Wanna know a surefire way to get me to bake for you? Present me with a challenge, coupled with an intimation that I'll most likely fail, and I take the bait every single time: hook, line and sinker. When it comes to baking chalk it up to my competitive and perfectionist tendencies, which makes me predisposed to fall for the dare. I refuse to accept defeat!
Such was the case recently when a lime-lover lamented that they'd never had a cookie that successfully captured the taste and essence of the verdant citrus fruit. While there were dozens of cookie recipes devoted to its well known lemon cousin, the overlooked lime continued to be cast in the shadows. I set about to rectify the situation with these Lime Meltaways.
I remembered seeing this Martha Stewart recipe years ago but had never bothered making it. Now was the perfect excuse to give it a go. The only tweak I made to the original recipe was replacing vanilla extract with lime juice. In the end my dough boasted more than three tablespoons of freshly squeezed juice. If that didn't make you pucker up I don't know what would!
Once formed into a log the dough was chilled until firm and then sliced and baked. (The dough also freezes beautifully.) A final dredge in snowy white powdered sugar and you have a symphony of perfectly crisp, buttery cookies that build to a crescendo of tart lime flavor. (Pardon the hyperbole..ha!)
