Lemon and Lime Cookies with Citrus Icing
These Lemon and Lime Cookies are the perfect treat for all you citrus lovers out there. Soft, tender, melt-in-your-mouth lemon and lime cookies are topped with simple, sweet lemon and lime icings. They’re cookies that are easy to make and hard to stop eating!
When you think of cookies, you probably think of sweet treats like crunchy chocolate chip cookies or soft frosted sugar cookies. We know these two come to mind for us when we think of the classic handheld sweet snacks, but there are so many more ways to make them.
We love to get creative with cookies, making all kinds of recipes for various holidays and all the seasons. One of our newest loves is these lemon and lime cookies with citrus icing. We took a classic dough and infused half of it with lemon flavor and the other half with lime. Then, we topped them with sweet lemon and lime icings to create sweet, soft, and tender cookies that pop with bright citrus flavor in every bite.
We love enjoying these with a cup of coffee as an afternoon snack or pairing them with a savory dinner like smothered cheesy sour cream chicken or rigatoni with Italian sausage. However you choose to serve them, everyone will always love them!
Table of contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: This recipe uses basic baking ingredients found in any kitchen or grocery store.
- Easy: These cookies only take a few simple steps and about 30 minutes from start to finish.
- Super Soft: The simple dough is incredibly soft and tender, with each bite literally melting in your mouth.
- Big, Bright Citrus Flavor: The lemon and lime zest in the cookies and their juices in the icing create cookies that are overflowing with bright, sweet, and tangy citrus flavor.
- Versatile: These cookies make the perfect afternoon snack, dessert, potluck treat, or even a tasty brunch option.
- Great for Meal Prep: Without their icing, these cookies are freezer-friendly, making them perfect for preparing double batches and saving some for future use.
Ingredients
We’ve made this list to help you save time on your next trip to the grocery store. You can find the full amounts needed in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
This recipe relies on fresh lemons and limes for its bright flavor, so be careful to choose fresh citrus of excellent quality.
Variations
- Gluten-Free: Use a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour to make a gluten-free version of these cookies. These flour blends produce gluten-free baked goods that are just as delicious as traditional ones.
- Citrus: Try using the zest and juice of other citrus fruits, like oranges, tangerines, and the like. Have fun experimenting.
- Lemon Lime Cookies: Try folding the lemon and lime doughs together to create a unique lemon-lime cookie.
- Lemon or Lime Cookies: You can double the amount of one of the citrus juices and zest to create just lemon or just lime cookies.
- Extra-Soft Cookies: Use cake flour to make these cookies even softer than they already are.
- Berries: Try folding fresh berries into the batter for citrus berry cookies.
How to Make Lemon and Lime Cookies
This is a quick overview of the steps needed to make this recipe. You can find the full instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Beat the butter and powdered sugar until fluffy. Then, add the flour and beat again until combined.
- Separate the dough into two bowls. Then, add yellow food coloring and lemon zest to one bowl of dough and green food coloring and lime zest to the other.
- Roll 2 teaspoons of dough at a time into balls and place them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper until all the dough is used. Flatten the balls into cookie shapes.
- Bake the cookies at 400°F until the edges are just set. Then, remove them from the oven and let them cool completely.
- Divide the powdered sugar for the frosting between two bowls. Then, mix the juice of a lemon into one bowl and the juice of a lime into the other bowl. Stir until you have thick icing.
- Spoon a little of the icing onto each cookie. You can pair the frosting and cookie flavors or top the lemon cookies with the lime icing and the lime cookies with the lemon icing. Let the icing harden and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- For the best cookie texture, sift your powdered sugar and flour before mixing them.
- Mix your cookie dough ingredients until just combined to avoid tough cookies.
- It’s important to flatten the cookie dough balls before baking them. This dough won’t spread much.
- Your cookies should be fully cooled before adding the icing. Otherwise, the heat from the cookies will thin the icing on contact.
Lemon and Lime Cookies FAQ
Do you have questions about this recipe? Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Dry cookies are usually the result of using too much flour. It’s essential to measure your flour carefully and accurately to prevent using too much, which can result in dry and crumbly cookies.
To ensure the perfect flour measurement, either weigh the flour by weight or loosely spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off with a knife. Never scoop flour directly from the container with a measuring cup. This compacts the flour, resulting in using too much.
Look for bright, firm, and heavy fruits with smooth, thin skin. They should have a slight give when gently squeezed, without being hard or mushy.
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📖Recipe
Want to make this recipe? Print the recipe card below, or pin this recipe, so you can find it later.
Lemon and Lime Cookies with Citrus Icing
Equipment
- large mixing bowl
- Electric mixer
- medium bowls
- Cookie sheets
- parchment paper
- Small bowls
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups butter softened
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Zest of 1 lime
- 3 cups flour
- Yellow and green food coloring
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar divided
- Juice of one lemon
- Juice of one lime
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large bowl, beat softened butter, 1 ½ cups of the powdered sugar beat until fluffy.
- Add in the flour and beat again until incorporated.
- Separate the dough into 2 bowls.
- Add a drop or two of yellow food coloring and the zest of the lemon to one bowl of dough.
- To the other bowl of dough add a drop or two of green food coloring and the zest of the lime.
- Mix them until everything is incorporated.
- Roll 2 teaspoons of dough into a ball and flatten and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Repeat with all the dough. You may need to use 2 baking sheets.
- These cookies do not spread much.
- Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until the edges are just set.
- Cool the cookies completely while you make the icing.
- In 2 small bowls add ½ cup of powdered sugar in each one.
- Add the juice of one lemon into one bowl and the juice of one lime in the other.
- Stir until all mixed, this will be a thick glaze but that is what you want.
- Spoon a little onto the middle of each cookie.
- Garnish with more zest if you like.
- Let the icing harden for an hour.
- Serve!
Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- You can make them just lemon, just lime, or add the two doughs together for a lemon lime cookie.
- You can freeze these cookies un-iced for up to 2 months.
Disclaimer
Any nutritional data I provide is an approximation and actual dietary information can vary based on ingredients and proportion sizes.
