Tropical Cookie Paradise

4.21.16

I am BACK from my incredible trip to Mexico!  This past week has been heaven, seriously paradise and I will be going through all the pictures (by phone and by fancy camera) to share some of the best moments, and prove that buying a whole new set of clothes for the trip was totally worth it. But since that’ll take the better part of the weekend, I’ll share these cookies I made right before I left, dreaming of the ocean and palm trees.  And these shortbread cookies basically got me there, tart and tangy and bright.  The buttery texture (and the fact they take no time at all) really make you feel like you’re on a vacation.

I think the beauty of shortbread cookies are that they require very little ingredients, almost no time to make and even less time to bake.  One of the best remedies for something sweet you can replace almost any flavor into them and satisfy a craving.

For the cookies

 I love the buttery texture of this cookie!!! And I love that they made about 2 dozen, I shared them with almost no one. (A select few got a taste)

The zest throughout the cookies are like flavorful sprinkles!

Enjoy this tangy cookie over the weekend as you bask in the sunshine. And get ready for Mexico overload next week! (And stand by for a Mug Cake to hold you over tomorrow)

Lemon Lime Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup of butter, softened
• 2 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• freshly squeezed juice from 1 lemon
• lemon zest from 1 1/2 lemons
• lime zest from 1 1/2 limes

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350
• In a stand up mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter until fluffy, about 3-4 minutes
• Add in sugar and allow to combine
• Whisk together salt and flour in a medium bowl and on low speed, add all to butter mix
• Once dry ingredients begin to mix in, add in juice and zest and allow to just combine, it should all come together to create a dough ball in the bowl
• Flour a clean surface and roll out dough until about 1/4 inch thick
• Using a cutter, cut out circles and place on a greased (or lined) baking sheet
• *You can also not roll out the dough and scoop it on the baking sheet, pressing it flat with your hand or the floured bottom of a glass*
• Once you’ve cut as many circles as possible, gather up remaining dough, roll out again until 1/4 inch thick and repeat process, continue until no dough is remaining
• Bake for 13-15 minutes, try not to let the cookies brown, they will be slightly under set when removed from oven, let them cool before moving to a wire rack or they will break (14 min was about perfect for me)
• Store in airtight container, these also freeze pretty well