Key Lime Sugar Cookies

Key Lime Sugar Cookies (Adapted from The All-American Dessert Book)

For the cookies

4 teaspoons canola oil
4 teaspoons fresh grated Key lime zest
6 tablespoons fresh squeezed Key lime juice
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, a little softened and cut into cubes
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
3 tablespoons light-green coarse sugar

For the icing

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh squeezed Key lime juice
2 drops yellow liquid food color
2 drops green liquid food color

To prepare the cookies

In a small bowl, stir together oil and lime zest. Cover and let sit for at least one hour - you can let this sit for a few hours as well if desired. Place juice in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high power until the lime juice is reduced to 2 1/2 tablespoons - this will take about 4 minutes or so, but stop and check after 2 minutes to see how it is going. This will turn the juice a darker color. Let cool to room temperature before using.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, mix together oil/zest mixture and granulated sugar until thoroughly combined. Add the butter and cream the mixture together until light and fluffy. Mix in the lime juice, vanilla and lemon extract. Beat in the flour mixture just until the dough comes together. Divide the dough in half.

In between two sheets of parchment paper, roll out each piece of dough until it is about 1/4" thick. Place them on a baking sheet and set in the refrigerator until firm - at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350

Working with one rolled out dough at a time, carefully remove the top piece of parchment paper to release - loosely place back on top and invert the dough. Gently peel off the other layer.

Cut out as many cookies as you can using a 2 1/4" round cookie cutter - cut each circle in half to form wedges with a knife. If the dough it too soft to move, place in the refrigerator to firm up. Move the cookies to parchment lined baking sheets and continue to re-roll and cut out the cookies until all the dough is used. Scatter the top of the cookies with the green colored sugar.

Bake each sheet until the cookies begin to turn a light golden on the edges - about 8-10 minutes. You may want to rotate them halfway through to ensure even browning. Remove and immediately transfer the cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely.

To prepare the icing

In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar and lime juice until smooth. Mix in food coloring to create a lime-y colored icing. You want the consistency to be fairly stiff, but still soft enough to pipe out. Add more sugar or juice as needed to get it there. Scoop the icing into a pastry bag fitted with a small round tip.

Pipe a thin line around the outer rounded edge of the cookie. Create the segments, like a slice of lime, by piping a dot in the center and then make 7 thin lines radiating out from the dot to the edge you just piped out. The icing should firm up enough in about 30 minutes to move them without messing up the top.

Makes about 66 cookies.

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