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You are here: Home / cookies / Margarita Cookies

Margarita Cookies

July 9, 2010 By Laura 14 Comments

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I came to margarita appreciation very late in life. I of course did not drink at all while my epilepsy was active, at which point my only memory of tequila was extremely nasty cheap stuff in college. But I love limes, and so one day after I started drinking again I tried one.

Wow.


So when I came across a cookie meant to emulate margaritas, with their salty sour citrus notes–and sweet too because it IS a cookie–I was all over that. These did not disappoint; the salty sweet lemon lime zing hits your tongue right as you bite into the cookie (much as the salt hits your tongue right before you sip the margaita), and it all just works. My husband could taste the salt, and he does not like salt so he was not a fan, but the kids and I loved them and so did a friend.

A note on the salt: unlike with chocolate desserts, you do want to stick to the recipe for the salt. I made the mistake of adding a tad too much (because I like a lot of salt with chocolate).


Margarita Cookies
Adapted from Salty Sweets, Christie Matheson

2 cups AP flour
3/4 t fine sea salt, divided
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar, divided
1 large egg yolk
1 T fresh lemon juice
zest of 2 lemons and 2 limes, mixed together

Whisk together the flour and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter for 1 minute with a mixer (handheld or stand), and then add 3/4 cup of sugar and beat on medium high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolk, lemon juice, and 3/4 of the lemon and lime zest to the butter mixture. Beat for 2 moreminutes. Slowly mix in the flour mixture.

Whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt and the remaining lemon and lime zest. Roll the dough into 2 logs 1 1/2 – 2 inches in diameter and the roll the dough logs in the sugar-salt-zest mix. Wrap the dough logs in plastic and chill for 30-60 minutes.

15 minutes before removing the logs, preheat the oven to 350 F. Line your baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Slice the chilled logs into rounds about 1/4-inch thick and place on the prepared sheets. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or just until the cookies are lightly browned on the bottom and edges. Let cool on the sheets for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Filed Under: cookies, lemon baked goods, lime

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Comments

  1. Jennifurla says

    July 9, 2010 at 4:39 pm

    There look hella good

    Reply
  2. Jeanette says

    July 9, 2010 at 4:59 pm

    Oh my stars, sweet and salty….this could be the begining of world peace!

    Reply
  3. A Thought For Food says

    July 9, 2010 at 8:13 pm

    I've tweeted this numerous times, but I LOVE margaritas. I saw another marg cookie recipe a few months back and this reminded me that I wanted to try these out!

    Reply
  4. Joanne says

    July 10, 2010 at 6:05 am

    The salt is my favorite part!

    Reply
  5. grace says

    July 11, 2010 at 5:12 am

    it only takes a nip of tequila to knock me down, so i obviously prefer a maragarita-style cookie to the real thing. 🙂 the rim of salt is awesome!

    Reply
  6. FamilySpice says

    July 11, 2010 at 9:50 am

    Homemade margaritas is the house drink in my house! Maybe it's because we have a wonderful lime tree for inspiration! We will have to try these cookies!

    Reply
  7. Eliana says

    July 11, 2010 at 6:48 pm

    This cookie sounds delicious. I pretty much like anything with lemon/lime. Wish I had had some of these to celebrate Spain's world cup win today.

    Reply
  8. Kim (Liv Life) says

    July 12, 2010 at 2:55 pm

    Margaritas are a favorite here… my 10 year old daughter loves anything resembling a margarita and looks forward to the day she can have a "real" one. These will be a hit for her I'm sure! Love your photos as well… nicely done!

    Reply
  9. The Manly Housewife says

    July 13, 2010 at 6:08 am

    Throw this back with a shot of Tequila and you have a party. Nice post.

    Reply
  10. Joy says

    July 13, 2010 at 3:50 pm

    I may not be able to handle tequila but I would be able to have these 😀 Great recipe.

    Reply
  11. Cristina - Teenie Cakes says

    July 13, 2010 at 7:32 pm

    I can't wait to try these cookies. Your photos of them look so good!

    Reply
  12. Ashley says

    July 24, 2010 at 2:28 pm

    Ooh! Two awesome things combined! These look fantastic 🙂

    Reply
  13. Barb Fox says

    September 6, 2013 at 10:05 am

    Disappointed in the recipe. Don’t taste anything like margaritas. Just a butter cookie. May switch the lemon juice for lime juice. Add more salt to the sugar mix. You can’t roll the logs in the sugar mix., the dough is too soft. I woudn’t make them again, too much work.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      September 6, 2013 at 2:42 pm

      I am sorry they did not work out for you Barb. I am shocked you could not taste citrus with the zest of 2 limes and 2 lemons in the dough. As to the softness of the dough, usually the culprit is either too warm of a kitchen, in which case chill the dough to firm it, or possibly the way you measured the flour resulted in too little flour. If I don’t list a weight, it means I fluffed the flour, spooned it into a measuring cup and then leveled it with a knife. Hope that helps.

      Reply

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Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

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