Buttery Lime Cookies

And a few thoughts on taxes and The Supreme Court

We paid our taxes today. Lots of them.

My father was a proud immigrant to this country who couldn’t stand when people complained about paying taxes. He saw it as The Right Thing, that without taxes we wouldn’t have all the services we need, the roads, highways and public education, among other treasures of democracy.

And here we are, April 15, almost at midnight. I suspect Trump and his cronies are probably just pressing “send” on their Turbo Tax filing. Well, I mean, if they were paying taxes.

Ach, it’s all a bit overwhelming, huh?

(Would you please help the algorithm pay its taxes on time, and hit the heart-shaped ‘like’ button? Thank you.)

I won’t even bother discussing the rule of law’s tenuous journey this week. My brother David wrote a rather intense essay for The Daily Beast about how the Supreme Court are responsible for their own obsolescence. This means I can get on with talking about cookies.

I thought we could all use a little bit of brightness, so I came up with a lime butter cookie studded with pieces of white chocolate. The cookies get finished with a intense lime drizzle, so there’s no confusion these are lime cookies. The drizzle is optional, but worth the (very) little bit of extra effort.

Without further ado …

Lime And White Chocolate Butter Cookies

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Lime and White Chocolate Butter Cookies

Makes 2 dozen 3” cookies

What You’ll Need:

For the cookies:

2 ½ cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

8 ounces (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 16 pieces

¾ cup packed (160 grams) light brown sugar

½ cup (99 grams) granulated white sugar

1 generous tablespoon lime zest

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ½ cups (255 grams) best-quality white chocolate chips or chunks

For the glaze:

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

2 teaspoons lime zest

2 tablespoons lime juice (or more, if necessary)

What You’ll Do:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl, using a hand mixer), cream the butter, brown and white sugars and lime zest until light and fluffy about 3 minutes on medium-high speed. Scrape down the bowl.

3. Add the eggs one at a time, beating on medium until each one is fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the vanilla extract.

4. Add the flour mixture and blend on low speed until just incorporated. Raise the speed to medium and continue to beat for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until the mixture looks smooth and uniform. Stir in the white chocolate. If the dough is too sticky to handle, refrigerate covered for 2 hours (and up to 3 days).

5. When ready to bake, heat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into 2 1/2-inch balls (about 50 grams each). These spread, so only bake 6 per cookie sheet. Bake 9 to 12 minutes, or until light golden brown on the bottom and still pale and tender-looking in the middle. If you touch the center of the cookie lightly you should not be able to leave an imprint. Let the cookies rest for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

When the cookies are cool, make the glaze: Whisk together the confectioner’s sugar, lime zest and lime juice. Drizzle over the cookies.

And, you? How are you holding up this tax day?

If you have any money left over after paying your taxes, please consider investing in a copy of my upcoming cookbook, which can be pre-ordered now wherever fine books are sold! (Pre-orders help bookstores and online retailers decide whether to carry a book or not, which is why us authors are always begging you to buy our books in advance. )