Lime Sugar Cookies
Lime Sugar Cookies are your new favorite summer dessert! I love the burst of lime flavor with the sweetness of a chewy sugar cookie!
Lime is my favorite summer flavor! As soon as it gets warm, I start craving these Lime Sugar Cookies. The citrus flavor with lime juice and lime zest screams summer to me, just like a pineapple upside down cake. They’re bright, delicious, and so good they fly off the baking sheet before haveing a chance to cool!
LIME SUGAR COOKIES
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I was in the mood for cookies the other day, but I also wanted something light and summery. I’m a HUGE chocolate fan, but I just wanted something sweet and refreshing, and this was the perfect chewy compromise!
This lime sugar cookie recipe is so simple, it’s great for beginner bakers! There are no specialty ingredients or complicated methods here. Just mix, roll, and bake!
Lime Sugar Cookie Ingredients
LIMES: I use the lime juice and lime zest in these soft sugar cookies for a super strong flavor! The juice brings a burst of lime flavor, and the zest brings a subtle sweetness with a hint of lime.
LEAVENING AGENTS: I add baking soda and baking powder to this recipe for the fluffiest sugar cookies. I promise the doubling up is worth it when you sink into these sweet and chewy lime sugar cookies.
You’ll also need all the baking basics — softened butter, sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, flour, and a little salt.
How to Make Lime Sugar Cookies
- First, grab the dry ingredients and whisk together the baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour.
- In a second bowl, cream the butter and granulated sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
- Then, add the egg, vanilla, lime juice, and lime zest to the creamed butter mixture.
- Next, add the flour mixture one cup at a time, mixing until just combined. Over mixed dough will make tough, hard cookies.
- To make the cookies, scoop the dough into 2 tablespoon balls and roll. Place the dough ball on a baking sheet with parchment paper (or a silicone baking mat) about 2 inches apart. Repeat this process with the remaining dough until the pan is full. You’ll need to work in batches.
- Bake for 13 to 15 minutes until the cookies are just barely browned on the bottom.
- Then all you need to do is pop them out of the oven and then transfer ’em to a wire rack to cool after a few minutes resting on the pan… if you can wait that long!
These cookies are fresh for about 3 days at room temperature. If you wanna enjoy a bite of summer longer, freeze them! They last up to 3 months frozen. Just thaw for immediate sunshine on your tongue.
What Can I Do with Lots of Limes?
I buy limes by the bag as soon as they come in season in May. They’re a great summer citrus option when you’re sick of lemon squares and watermelon salsa.
If you’re looking for savory dishes, these jalapeño lime chicken wings are super zesty with a little heat. The sauce is just so good!
Keep it light and simple for your next pool party with pineapple coconut lime shrimp skewers. The juicy shrimp are marinated in a pineapple coconut lime sauce and charred just right on the grill.
Wanna sip your limes? This lemon lime sangria is the best of both worlds and super simple. It’s the best drink for citrus season!
Love lemon-lime sugar cookie truffles? Crumble up some of your Lime Sugar Cookies with these yummy lemon sugar cookies and mix with softened cream cheese for the truffle filling!
More Yummy Cookie Recipes
- Slice and Bake Sugar Cookies
- Lemon Poppy Seed Sugar Cookie Bars
- Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies
- Sugar Cookie Icing
- Easy Peanut Butter Cookies
- More DESSERT recipes…
Tools used to make Lime Sugar Cookies
Mixer: I use a stand mixer to get the fluffiest creamed butter without the arm workout. But a hand mixer works too! The faster you whip, the fluffier these cookies will be.
Silicone mats: I love these reusable baking mats for all my desserts. They’re great for roasted veggies and anything you make in the oven! You’ll never use parchment paper again.
*This post originally posted on 06/07/2014.
Lime Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 2 teaspoons lime zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add egg, vanilla, lime juice, and lime zest to butter mixture. Beat until combined.
- Add the flour mixture, one cup at a time, to the wet ingredients. Stop mixing once everything is combined.
- Roll 2 tablespoons of cookie dough into a ball and place it onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, keeping the dough balls 2-inches apart.
- Bake for 13-15 minutes or until just barely browned on the bottom.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
These cookies are excellent! If you follow the recipe to the letter they will be delicious lime tasting cookies. If you triple the amount of lime and zest and follow the rest of the recipe to the letter they will be the MOST AWESOME lime cookies. they are a family and work favorite. Thank you very much for the recipe.
I found adding a few drops of lime oil popped the flavor. Also banging the tray on the shelf about 10 minutes in created a great crackle.
The only thing is i feel the count is way off…. i got 32 cookies using a 2 tablespoon scoop.
These are so much better than a plain sugar cookie. It isn’t until people bite into one that they taste the subtle lime flavour. They are excellent with a cup of tea or coffee. Easy to whip up and since I seem to have extra limes, I can use one or two and still have enough for a gin and tonic…lol.
I doubled up the zest but other than that, I followed the directions.
Lovely recipe.
Mine didn’t spread like your photo. Why?
Hey Celina! Always make sure you are measuring your flour correctly so you don’t have too much or too little. Also the butter…if you add a tad more it should spread a little better. And always make sure your oven temp is correct. Hope this helps!
Delicious’!! I love the chewiness. I put 4tsp lime juice, still not real limey… but they were sill very yummy with a glass of iced tea!!!
Love these cookies. I add a little lemon zest and juice to give them a little extra zing. Put 2 together with a lemon curd filling and they are perfect.
Oh man, these are REALLY good. I managed to let them cool before tasting, but just barely. You’re right, the lime lends a perfect summery flavor to these otherwise perfect sugar cookies!
These tasted good but mine came out thin and crisp. Couldn’t taste the lime flavor at all. Followed recipe exactly, so not sure what happened. Maybe the dough should chill first? Double the zest and juice?
Sometimes elevation or climate creates an issue even though the recipe is followed. Depending on where you live you may have to adjust the ingredients to get the same yummy results. If you live in a drier climate then yes you could add a bit more zest/juice and chilling the dough first is always a great way to get it set first so it could certainly help.
Hi, I live in Denmark and would like to make these cookies.
Could someone guide me about the type of vanilla ? Guess it is vanilla extract and not vanilla powder or vanilla sugar which is used for the receipe ? Pleased to hear.
Yes, it is vanilla extract. Here is one of my favorites –> https://amzn.to/2TaDO7j
So easy and so GOOD! I love this cookie and can’t wait to share it with my Father-in-law! We are always trying to one up each other on lime desserts. I think I win!
That’s a fun game when food is involved! Thanks for trying them out!
The cookies were good. Not enough lime favor came through. I could taste more sugar then lime. I will stick with lemon cookie recipes.
Maybe try adding a bit more zest if you decide to play around with the recipe again. They make such a nice summer cookie especially with margaritas!
These are the best cookies ever. My whole family agrees. I am an enthusiastic cookie baker and even used to sell them in New York so I’m pretty picky. I have made other lime cookies that were good but these were even better. Even though I always change something in a recipe, this one was perfect as is. Refreshing and great when you want something different. They’re especially good after a Mexican meal.
For some reason my cookies came out nothing like the picture and were kinda a bit tasteless- From looking at the other comments i think its more something i did wrong or my limes or sumthin? I followed the recipe exactly but the mixture came out very sticky rather than cookie dough like and when out of the oven were really crumbly?
These were pretty tasty! However, I much preferred making them 1 tbsp balls, as 2 were too thick and didn’t seem to cook through as well. Generally, as my family likes not-so-sweet things, I definitely think the sugar could be dropped, next time I’d like to try 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups instead. The texture of the cookies was wonderfully chewy. I used a touch more fresh lime juice and zest; they had a very nice, subtle lime flavour, although they seemed a bit greasy to the touch. (Using a silipat or parchment makes cleanup easy.) Will be adding to my recipes, thanks! 🙂
My cookies did not crack on top. They are pretty and tasty, but smooth on top. I followed the recipe; how can I fix this
it might be your oven, if the temperature runs a little low it may help to bump it up a few degrees and then they will crack.
So delicious! These cookies are so worth making.
I just made these cookies and they are my new favourite. They are like little burst of sunshine in every bite. The only thing is I have no idea how one would get 48 cookies using 2tbsps per cookie. I only got 24 and some still don’t have 2tbsps of batter.
Thank you for this recipe!! i will be making these many times.
These were fantastic! Perfect consistency. I added a bit extra lime juice and zest and rolled them in sugar & lime zest. Thanks for a great recipe! This is an awesome base for any sugar cookie too!
Hi! I loved the lime cookies! I asked a question about the key lime mini pies with the lime cookie crust but nobody got back to me and now the recipe isn’t linked any more. Did you receive my query?
I didn’t, what was your question Valerie?
I love anything citrus, so can’t wait to give these a go 🙂