These soft Key Lime Cookies are super delicious and simple to make. They get their bright lime flavor from both lime zest and juice. Whip up a batch with basic ingredients and no chilling time needed.
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I love the fresh flavor and fluffy texture of these key lime cookies. Their bright flavor make them perfect for sharing during the spring and for special occasions such as Easter and Mother’s Day.
These cookies are a lime version of my lemon sour cream cookies. I love baking with sour cream. It adds flavor and makes cookies super soft and moist.
For more recipes, try my sour cream chocolate chip cookies, lime drizzle cake, and lime cake with lime frosting.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- You probably already have most of the ingredients!
- They are perfectly tangy thanks to sour cream and fresh lime. If you’re a fan of blood oranges, try my blood orange cookies. For another citrusy treat, you’ll love my grapefruit cookies!
- This recipe makes enough cookies to keep and share with friends!
- You don’t need to roll out the dough and no chill time. Just scoop and bake.
- A simple lime glaze makes them even more refreshing and tropical tasting.
Ingredients
Here are useful notes on some of the ingredients needed to make this lime cookie recipe.
- Flour: Use all-purpose flour. Use a scale to measure your flour in grams or spoon it into your measuring cup. Avoid dredging your measuring cup in the flour. This packs flour in and cause us to use too much flour.
- Granulated sugar-Granulated sugar adds sweetness and moisture.
- Light brown sugar– Make sure your brown sugar is fresh.
- Lime zest– You can use key limes or regular limes. The oils in the zest add lots of tart citrus flavor! Wash and zest your lemon with a microplane. Be sure to zest your limes before you slice them. Check out my Fruity Pebble cake for another citrusy treat!
- Unsalted butter– Use unsalted, room temperature butter. Pull the butter out of the fridge about 2 hours beforehand.
- Egg– Use 1 large egg, room temperature egg. Take the egg out of the fridge 1 hour beforehand. Room temperature egg will help get the fluffy cookies we want.
- Sour cream– Sour cream adds flavor and moisture. It makes these cookies super soft. Make sure your sour cream is at room temperature.
- Powdered sugar– Also known as confectioner’s sugar. We’ll use this to make the icing.
- Lime juice– We’ll be using lime juice in both the cookie dough and icing.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
- If you can’t find key limes, regular limes are equally delicious!
- Feel free to swap the limes for lemon. You can also do half and half for lemon lime cookies.
- For extra flavor, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the cookie dough.
- Add chocolate chips for a chocolatey twist!
- Instead of icing, top with buttercream or cream cheese frosting!
Instructions
Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, rub the zest into the sugars with your fingertips. Add the butter and cream the sugars and butter and beat with an electric mixer til light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Step 2: Add the egg and lime juice and beat until combined.
Step 3: With the mixer on low speed, alternatively add the dry ingredients with the sour cream. Beat until just combined.
Step 4: Scoop out heaping tablespoon sized portions of dough. Roll dough into heaping tablespoon sized balls and place them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Step 5: Bake at 350 Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes until edges begin to turn golden. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
Step 6: While the cookies are cooling, make the glaze. Stir together the lime juice, lime zest, and powdered sugar. Drizzle the glaze over the cookies or dunk the tops of the cookies in the glaze.
Hint: Sprinkle cookies with a little extra lime zest just after glazing them. Lime zest on top will let everyone know the flavor. It also adds a little extra burst of lime!
Expert Tips
I highly recommend topping your cookies with the icing! The simple 3 ingredient lime glaze adds extra sweetness and lime flavor.
Allow glaze to set. Once the glaze sets, you can stack and easily transport the cookies.
Recipe FAQs
Key limes are smaller, very round, and have thinner skin than regular limes. Taste-wise, they are more tart, floral and aromatic. Their skin is thinner than typical limes. Check out this article called Key Lime vs Lime: Is there Really a Difference? for more information.
Yes. Key limes are not as common as regular limes. If you can’t find key limes, regular limes can be used. Once the cookies are baked, it’s hard to detect the difference between typical limes and key limes.
These cookies bake in about 8-10 minutes. The edges will just start to turn light golden when they are ready.
Store these lime zest cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Freeze unfrosted cookies in an airtight for up to 3 months.
More Recipes You’ll Love
Key Lime Cookies
Equipment
- Microplane
Ingredients
Key Lime Cookies
- ¾ cup (170.25 g) unsalted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) key lime zest
- 2 tablespoons key lime juice
- ½ cup (115 g) sour cream room temperature
- 2½ cups (312.5 g) all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Key Lime Glaze
- 1⅓ cups (160 g) powdered sugar
- 2½ tablespoons (2.5 tablespoons) key lime juice
- 1 tablespoon key lime zest
Instructions
Key Lime Cookies
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk to combine the all-purpose flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, rub the zest into the sugars with your fingertips. Add the butter and cream the sugars and butter and beat with an electric mixer til light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the egg and lime juice and beat until combined.
- With the mixer on low speed, alternatively add the dry ingredients with the sour cream. Beat until just combined.
- Scoop out heaping tablespoon sized portions of dough. Roll dough into heaping tablespoon sized balls and place them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake at 350 Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes until edges begin to turn golden. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.
Key Lime Glaze
- In a medium sized bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, lime zest and juice with a small whisk or a spoon. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cookies. You can also just dunk the tops of the cookies in the glaze.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.
Christian Clauer
Great recipe! Perfect amount of lime flavor especially with the glaze. Family loved how soft and flavorful they were.
Natalie
Hey Christian, So so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe and that they were a hit with your family!! Thanks for making them and for your comment. Have a great night! 🙂 Natalie