?!) because overzealous tossing can lead to casualties which must be summarily eaten so as not to freak out the other cookies in the bag. You get my meaning…
shake shake shake
mmmmmmmmmm
Lime Meltaways
[print recipe]
slightly modified from Smitten Kitchen
12 tbsps unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 limes, grated zest of
2 tbsps lime juice, freshly squozen (I like to use 3)
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups + 2 tbsps all-purpose flour
2 tbsps cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
With balloon whisk (oops, I used the paddle) of a stand mixer, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar together until fluffy. Add lime zest, juice, and vanilla; whip until fluffy. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined. Roll the dough into two 1 1/4-inch-diameter logs. I held a sheet of parchment on opposite ends, cradling the dough in the middle and rolled it about until it was loggish. Wrap in plastic wrap. Chill at least 1 hour. Heat oven to 350°F. Place remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove dough from refrigerator and slice into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly, just three or four minutes. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag; toss to coat. Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Frozen dough can keep up to 2 months. Makes 4 dozen.
October 6th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Nice! A nice change from the usual chocolate addiction! I must try this, citrus is good and I like it. I’m sure you girls had a great time which is great to know!
October 6th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
I am so buying limes to make these. I love you are blogging every day.
October 7th, 2008 at 12:59 am
Yum! I love limes! You have truly inspired me!
October 7th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Limes are delightful fruits. Those fragrant cookies must taste heavenly! They are pretty too!
Cheers,
Rosa
October 7th, 2008 at 4:36 am
Oh, yeah!
As an Englishman, you can understand why I’d get a bit flustered at the sight of all those Limes!
Hah!
October 7th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Ooh I love lime cookies. I saw them on Smitten but never got around to them. Now that I have two glowing recommendations, I really have no excuse! Beautiful food prep photos. Safe trip home!
October 7th, 2008 at 5:06 am
Those lime cookies look nice and light and good!
October 7th, 2008 at 5:52 am
dare i make a dessert without chocolate, sour cherries, eggs or coffee? i do, i do dare, i’ll make this! :) now to go out and buy some limes … :)
October 7th, 2008 at 5:54 am
Oh wow! Those look amazing. Can I substitute lemon? It’s just that limes are hard to find in Italy and the ones available are shipped from another planet and are super yucky :(
October 7th, 2008 at 6:19 am
Lip smacking goodies, no doubt. Here’s to another recipe, in a LONG list, that I MUST bake!
:) Lime can be so refreshing even if it doesn’t have tequila as a sidecar. ;)
October 7th, 2008 at 8:42 am
yumm, i love citrus! i made a variation of these and they were soo good!
October 7th, 2008 at 9:11 am
These look delicious and fairly simple to make….a keeper!!!
October 7th, 2008 at 9:50 am
sigh. seriously. you’re KILLING me. i’m only just now done with the chocolate chip shortbread cookies you made last week and now THIS! i have some oranges hanging out, think i could use those instead of going out and buying limes?
October 7th, 2008 at 10:49 am
“Butterful” is my new favorite word.
October 7th, 2008 at 11:47 am
That beef noodle soup is making my heart skip. Ka-thumpa-thumpa!
October 7th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Mmmm, tasty, ever since I tried those in Williams Sonoma I’ve been itching for an opportunity to make them. The bay area is fun, but very tiring!
October 7th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
oh my, do i need to eat one of those!
October 7th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
hand me a few (>5) of those cookies and any of those bubble teas and I’d be a happy, happy guy : )
October 7th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
I can easily pass on cookie…except when it is shortbread :) then there is no stopping me!!
Fantastic! And that beef noodle soup looks out of this world! Any chance you’d want to recreate it in your kitchen?!!
October 7th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Oh yeah I have trouble with bulk too. I was at the market and saw napa cabbage for a dollar a head. I bought two, and I had one at home as well. Yikes, Its a rush to find napa cabbage recipes so that I dont feel any guilt if even an ounce goes bad. Too funny.
And yeah there is a bag of limes int he frig as always. So I think that they would love their new life as meltaways. Hmmm Hmmmm good!
October 8th, 2008 at 2:23 am
I could so go for some of those. I see them in my future.
October 8th, 2008 at 10:44 am
Mrs. E – yeah, I bake a lot of chocolate stuff, but I personally prefer the non-chocolate recipes :)
Barbara – thanks love :)
Anh – thank you!
Rosa – mmm, they are nice and slightly tart and sweet!
Graeme – ha ha, you crack me up.
Sarah – yes yes! Make these lovely cookies :)
Kevin – light and delicious and probably fattening – but I didn’t say that! No wait, I did…
Maja – yum!
Joanne – yes, I think you can more than safely sub in lemon. I’ll bet they are lovely too!
Margie – I love lime in so many foods.
Mimi – awesome!
Debbie – absolutely, you’ll love them.
Lan – oh, I bet they’ll work with lemons or oranges or…? Not sure about grapefruit. That sounds good, doesn’t it?
Deb – you are too cute. Thanks for the recipe. We *heart* you.
Nate – it was soooo good!
Jennywenny – yup, I am feeling it now.
Jess – yes yes!
Tony – you’re so funny. I love bubble tea but have a secret fear of lodging a bubble in my windpipe someday…
Tartelette – hmmm, for you, I could try :)
Lori – I’m glad I’m not the only one who has these issues!
Peabody – I can’t wait to see what you do with the recipe. Your twists are always fascinating!
October 8th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
The citrus freak in me can’t wait to try these. You are such a teaser, I’ll say. ;)
Limes are extremely popular here, Jen – we use them the way you guys in the Northern Hemisphere use lemons.
October 8th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
OMG I’m an *idiot*! When I make shortbreads, I usually *spread* the dough and then cut into the desired shapes…and thus I end with a lot of leftovers, which I then quickly re-spread and cut again until I have no more left. Your method? Creating a roll and then slicing it? is waaaaay easier and more efficient. Thank YOU!
I’m so glad I’ve found your blog! *is happy*
October 12th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Patricia – oooh, I love both limes and lemons. I’ll take citrus over chocolate anytime :)
Sere – no worries! Hope the new method works out for you.
October 31st, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I have to make these!! Your photos are gorgeous. So crisp and clear.
November 2nd, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Syrie – thanks! You’ll like them. The recipe is easy and the cookies are lovely!
June 19th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
[…] these are the Lime meltaways I made for last month’s […]
September 13th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Are these more chewy or crispy?
September 14th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Stef – these are brittle – not chewy at all.
January 19th, 2010 at 6:46 am
Ow Wow!!!! Living in Florida, I’m always looking for great citrus recipes. I feel like I hit the jackpot here on your website, with regards to limes. These cookies look amazing, I can’t wait to try out the cheesecake, and OH….any recipe that can be illustrated with a chunk of beef, a lime and garlic…the ultimate in comfort food! Add some cilantro, I’d probably not survive the eating of it :-).
You make me want to have a lime tree in my back yard NOW. I keep trying to decide which citrus trees to get, and lime seems like the nicest option, because everybody else has orange and grapefruit trees with more than they can eat, so they share those.
Thanks for the recipes!
February 5th, 2010 at 10:34 am
if anyone would wonder the yield of this recipe, since it’s missing from the explanations, I found on smithen kitchen that they yield 5 dozens small cookies.
December 29th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Where and what is the name of the bubble tea shop????
Taro bubble tea is my favorite but loving that passion fruit flavor however, never have seen it.
Hope it’s in SF as I’m going there soon.
December 29th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Cheryl – It’s Ten Ren Tea Co. of SF in Cupertino Village, Cupertino.
August 5th, 2012 at 9:57 pm
A friend gave me a bag of limes, and I’ve been having fun with them. I just made these lime meltaways, and they are terrific! Thanks for warning me about those ‘casualties’… I disposed of them right away ;)