almond lime glacier cookies

December 17, 2011

almond lime glacier cookies | une gamine dans la cuisine

Is there anything more lovely than the fragrant marriage between almonds & limes? Maybe; especially if you're a chocolate fan. But sometimes you need something refreshing, perky and light. These cookies are fluffy, edible pillows of bliss. They receive their almond love via a healthy dose of extract, but the next time I make this recipe (and there shall be a next time!) I might use almond meal in place of cake flour. Whilst preparing the cookies, the limes spoke to me in their adorable limey way; they said they'd fallen madly in love with almonds + wished to see more of them in the future.

Who am I to deny a cookie, or true love?

If you are craving a little bit of summer in the middle of the holiday rush, I think you will adore these spritely cookies. (It goes without saying that I could live on limes and lemons all year round.)

almond lime glacier cookies | une gamine dans la cuisine

Almond-Lime Glaciers

ingredients
2 1/4 cups + 3 Tablespoons Cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (that's 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
Zest from 2 limes (3, if they're small)
2 eggs
1 tsp. pure almond extract
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

method
In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside
In a separate, large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and lime zest. Using your fingertips, rub the zest into the sugar until moist and fragrant. Add the butter. Beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until blended.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for about 1 minute after each addition.
Add the almond extract, and beat for another minute.
On low speed, add the flour mixture. Beat until just combined (just long enough for the white streaks of flour to disappear).
Grab a large rubber spatula and give the dough a few good turns. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Sift the confectioners' sugar into a large, shallow bowl.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator. For each cookie, measure out a slightly rounded Tablespoon-size clump of dough. Roll each "clump" of dough through the confectioner's sugar until lightly coated, then roll each clump into a ball. Re-roll the ball in the confectioners' sugar until heavily coated. [Note: If the bowl of sugar is large enough, you can make about 6 cookies at a time.]
Place each coated cookie on the parchment lined sheet, leaving about 2-inches of space between each one.
Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until the cracked tops have just begun to set. (Try not to over-bake.)
Remove the sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for about 3 minutes before carefully transferring them to a cooling rack.

Makes about 25-30 cookies

almond lime glacier cookies | une gamine dans la cuisine


22 comments:

  1. So tempting looking and delicious sounding! What an awesome treat.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    ReplyDelete
  2. These look wonderful! Everything I'm baking right now is so heavy, lime sounds like a lovely change! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the name of these cookies! They perfectly reflect the look of these cookies..and remind me of Christmas and the cold! What a lovely taste they would have too. Good work Valerie!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have never heard of lime and almond together. Hmmm, very intriguing. I adore almond, and that's a fact. I wonder, how would these taste without the lime, and just some pure almond extract? They sound really good.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow ! What a wondeful fresh recipe !Baci Valerie

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ils sont très beaux craquelés comme ça !! je note ta recette
    Je te souhaite un excellent dimanche
    Valérie

    ReplyDelete
  7. I always have lots of lemons and limes around too. These are perfect--like chocolate crackles without all that pesky chocolate!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Debby, I'm not sure if the cookies would be as charming without the lime zest, that plucky kick is what makes them so irresistible. If you're not a fan of lime, I think lemons or oranges would make ideal substitutes. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I absolutely adore lime!! Love the "glacier" description. These are for me, for sure!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'd also bake with lemons and limes any time of the year.

    These cookies look amazing. And they're so pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  11. They DO look like fluffy, edible pillows of bliss!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Stunning! Those cookies look so delicate and delicious. Yum!

    I just love your writing, too. Always a treat to read your posts. You have a gift for baking and prose!

    ReplyDelete
  13. These are stunning. I love the look. Bet, I would love the taste more.

    ReplyDelete
  14. These just finished baking in my oven, and my kitchen smells devine. I have been baking for 3 days strait, and this recipe was my favorite by far. Simple, fragrant, light, and I'm sure soon to be delicious! Hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
    Maureen

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you, Maureen! I hope you will fall in love with these cookies as much as I did! (They do smell heavenly.) :D

    ReplyDelete
  16. are these cookies chewy? Also, after they are ball shaped, do place them as ball shaped on the parchment to bake or flatten them out a bit?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Teresa,
    These cookies are on the chewy side, with a slight crisp around the edges. As far as the dough, just place the coated balls directly onto the sheets without flattening...because, if I remember correctly, I didn't want to mess up the fragile coating of confectioners' sugar.

    Enjoy! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a great recipe! I used your exact recipe and made it, and it came out wonderfully! It was part of an experiment: http://www.hsinrusocial.com/duane-reade-my-grocery-store-in-a-pinch/

    I also brought them into work and everyone raved about it, and I'll be making these again for the next Hsinru Social.

    Keep up the great work! Oh and I linked you for the recipe too!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'm so glad you (and your coworkers), enjoyed the cookies! Thanks letting me know. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hi Valerie! Is it ok to prepare the dough early in the day and leave it in the fridge?

    ReplyDelete
  21. @Tami: Leaving the dough overnight in the fridge should be fine, just be sure it's well covered. If it's too stiff to work with in the morning, leave it out at room temperature until it's soft enough to scoop. :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting, and for taking the time to read through my ramblings!
If you have a recipe comment or question, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy Baking!
♥ Valerie

 

une gamine dans la cuisine © All rights reserved · Theme by Blog Milk · Blogger