Until my camera is back... Enjoy some key lime meltaway's

I thought I would leave you with a post from my other blog that's about being married to the military/our married life in general. It's mostly a journal I guess. This blog is a bit superficial filled with all my wants and desires... but I've got to put this stuff somewhere. And what's life without a little superficiality? Really.

So.. without further adieu I give you Key Lime Meltaway's:

We picked up a bag of limes some time last week that were getting old ( I must say, they were some of the juiciest limes I have ever come across). So the decision was made to give my mom's recipe key lime (or in this case plain old lime) meltaways a shot.

These cookies are tart with a hint of sweetness on the inside, coated in powdered sugar on the outside. NOM NOM.

Yield: 5 dozen (but I doubled the recipe)

Ingredients:

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Grated zest of 4 tiny or 2 large key limes
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour (a.k.a. 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until fluffy (you can use a plain old bowl and hand mixer.. of if you're really feeling feisty do it by hand) Add lime zest, juice, and vanilla; beat until fluffy.

Before the lime juice/zest/vanilla

After the lime juice/zest/vanilla.. sooo perty.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat on low speed until combined.

3. Between two pieces of parchment paper, roll dough into two 1 1/4-inch diameter logs. Chill at least 1 hour.

4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment (ok.. so I just greased my sheets).

5. Place remaining 2/3 cup powdered sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Remove parchment from logs; slice dough into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Place rounds on baking sheets, spaced 1 inch apart.

6. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool slightly, just three or four minutes. While still warm, place cookies in the sugar-filled bag; toss to coat (I used a bowl). Bake or freeze remaining dough. Store baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Well-ah! Enjoy!

Make sure that when you zest your limes the zest is small. I couldn't find the zester so I used the zest side of a regular grater- my zest was sort of big and didn't taste the best in the cookies. Overall, this isn't an amazing recipe- but it's pretty good for something that tastes light and is slightly sweet.