These Lime Cookies are soft and chewy, with the best citrus flavor! They are extremely easy to make, perfectly tender with the right amount of chewiness, and they’re rolled in sugar before baking to create a beautiful slightly crispy, and sparkly exterior.
These Lime Cookies are sweet and tangy at the same time and have the best texture of sugar cookies as if they came from an expensive bakery. They are perfect for holiday baking, everyday baking, and even for summer baking to make ice cream cookie sandwiches.
If you’re looking for more sugar cookies to try, check out my basic but wonderful sugar cookies, and these Christmas sprinkle sugar cookies.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Easy to Make. These cookies are super easy to make, if you are a new baker then you are going to love these as they’re almost foolproof and you won’t mess them up.
- Best Textures. Perfectly tender, and chewy at the same time. I roll these sugar cookies in granulated sugar right before baking for a slightly crispy exterior, and a beautiful sparkly crust.
- Citrus. We’re using a mix of lime and lemon here, both fresh juice and zest of these 2 fruits will go in the cookies for a fresh zesty flavor.
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients with quantities and instructions is located in the recipe card below
- Flour and Baking Soda: These are the dry ingredients for this cookie recipe and create the bulk of the dough. Together they create the chewy texture that we’re aiming for.
- Butter: You need 2 sticks of unsalted butter that is softened to room temperature.
- Sugar: White granulated sugar will go in the cookie dough, and will also be used to roll the cookies before baking.
- Egg: Always choose Large sized eggs for baking, and let the egg come to room temperature before mixing. They incorporate in the cookie dough much better like that.
- Vanilla Extract: I suggest using a high quality, pure vanilla extract. However, imitation vanilla also works in baking if that’s what you have on hand.
- Decorator’s Sugar: to get a really nice crunch on the outside of the cookies, use a coarse ground sugar for rolling them in. Different colors can be used to make these cookies bright and fun.
How To Make Lime Cookies
Before you start, preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat silicone mat.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. Mix well and set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth using an electric hand or stand mixer. Add in egg, vanilla, lemon, and lime juice and mix until well combined.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients along with lemon and lime zest, and mix until just combined.
- Using a small cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough and roll in granulated sugar then place onto the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until set and lightly brown at the bottom. Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Top Tips
- To roll the cookies in sugar before baking, you can either use granulated sugar or decorator’s sugar aka sanding sugar. If you don’t want to do this or avoiding to add more sugar to your cookies, you can skip this step and the cookies will still turn out delicious.
- Use one type of citrus if you wish. I used a combination of both lime and lemon, using the juice and the zest, but one of these will work perfectly fine in the recipe.
- Chill the Dough: I suggest chilling this dough for 30 minutes if you have the time. This step is not a must, but it will help you get that perfect puffed cookie that is chewy at the same time.
- Frost Them: Buttercream icing is delicious on these cookies! I recommend simple vanilla buttercream frosting, or a citrusy one that you can make with a little bit of lime juice and zest.
Storing
Store lime sugar cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. If you decide to frost them, store in the fridge.
Freeze for up to 3 months for longer storage, wrapping each cookie individually for best results.
FAQs
The best tool for zesting citrus is using a Microplane. It helps you get just the green layer that you need, without getting any of the bitter white pith. Always zest citrus before you juice it, it’s much easier.
You can easily double the recipe by just doubling the ingredients, but halving it won’t work as you need 1 whole egg for the batch and using half an egg is not easy.
If you love citrus-infused desserts, you should also check out my Orange Cookies, and these awesome Key Lime Pie Cookies.
I can’t wait to hear how much you loved these lime cookies! My family requests these cookies all the time, they’re amazing. And don’t forget to pin this recipe so you don’t lose it!
Lime Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
To Roll the Cookies:
- ⅓ cup white sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat silicone mat.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. Mix well and set aside.
- In a separate mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth using an electric hand or stand mixer.
- Add in egg, vanilla, lemon, and lime juice and mix until well combined.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients along with lemon and lime zest, and mix until just combined.
- Using a 1-inch cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough and roll in granulated sugar then place onto the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until set and lightly brown at the bottom.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- To roll the cookies in sugar before baking, you can either use granulated sugar or decorator’s sugar aka sanding sugar. If you don’t want to do this or avoiding to add more sugar to your cookies, you can skip this step and the cookies will still turn out delicious.
- Use one type of citrus if you wish. I used a combination of both lime and lemon, using the juice and the zest, but one of these will work perfectly fine in the recipe.
- Chill the Dough: I suggest chilling this dough for 30 minutes if you have the time. This step is not a must, but it will help you get that perfect puffed cookie that is chewy at the same time.
- Frost Them: Buttercream icing is delicious on these cookies! I recommend simple vanilla buttercream frosting, or a citrusy one that you can make with a little bit of lime juice and zest.
- Storing: Store lime sugar cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week. If you frost them, store in the fridge. Freeze for up to 3 months for longer storage, wrapping each cookie individually for best results.
Nutrition
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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