key lime slice and bake cookies

These Key Lime Slice and Bake Cookies taste just like Key Lime Pie in cookie form! These shortbread cookies are melt in your mouth good, and are full of zingy lime flavor. Top them off with a quick lime glaze for a polished finish. 

This recipe comes from my cookbook, “The One-Bowl Baker”. Order a copy today!

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• Key Lime Flavor – These cookies are full of key lime flavor and fresh key lime zest.
• Shortbread Cookies – Shortbread slice and bake cookies have crisp edges and melt-in-your-mouth centers – they make the best cookies!
• Zippy Glaze – This glaze adds an extra pop of lime flavor to these easy cookies.

Ingredient Overview

Key Lime Slice and Bake Cookies are so incredibly delicious and easy – and the ingredient list is nice and short. 

• Key Lime Juice – You’ll need key lime juice but you can use juice from regular limes too – the recipe includes a substitution if you can’t find key lime juice near you. Find Key Lime juice with the other juice in the grocery store.
• Coarse Sugar – Rolling the dough in raw or cane sugar gives a nice crunch to the edge of your cookies.
• Butter – I always use salted buter for the best flavor, but feel free to use unsalted butter if you prefer.

Ingredient Substitutions:

• Fresh Lime Juice – Regular fresh lime juice can be used in place of the key lime juice, in a slightly different quantity given in the recipe card below.
• Dairy-free – Use your favorite dairy-free butter sticks to keep this recipe dairy-free.
• Granulated Sugar – If you don’t have a coarse sugar like raw or cane, just use granulated sugar or skip it.

How to Make this Recipe Step-by-Step:

Step 1: Make the Cookie Dough. Cream the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add the sugar and mix until well creamed. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, lime juice, and lime zest. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients to the flour mixture, mixing just until a dough comes together.

Step 2: Shape the Dough. Divide the dough into two sections and roll each into a log. Roll the logs through a plate of coarse sugar, then wrap in plastic wrap to chill for at least 30 minutes in the freezer. (See tips below about storing dough longer.)

Step 3: Slice & Bake the Cookies. Once chilled, slice each dough log into 12-14 cookies. Place on a prepared baking sheet and bake as directed in the recipe card below. Let them cool for a bit on a wire rack before glazing.

Step 4: Glaze the Cookies. Make this 2-minute glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, lime juice, lime zest, and vanilla extract. Dunk the cookies in the glaze and enjoy this easy key lime cookie recipe! These will be your new favorite cookies.

Expert Success Tips & FAQs

• Do I have to chill the dough? Yes, the dough must be chilled for these cookies.
• Can I make the dough ahead or can I freeze the cookie dough? Yes! Chill this dough in the fridge at least 2 hours, or up to 2 days. Or, chill it in the freezer for 1 hour, or up to 3 months. Let thaw in the fridge overnight before slicing & baking. You can also slice the cookies once they’ve been chilled, and freeze them like that rather than in whole logs of dough. In this case, you can bake them directly from frozen – no need to make any adjustments. 
• How do I know when the cookies are done? The cookies will spread a bit but should hold their shapes. The edges will have just a hint of golden brown, and will appear set. 
• How do I keep my slice and bake cookies perfectly round? Well, you probably won’t be able to haha. They’re always going to get a bit flat on one side. But, I do have one tip. Place each dough log inside two drinking glasses laid on their sides so the dough log is encapsulated inside the glasses. This helps keep the dough more rounded than if you just laid it on the fridge shelf.
• Glaze – Be sure to let the glaze set before storing or stacking these cookies.

Recipe Variations:

• Other Fruits – Feel free to try this recipe with another citrus fruit if you don’t care for lime. Lemon, orange, or blood orange would all work well!
• Graham Crackers – Sprinkle some crushed graham crackers or graham cracker crumbs on top of the glaze for that key lime pie feel.

Serving + Storing this Recipe:

Baked and cooled cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for 4-6 days, or in the fridge for longer.

Special Tools:

• Cookie Sheet – These are my favorite cookie sheets, I’ve used them almost every day for 6 years and they’re still in great shape.
• Silicone Baking Mat – I love silicone baking mats because they’re reusable and dishwasher safe.

More Citrus Recipes to Love:

• Key Lime Pound Cake
• Key Lime Pie Bars
• Mini Key Lime Cheesecake
• Mojito Cake
• Blood Orange Upside Down Cake
• Pound Cake with Grapefruit Glaze

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