These Key Lime Tea Cookies are the perfect spring dessert. If you can’t find key limes, regular limes will do just fine too. Don’t let any obstacle get between you and these lovely little delights!
Several years ago, I bought these delightful cookies from Trader Joes.
And then I promptly hid them in the back of my pantry so I wouldn’t have to share a single one. They were SO GOOD. I was devastated to learn that they were a limited time treat and I haven’t seen them since. I have thought about them seriously at least once a week since that summer and pined for their perfectly tart and sweet and lime flavors.
After I particularly beastly craving for them, I decided to set about making them on my own!
Key Lime Cookie Detective
I scoured the internet for Key Lime Tea Cookie recipes, but none of them looked quite right. Not enough lime, too cake-y, too crunchy.
So I decided I needed to develop my own recipe. I used the blueprints for this recipe from King Arthur Flour, but their recipe called for citric acid and lime oil, and I don’t like buying speciality things that I’m not likely to use again. I knew I wanted a strong lime flavor, and a slight tartness to these cookies.
I sat brainstorming my perfect cookie, and I kept thinking about the tang of snickerdoodles. THAT was the exact bite I was after. And adding a bit of cream of tartar really took these cookies to the next level.
The next thing I knew these cookies needed was something beneath the powdered sugar coating to really bring the lime flavor and help the sugar adhere to the cookie. The glaze on these cookies soaks into the top of the cookies just slightly, forming an amazing little “crust” and delivers that sweet lime punch. Key limes bring their own unique flavor to these cookies, but they are also completely scrumptious with regular limes.
I think I really nailed it on this one, if I do say so myself. And I do. With aplomb.
Key Lime Tea Cookies
If you don’t have a Microplane Zester, you need one to really add some zest to your cooking. Heh. But really, these making zesting super easy.
Pro tip: Zest before you juice. It’s hard to zest a floppy, juiced lime.
The dough mixes up quick and easy, in one bowl! My favorite kind of recipe. Scoop out with a small cookie scoop and roll into 1 inch balls.
Bake for 15-18 minutes. Stick with the shorter time for a softer cookie, and bake a little longer for more crunch.
They’re just so cute and little! Let’s make them even cuter. With sugar. Because everything is cuter with more sugar.
Let the cookies cool long enough that they aren’t going to fall apart, but dunk them in the super simple glaze while they are still slightly warm.
Set them on a wire rack after their sugary swim. Put the rack over a baking sheet for easier clean up!
After you’ve dipped all of the cookies in glaze, roll them in powdered sugar. The glaze will absorb some of the powdered sugar, which I like. But if you want them extra powdered sugar-y, do this twice.
Let them cool completely, and enjoy!
Soft yet dense, bursting with lime flavor, and just the right amount of tang. These are such a perfect spring treat!
Key Lime Tea Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup butter softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 3 tablespoons Key lime juice or lime juice
- 1 tbsp lime zest
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 cups flour
Glaze and topping
- 3 tbsp key lime juice or lime juice
- 1/2 tbsp lime zest
- 1 1/4 c powdered sugar divided
Instructions
- 1 .Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment paper) a baking sheet.
- In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, salt, cream of tartar and baking powder until well-blended.
- Beat in the lime juice and the egg. Blend in the flour thoroughly. Dough will be very crumbly as you begin mixing- keep mixing until it is completely combined and smooth.
- Roll the dough into 1" balls.
- Bake the cookies for 15 to 18 minutes, until the cookies are browned on the bottom.
- Cool cookies for 5 minutes and transfer to wire cooling rack. Place the wire rack over a baking sheet for easier clean up.
- For the glaze: Whisk together lime zest, lime juice, and powdered sugar.
- When the cookies are cool enough to handle and not fall apart, dip the tops of the cookies in the glaze and return to the cooling rack.
- Roll the glazed cookies in the powdered sugar. Repeat if desired.
Awesome recipe, just what I was looking for when I couldn’t find my hubby’s favorite lime cookies at TJ’s. (The store associate told me their lime cookies are seasonal, so they should be back next year, but we didn’t want to wait.) I got about 4 dozen cookies from one batch. I used only 2 cups flour because the dough was hard to stir at that point, so my cookies came out a tiny bit flatter than your pictures. I put all the lime zest into the glaze instead of mixing some into the dough. Two regular limes made the perfect amount of juice and zest. I wouldn’t dream of using bottled lime juice for these. Fresh lime makes a world of difference! I may have to try a lemon version some time, with fresh lemons. Maybe other citrus too 🙂 Thank you so much for developing and sharing this recipe!
Bought some TJ’s lime cookies last week and loved them. Went looking for a recipe and found yours – I won’t be buying those cookies again. This recipe is awesome!! Thank you!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!! They are the best!
This recipe looks great. I have a question though. How much of the powdered sugar goes into the glaze and how much for rolling the cookies in? You have 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, divided but don’t say how much is in the glaze.
Thanks 😊
Oh shoot, you’re right! Totally left that out! So sorry. Mix 3/4 c of powdered sugar for the glaze, and roll in the other 3/4 c 😊
Hahaha… I made the glaze with 1+1/4c sugar… maybe that’s why they’re so sweet! They’re delicious though!
These are amazing! I tried the ones from Trader Joe’s and was heartbroken to know I’d never have them again. Just made a batch of your recipe and honestly they might even be better! Amazing work!
I’m so glad you loved them! They’re some of my favorites! And I’m so happy to provide a suitable replacement for the Trader Joe’s cookies! 🙌🏻