Key Lime Jewel Cookies

Submitted by Midwest Maven

"These cookies are so yummy, just tart enough from the lime and sweet enough from the raspberry. Very pretty, jewel toned gems to munch on too!"

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Yields: 24 cookies
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 2 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon key lime zest
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 5 tablespoons key lime juice
• 1 tablespoon water
• 6 drops green food coloring
• 1 cup pine nuts, chopped
• 2⁄3 cup seedless raspberry preserves
• 1⁄2 cup powdered sugar, for dusting

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and lime zest; set aside.
3. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together.
4. Add the egg yolks, and combine well.
5. Next, mix in the almond extract, and the lime juice.
6. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, and mix well.
7. Add the water to make the dough come together more easily.
8. Add the green food coloring and work through the dough to get even color.
9. Lay the chopped pine nuts out in one layer on a plate.
10. Pinch off chunks of the dough and roll them between your hands to form 1 inch balls.
11. Roll the dough balls in the pine nuts to get them evenly coated, and then place them on parchment paper lined baking sheets.
12. Take your index finger and make an indent into the middle of each dough ball.
13. Carefully drop 1 teaspoon of the raspberry preserves into each indent on your cookies.
14. Bake for about 35 minutes, or when the pine nuts start to lightly brown on the edges.(Your cookies may bake quicker, my oven is not the best, just use your best judgement folks).
15. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheets for a couple minutes.
16. Then transfer the cookies to cooling racks to cool completely before lightly dusting them with the powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Reviews

[julie727]

Excelent cookie. We had a themed christmas party this year, and this recipe won the cookie competition in both the Taste and Theme categories! I made some with Almond slivers, some with coconut, some with mini chocolate chips and some plain. All were gone quickly, and I received rave reviews! Next time I will try this recipe with orange and dark chocolate kisses.

 

[CoffeeB]

These are an awesome little gem of a cookie you got here Midwest. The taste of the lime really shines thru nicely and not at all too strong. I made 1/2 a batch after reading other reviews. I"m going to try adding the next time an orange type preserve/marmalade for more citrus flavor. But if you do love anything raspberry as I do, this will be the cookie for you. Great keeper recipe and one that would be an excellent choice for holiday trays or gift giving. A very pretty presentation that looks like you took alot of x-tra effort.~

 

[mliss29]

These are very good! The cookie is light and crisp. (I baked them for about 25 minutes.) Nice tangy-sweet cookies. I think they would be very nice on Christmas holiday cookie assortments. (And I think they are calling me from the kitchen. I hear their little voices....)

 

[FLKeysJen]

An absolutely gorgeous creation using contest ingredients. I was proud to take these to a charity luncheon; they looked like designer cookies from a fancy bakery! The lime taste was quite strong, perhaps because our zest and juice is potent here in Florida. Some tasters in my husband's office said the flavor reminded them of "fruit loops" cereal. Also: I needed much more than one cup pine nuts, the recipe made 50 cookies and they only took 20 minutes to cook. These will be a unique addition to any cookie tray, a dessert for a tropical-themed event, or taste sensation as the garnish for coconut or pineapple sorbet. Great job!

 

[Tinkerbell]

4 Stars - We liked the strong lime flavor in these cookies & the pretty look. I put the pine nuts through a quick pulse or two in the food processor to create a fine chop. I needed to add 4 extra Tablespoons of flour to make the dough a pinching & rolling consistency & mine took only 16 minutes to bake up. The recipe made more cookies than I expected. We ended up with 30 cookies with nuts & 10 without. Will keep this recipe around & maybe even try it with other citrus flavors. Made & reviewed for RSC#11, January 2008.