These Lime Meltaways are the perfect Christmas cookie. They simply melt in your mouth and if you love lime flavor then this cookie is for you.
No more chocolate today, my friends. Today these cookies are all about limes. We need variety in our cookies, and a lime is something you don’t see often in a cookie.
Which is a shame because the brightness and acidity combined with that unique lime flavor is perfect. The name itself suggests they simply melt in your mouth, and they do. I love these cookies, such a refreshing change.
What Are Lime Meltaways?
So what exactly are meltaways, you may be asking? Well they are the sweet little hybrid between a shortbread and a Mexican wedding cookie – texture wise at least. They’re perfectly buttery, sweet, rich, yet disappear in an instant.
Our secret weapon today is cornstarch! It will act as a binder for our light little cookies while also ensure they melt away as soon as they meet your mouth.
Ingredients
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Butter – Unsalted butter that’s at room temperature, be sure to pull it out of your fridge in advance.
- Vanilla – The secret weapon flavor booster in most baked goods. Extract will work just fine.
- Flour – I used all purpose for this recipe
- Lime – Freshly squeezed lime juice and lime zest.
- Sugar – Confectioners sugar, also known as powdered or icing sugar. This will ensure our cookies melt in our mouth – yum!
- Salt – All baked goods need salt, it helps balance the sweetness and ensure our flavors shine.
- Cornstarch – it will soften the harsh proteins of flour, thus making a more tender baked cookie.
How To Make Lime Meltaways
- Combine the wet and dry: In a mixer, cream the butter and 1/3 cup of the icing sugar until fluffy. Add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla and beat until fluffy. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt then add to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until combined.
- Roll dough into two 2 inch diameter logs and cover with wrap and chill for at least an hour.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the dough into 1/8 inch thick rounds. Place cookies on baking sheets about 1 inch apart.
- Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes then cool on a wire rack.
- Finish the cookies: Place remaining 2/3 cup powdered sugar in a resealable plastic bag. While still warm place the cookies in the sugar-filled bag, and toss to coat.
Gluten Free
You can make these lime meltaways gluten free by just substituing the flour with your favorite gluten free flour 1:1.
What Else Can I Use In My Cookies?
If you’re not a big lime fan, or if you’d like to mix in some other exciting flavors here’s some picture perfect suggestions.
- Vanilla, just keep it plain and ax the lime
- Pecans either finely ground or roughly chopped
- Mint
- Chocolate
- Coffee
- Nutella
Storing Leftovers
You can store them in an air tight container at room temperature for about 3 days, if they’ll last that long. If you notice that the powdered sugar on them melts into the cookie, don’t worry. Just sprinkle them with more, or simply roll them through a bit more powdered sugar. Nobody will notice or mind!
Freezer
You can store these in an airtight container for up to 3 months in the freezer!
Craving More Holiday Treats?
- Classic Shortbread Cookies
- Chocolate Pecan Snowballs
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Chocolate Rumballs
- Red Velvet Kiss Cookies
- Rugelach Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Mexican Wedding Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
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Lime Meltaways
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups butter unsalted, at room temperature
- 1 cup icing sugar same as powdered sugar or confectioners sugar
- zest of 2 limes
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Combine the wet and dry: In a mixer, cream the butter and 1/3 cup of the icing sugar until fluffy. Add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla and beat until fluffy. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch and salt then add to the butter mixture and beat on low speed until combined.
- Roll dough into two 2 inch diameter logs and cover with wrap and chill for at least an hour. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the dough into 1/8 inch thick rounds. Place cookies on baking sheets about 1 inch apart.
- Bake cookies until golden, about 15 minutes then cool on a wire rack.
- Finish the cookies: Place remaining 2/3 cup powdered sugar in a resealable plastic bag. While still warm place the cookies in the sugar-filled bag, and toss to coat.
Recipe Notes
- Storage: You can store them in an air tight container at room temperature for about 3 days, if they’ll last that long. If you notice that the powdered sugar on them melts into the cookie, don’t worry. Just sprinkle them with more, or simply roll them through a bit more powdered sugar. Nobody will notice or mind!
- Freezing: You can store these in an airtight container for up to 3 months in the freezer!
I have done these with lemon also. I also dry out the peel then pulverize it to a powder state, then add it to the powdered sugar before rolling the cookies in the sugar.
Barbara, that sounds divine!
Jo, I have an abundance of Meyer lemons on my tree this year. If I want to make these Lemon Meltaways do you recommend subbing in the same amounts of lemon zest and juice for the lime?
Thanks!
Yes, exactly. They should be just fine with Meyer lemons.
I was so happy to see this recipe… my son loves anything lime !
Do you think I could just chill the dough and then scoop out a small amount & flatten it slightly on a cookie sheet instead of rolling & slicing ?? I’m going to make these for his birthday. Thanks for the advise & help and a great recipe.
Yeah, just be careful because they might fall apart on you. That’s why the chilling and slicing is a better option.
just wondering if you could roll them into balls similar to your Mexican wedding cookies? also, why do you have to chill these and not the Wedding ones ?
The texture is a bit different, you want to chill them so they set a bit, otherwise they’ll just all apart on you and you won’t be able to slice them. I haven’t tried rolling them, but if you do try making them into balls, I don’t think the chilling is required.
I made these for St. Patrick’s Day. They were almost gone within the first ten minutes. My uncle said it was the perfect cookie.
how many grams are there in a stick of butter as i am in Australia and we have different sizes of butter for cooking. thanks
There are 113.5 g of butter in a stick. 🙂
I live in China but every time I go back home to the states, I stop in my favorite craft store and I buy a few boxes of lime cookies. These look very similar to the ones I have been buying. I can make them at home, thank you! When I bake them, I can have one of my favorite cookies and save luggage space.
There you go! 🙂
I am not a lime fan, but these are wonderful. Definitely a keeper!