Georgetown Lime Cookies (Broas)

"This cookie comes from British Guyana. The recipe is from "The Joy of Cookies" by Sharon Tyler Herbst. You can also add 1 cup of toasted almonds or grated coconut to the dough before rolling it into balls if you wan't something a little different. Prep time is a guess."
 
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photo by Jostlori photo by Jostlori
photo by Jostlori
photo by Jostlori photo by Jostlori
Ready In:
43mins
Ingredients:
12
Yields:
60 cookies
Serves:
30
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ingredients

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directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit. Grease 3 to 4 large baking sheets.
  • In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon; set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar and lime zest until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in lime juice. Stir in flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time, blending well after each addition.
  • Place sugar-spice mixture in a small bowl. Roll rounded teaspoons of dough into 1-inch balls. Roll balls in sugar-spice mixture; arrange, 1 inch apart, on prepared baking sheets. Use a decorative cookie stamp or the bottom of a glass to flatten balls slightly.
  • Bake 13 to 16 minutes, or until deep golden brown on the bottom. Cool on racks. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week or freeze for longer storage.

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Reviews

  1. I picked some fresh limes this morning and came across this recipe while searching for a way to use them. This recipe is a nice twist on a plain sugar cookie. The cookie itself is soft the inside with a nice, crispy exterior; however, it doesn't have the big wow factor that a more decadent chocolate cookie has. For those who aren't looking for decadence and don't happen to like chocolate, this is a more-than-satisfacory alternative. As other reviewers suggested I cut back a little on the sugar, and I'm glad I did. The lime I used was huge, so I also amped up the lime flavor by adding a fourth tablespoon of fresh lime juice, which was another favorable modification. In all honesty, I probably won't make this again simply because I love chocolate too much!
     
  2. I made these cookies and followed the recipe exactly as written. They were amazing! I've never had lime cookies before and wasn't honestly surprised by how good they were. I will definitely be making them again!
     
  3. UPDATE: Tried these again making adjustments as suggested by local expats: I used 50/50 margarine and butter, added extra flour due to the water content of CR's butter and moved my oven rack up a level. THAT'S THE TICKET!!! These cookies are AMAZING!!! Original Review: These cookies have an amazing flavor! I'd like to give them five stars, except mine spread way too thin and I ended up with one great big cookie-sheet sized cookie! However, this may not be the fault of the recipe, since the same thing happened yesterday with another cookie. My bad oven, or maybe its the Costa Rican butter; sigh... I love the combination of the lime with the cinnamon and nutmeg - even though we ended up with a not-very-pretty cookie, they disappeared pretty quickly! Yum! Thanks for posting!
     
  4. Great cookies! I substituted about a third of the butter for apple sauce, added a teaspoon of soy lecithin to the dough, reduced the sugar to 3/4 of a cup, and mixed in some shredded sweetened coconut to half of the dough. They came out as little balls of yumminess. The outside of the cookies are slightly hard and crispy but the insides are soft and chewy! They're kind of like a butter/shortbread cookie (as Len23 said), but a chewier on the inside. I will definitely be adding more lime next time though. The lime flavor was great in the dough before I baked it -- my husband didn't want to stop eating it. But it became much more subdued after baking. We really like the tartness of the lime to come through! Thanks for posting!
     
  5. Wow! Cookie Ladie, these babies are good! Limey and fragrant. Yummy! I cannot eat just one. I do not like to bake cookies (just eat them) but I am going to have to get over it for these. You can't buy them anywhere, so I am going to have to make them. Big thank you.
     
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Tweaks

  1. Great cookies! I substituted about a third of the butter for apple sauce, added a teaspoon of soy lecithin to the dough, reduced the sugar to 3/4 of a cup, and mixed in some shredded sweetened coconut to half of the dough. They came out as little balls of yumminess. The outside of the cookies are slightly hard and crispy but the insides are soft and chewy! They're kind of like a butter/shortbread cookie (as Len23 said), but a chewier on the inside. I will definitely be adding more lime next time though. The lime flavor was great in the dough before I baked it -- my husband didn't want to stop eating it. But it became much more subdued after baking. We really like the tartness of the lime to come through! Thanks for posting!
     
  2. Brought it to a cookie exchange and everyone loved it. I made some additions to the version I made. Replaced a 1/4 cup of granulated sugar in the dough with raw sugar. I also replaces the entire "spice" sugar (what you roll the dough balls in) with raw sugar....although, when putting the balls in the bowl, instead of rolling I scooped the mix on bc the cinnamon and nutmeg were all on the bottom of the bowl. I also I set aside a bit of the lime zest as well as 2 TB of lime juice (leftover from squeezing the limes) and made a glaze to brush on top of the cookies after they cooled. I also only baked them for 12 minutes to let them be a little softer. And one last thing to note - I tried both with one egg added to the dough and the original version and like the NO EGG version better. Thanks for the recipe. It was the biggest hit at the cookie party I went to.
     
  3. Ive just spent a lazy Sunday afternoon making these and they are delicious and very moreish! I made a few changes of my own by substituting some of the flour with cornmeal and rolled the dough balls in oatmeal, which gives the cookies a fantastic crunch. They were a bit too sweet for our English tastbuds, so next time I will use less sugar. Thanks for posting this recipe and I will definitely make these again - soon!
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

***09-02-2007 UPDATE*** I will soon be moving again. Finally, I will be out on my own. Just imagine what culinary adventures I will embark on then! I also have been admitted into the baking program at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California and am also attending my first semester at California State University, Fullerton. I have two years left before I can get my BA in English and one more year following that before I have my teaching credentials. Then I will be off to teach high school English while I wait to gather the needed money and experience to open my own dream bakery! ***02-08-2007 UPDATE*** I went out looking for a job and, on the first application I turned in, the lady interviewed me right on the spot and gave me the job. I am now an ICING MAKER!!!! I make the icing for the cookie bouquets that can be found on www.cookiesbydesign.com . She has also since taught me to bake the cookies, as well as how to process the sales and assembly of the cookie bouquets. All I have left to learn is how to decorate them (although I have already done some lettering on the message cookies). ***02-02-2007 UPDATE*** I now live with one of my good friends from back in high school. Her family offered to help me out by letting me live with them while I attend college down in Southern California. I just transfered down here with intent to start at the California State University of Fullerton in the fall. Getting a computer to work around here is a toughie, so I won't be able to post or message as often as I was when I lived with my grandparents. I'll do my best, though! I LOVE to bake! I would really like to have a bakery someday. I don't get to try out as many recipes as I used to now that I live with a friend from high school and her family. Food Network is about the only TV I watch anymore and I have a growing cookbook collection. Cooking is my comfort and, surprisingly enough, I've found that I eat FAR less when I make it myself. Thats TWO great benefits! I seem to have a little obsession, though, with collecting cookbooks. I guess it is getting pretty bad when I have to sneak new cookbooks into the house and hide them in the towel closet in my bathroom so my grandma doesn't see them and tell me I'm crazy for bringing another cookbook home. I buy all my cookbooks at thrift stores, garage sales, library sales, etc. I especially love old cookbooks and cookbooks from church, school, or charity groups. A lot of the recipes I submit are recipes from my many cookbooks that I haven't tried yet. Since most of my cookbooks are in storage right now, I need to get rid of as many of these cookbooks as I can. I plan to save the recipes I want before donating the cookbooks back to the library. My obligatory chunkett (that's probably not a word, but I use it ALL the time) about my other half because I love him so much: My boyfriend now lives about 20 minutes away from me since I moved back down to Southern California. Before my move, we were about 5-6 hours apart (I still can't believe we went through that for over a year!). We have been friends for years but lost touch during the 4 years that he went to college. He graduated June 2005 and we got back in touch that July. We have been dating since December 2, 2005 and are a pretty idyllic match thus far. He is one of my best friends. He gave me a promise ring 4-8-06 and we do plan to get married. The only thing holding us back is my dad's single wish that I graduate college before I get married. This is the only guy he has ever liked that I have dated, so I figure a few more years isn't that long to wait. Life would be so very different if something happened and he were to be taken away from me..... Anyway, onward ho! Gosh, I love food!
 
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