COOKIES

LIME SHORTBREAD COOKIES…Stringing them along for Xmas!!

Once in a young lifetime one should be allowed to have as much sweetness as one can possibly want and hold.’
Judith Olney
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LIME SHORTBREAD COOKIES

A variation of Orange Shortbread Fingers from the ‘Great Big Cookie Book’…an exciting book with over 200 recipes. A crisp, buttery cookie with a twang of lime! I used lime juice & rind to make this cookie; gave it a nice zesty/citrus flavour-FRESH!! Decided to go a step further later in the day, and sandwiched some with a chocolate ganache. This made it even more interesting, and a bigger hit with the kids. Here’s my version of the recipe which is a very simple one;keeps in an airtight tin for up to 2 weeks (incidentally mine lasted 2 days!!)
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For zesting the lime, I used something really interesting & essential by my standards…a Microplane Zester Grater (see picture below) that my sister got for me from the US. It’s magical for zesting limes & oranges, & also for Parmesan, coconut etc. For those who haven’t got one, its worth owning it. It is quick, fuss free, effective and ‘oh so convenient’…even for the emergency dash of garlic & ginger!! Quick clean up too. I can see me using a lot of this neat instrument in future!
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Ingredients:

Butter – 1/2 cup (room temperature)

Castor Sugar – 5 tbsps
Finely grated rind of 2 limes
Juice of 1 lime
Flour – 1 1/2 cups
Lemon Sugar for sprinkling (or extra castor sugar)

collage

Method:

  • Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Grease 2 baking sheets.

Beat the butter & sugar till creamy & soft.I do this by hand.

  • Beat in the lime juice & rind (I do this too by hand & don’t use the mixer at all for this recipe).
  • Gradually add the flour and gently pull the dough in together to form a soft ball.
  • Roll out on a lightly floured suface to about 1/2 ” thickness ( for sandwich cookies I roll to a 1/4 ” thickness).
  • Put on the baking sheet,sprinkle with lemon or castor sugar, & bake for about 20 minutes till golden brown.
  • Remove to a cookie rack to cool.
  • Makes about 2-3 dozen.
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    Crisp & tangy…

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    Here’s where I thought that adding a dash of chocolate always dresses up things some more…so why not? I sandwiched the flowers in pairs- some with circle cut-outs in the centre, some whole cookies & some little pairs !! They were delicious both ways-with or without the chocolate!

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    These make good home-made gifts too. Off they go to Zlamushka’s Spicy Kitchen for a ‘Spoonful of Christmas’ & Susan’s Food Blogga ‘Eat Christmas Cookies’ event!
    ‘Box them or bag them;
    Either which way, you MUST have them!!’Food%2BBlogga%2BCookie%2BLogo

    About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

    18 Comments

    • Cynthia

      Aha yes, the ever amazing zester. Just the other day as I was using mine, I found myself wondering, “what did you use before the zester?” 🙂

    • Rachel

      Those make a great gift! I love the tanginess of lemon!

      I think you should rethink about rejoining DB. Since there are exceptions in the ingerdients allowed, I bet We from India can do it too with the available ingredients!!

    • PASSIONATE BAKER....and beyond.

      Thanks Rina & Sagari…I think this is the cookie time of the year I like best!
      And yes Cynthia…come to think of it; where would we be without that zester? Small things that mean so much!
      Meeso & Ben…many thanks :0)
      Hi Rachel…u have set me thinking about DB once again! Thanks for the encouragement.

    • Susan

      Enlivening shortbread cookies with zesty citrus is simply fantastic! I especially love the sparkling sugar on top–so festive and pretty!

      Thank you so much for sending another beautiful entry to Eat Christmas Cookies. 🙂 -Susan

    • Shweta

      Those wouldn’t have lasted more than 2 hrs if they had come out of my oven looking like that! You are awesome!

    • PASSIONATE BAKER....and beyond.

      Bindiya,Anita,Susan,Ahn,Shweta & Aparna…’Bow scrape’. MUCHAS GRACIAS!!

    • zlamushka

      Cookies on a string ? This is funny. I ll make a bracelet and nibble on them on my way to work. How neat! 😉 Your Xmas Spoonful entries make me so happy.

    • Suzana

      Beautiful cookies – I absolutely loved the idea of using a string to hold them together!

    • nina

      these look so great! thinking about doing a batch for my daughters bday! when you sandwich with chocolate – what do you use? just melted chocolate, nutella? i'm a little daft at baking so please help!

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