Cookie inspiration in the summer time can be a little harder. It’s too hot to bake, I don’t necessarily want to use chocolate and cinnamon because those are “winter flavors” (who am I kidding … chocolate is any time!) so when I came across a lime and coconut cookie, I thought that this combo might be a good idea. It’s like some of my other thumbprint cookies, but uses the tropical flavors. Not the prettiest, but they taste damn good.
Ingredients
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons coconut extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 to 2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tea spoon lime extract
4 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons lime zest, very finely grated
1 cup desiccated unsweetened coconut, toasted
(the fine grain kind, but you can use shredded sweetened if you can’t find the other kind)
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with silpat or parchment paper. While the oven is heating up, sprinkle the desiccated coconut on a baking sheet and toast for 5 minutes or until lightly golden. Be careful as this type of coconut burns very easily. Set aside to cool.
In the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, cream together butter, sugar and egg and egg yolks until fluffy, 3-5 minutes on medium. Add coconut and vanilla extracts. On low, beat in flour and salt.
To make cookies, roll 1 tablespoon of dough into a ball, then flatten slightly. Place balls, 1 inch apart, and with the back of a wooden spoon, make indentation in top of each one. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and redefine the thumbprints with the back of the spoon again. Return to oven and bake for an additional 7-9 minutes, until golden. Let cool on wire rack and let cool completely.
Prepare the filling. Whisk together confectioners sugar, lime juice and zest and grated lime zest. It should be a sort of loose glaze. Spoon filling into each cookie depression and immediately sprinkle with the coconut. Let filing harden before moving cookies to an airtight container for storage.
