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These iced lime shortbread cookies have the perfect citrus burst of flavor without being overly sweet. They’re the perfect summer dessert!

I recently went on a crazy citrus binge. If you haven’t noticed we’ve had a lot of citrus recipes around here lately including these lemon raspberry donut holes, my lemon curd post got some pretty, updated photos, margarita bars, and lemon cheesecake sandwich cookies. Whew. So much citrus! Not that I’m complaining, I have a tiny moderate citrus obsession. Especially in the summer when it’s in season. You have no idea how hard it was to walk away from the key limes that were on sale in the grocery store the other day.

So when I found myself with some leftover limes after making those margarita bars I could not let them go to waste. Could. Not. I can’t even believe I was able to keep this recipe to myself for this long! I took these to a house warming party for a friend and had to contain my excitement that there were so many left over. Woe is me. Leftover lime shortbread cookies to take home.

These cookies pack a powerful lime punch and since shortbread is itself not an overly sweet cookie the citrus glaze balances it out to the perfect amount of sweet to tart. We haven’t had these in the house in over a month and I’m sitting here with my mouth watering. Maybe I should have bought those key limes after all… 😉 This uses just regular limes though so no need to run out and get fancy unless you just prefer the taste of key limes to regular.

They’re simple, great for a backyard bbq on a hot summers day, and perfect with a nice, cold glass of sweet tea.

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Iced Lime Shortbread Cookies

Yield: 12 bars

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

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Ingredients

For the Shortbread:

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 2 Tbs lime zest, about 2 limes
• 1/4 cup lime juice, about 2 limes
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp . salt

For the Glaze:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp lime zest
• 1/4 cup lime juice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a glass 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper.
2. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the lime juice and zest and mix until just combined, being careful that the butter doesn't curdle.
3. Sift in flour and salt and mix until dough resembles large crumbs.
4. Press into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
5. As the shortbread cools completely combine powdered sugar, lime zest, and lime juice and mix until no lumps remain.
6. Pour over cooled shortbread and allow to set for 20-30 minutes before slicing and serving