Getting Lazy With Luscious Lime Meltaways

Can you tell I like alliteration?

Anyway, I loved these cookies but for some reason I just completely blanked out on taking pictures of them. Let’s blame it on the power outage, shall we? Pretend I was out cleaning up branches or something (unless you are John in which case, uh, since you know you cleaned most of them up, pretend I was watching the kids). I don’t even remember why I didn’t take any.

A lot of you have have either seen, eaten or made this recipe. I first learned about them on the CLBB, and I know Deb over at Smitten Kitchen baked them this summer. But much like those NY Times Torres chocolate chip cookies, that will not stop me from bringing this cookie to the masses, because it was spectacular. I should have made them sooner, and I am definitely thinking about them for my Christmas tray.

I have never had a meltaway before. They reminded me of the Mexican Wedding Cookies my mom makes at Christmas, only even more melt-y, because they don’t use any nuts, only powdered sugar, cornstarch, and flour, basically. This version borders on tart in the interior, which I adore, but I seriously love sour stuff, which is why I seriously love limes. The kids loved these as well, but John, who is not so keen on sour stuff, was a little underwhelmed.

What does he know anyway?

I cannot stand posting without pictures, and I am sure a lot of you have noticed the new picture up in the corner, so let me leave you with some lovely photos of our foundation. You can clearly see–in person anyway–where the front porch, garage, back pantry/laundry area and main basement will be. This photo above is facing the garage on the right and the laundry/pantry area on the left. Neither of those areas will have basement under them.

It’s funny to watch Alex (Sammy is just too young to get it) start to conceptualize the house. She clearly is starting to get the basement, but when we asked her how many floors/where the roof would be, she basically pointed at the top of the foundation. When we tried to explain it would be 2 stories, well, you could tell she thought we were nuts!

Lime Meltaways
Martha Stewart’s Cookies

12 T (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Grated zest of 2 limes (I used 3 bc I thought mine were a tad small)
2 T freshly squeezed lime juice
1 T pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups plus 2 T AP flour
2 T cornstarch
1/4 t salt

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until fluffy. Add lime zest, juice, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined.

Between two 8-by-12-inch pieces of parchment paper, roll dough into two 1 1/4-inch-diameter logs. Chill at least 1 hour. (I used wax paper and I chilled in the freezer.)

Heat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Place remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove parchment from logs; slice dough into 1/8-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, 8 to 10 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.