Lemon Lime Shortbread

These bright and fresh lemon lime shortbread cookies are flavored with citrus zest and are dipped in icing with citrus juice.

I love to bake, but it’s only on special occasions when I get fancy with frosting, sprinkles and other decorations.

Zero-effort bar and drop cookies that look even more appealing when they are lopsided, bumpy and cracked are my preference.

Those imperfections give them character and make it impossible to just have one.

Since it’s the holiday season, I figured I should bake more formal cookies that required being cut out and iced.

The result was lemon lime shortbread topped with citrus-spiked icing.

Like classic shortbread, they were crumbly, but the lemon and lime cut through all that butter giving the cookies a zippy bite.

I shared this cookie as part of a virtual cookie exchange organized by The Modern Proper. You can find a full list of cookies here. #calmandbrightcookienight

Lemon Lime Shortbread

• Author: Paige Adams
• Prep Time: 1 hour + 1 hour chilling
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
• Yield: 30 2-inch-square cookies 1x

Print Recipe

---

Description

These bright and fresh lemon lime shortbread cookies are flavored with citrus zest and are dipped in icing with citrus juice.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon plus more zest for decorating
• Juice and zest of 1 lime plus more zest for decorating
• 1–1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on low until just combined, about 30 seconds, followed by the yolk, lemon zest and lime zest. Beat in the flour, cornstarch and salt on low until just combined. The dough should still be crumbly. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes until firm.
2. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough until it is 1/4 inch thick. Use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Chill the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Bake the cookies on an ungreased sheet pan for 30 minutes until they are just baked through, but the tops have not browned.
4. Let the cookies cool completely. To make the icing, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice and lime juice. If the icing seems too thin, add a little more sugar. Dip or drizzle to the cookies with icing and sprinkle with zest.
5. Store in an airtight container.

---

Notes

Adapted from Mark Bittman