Key Lime Cooler Cookies

5 from 5 votes

These Key Lime Cooler Cookies are crisp, buttery shortbreads, cloaked in a cool cloud of powdered sugar. There is an EXPLOSION of fabulous lime flavor as they melt in your mouth!

Prep Time30

Cook Time40

Total Time1 10

Course: Cookies, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Key Lime Cooler Cookies, Key Lime Coolers

Servings: cookies

Calories: 83kcal

Author: Chris Scheuer

Ingredients

For the dough:

8 ounces (2 sticks) very soft butter I use salted butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
finely grated zest from 1 medium-size lime
¼ cup corn starch
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

For the glaze:

finely grated zest from 2 medium size limes
½ cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

For the powdered sugar sprinkle

¼ cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the prep:

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
Line two sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

For the dough:

In a medium-large bowl, combine the butter, vanilla extract and lime zest. Stir until smooth and no lumps remain.
Add the sugar and sir until smooth and thoroughly combined.
Add the flour and cornstarch and stir until all flour is incorporated. It may seem like too much flour at first, but just keep mixing until it’s incorporated. (Sometimes at the end, I use my hand and give the dough a couple of squeezes to bring the dough together.)
Scoop up the dough into 2 teaspoon-size portions. (if you like to weigh things, I made mine about a half ounce or 15g and get about 40 portions.) Roll each one in your hands and space at least an inch apart on the 2 prepared pans.
With a flat-bottomed glass dipped in sugar, press each cookie gently to flatten. I like to flatten mine to about 1 inch (25-30mm) in diameter - slightly larger than the size of a quarter coin.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a light golden brown then remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the glaze:

While the cookies are cooling, make the glaze.
Zest the two limes and transfer the zest to a cutting board. Finely chop the zest then transfer it to a small bowl or measuring cup.
Add the powdered sugar, lime juice and lime zest and stir with a fork or small whisk until smooth.
Place sheet pan or a piece of parchment under the cooling rack (there will be drips from the glaze) and flip each cookie over so that the bottoms are facing up on the cooling rack.
Brush each cookie bottom with the glaze. Allow the cookies to dry for 10 minutes then flip them back over and brush the tops generously with the glaze.
Allow the glaze to dry completely (30-60 minutes).

For the powdered sugar sprinkle:

Combine the powdered sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl and stir well to combine.
Using a small fine-mesh sieve or a powdered sugar duster, sprinkle a piece of parchment paper (large enough for all of the cookies) generously with the powdered sugar/cornstarch mixture. Place the cookies on the parchment and sprinkle the top of each cookie with a thick layer of powdered sugar. (The powdered sugar-covered parchment allows the bottoms of the cookies to get coated while you sprinkle the tops.)
Store in an airtight container between layers of parchment paper. (Try to save a few to give away!)

Notes

See Café Tips above in the post for more detailed instructions and tips to ensure success.

If you prefer to use Metric measurements there is a button in each of our recipes, right above the word “Instructions”. Just click that button to toggle to grams, milliliters, etc. If you ever come across one of our recipes that doesn’t have the Metric conversion (some of the older recipes may not), feel free to leave a comment and I will add it.

Nutrition