Lemon Lime Sprig Cookie

What are you having for dessert with your Easter dinner? 

Do not say jelly beans. Or Cadbury eggs. 

You had those for breakfast. And lunch.

Have you made ABK's  (Almost) Swig Cookies? Or my chocolate version of the Almost Swig, The "Swagg Cookie" ? If so, you are an old pro at making this type of cookie.
Last week, my SIL, Diane asked me about a dessert suggestion for a dinner she was having with a Mexican-theme menu.  I suggested she try adding some lime or lemon to the Swig recipe for a sweet that would compliment her meal. Then I experimented at home. I tried putting lemon and lime in the frosting, but didn't love the way the frosting looked with flecks of green. So I grated a bit of lime zest  in the cookie dough, then made a  fresh lemon-sour cream frosting to top off the cookie.

Make sure to use fresh lemon juice in the frosting. The difference between bottled lemon juice and fresh squeezed in this recipe is kind of like the difference between a can of orange flavored juice and a glass of fresh squeezed OJ.
I know you're going to love this cookie.
Taste tester comments ranged from "OMG WHAT IS IN THAT COOKIE??!!!!!!" to "Best cookie I've ever eaten".
Get busy.
Happy Easter weekend, friends. 

Lemon Lime Sprig Cookie
A Bountiful Kitchen
print recipe

dough:

1/2 cup butter
!/2 cup shortening ( I use butter flavored Crisco)

1 cup sour cream
zest from one to two limes, grated fine

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla)

4 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

sugar  for top of cookies

frosting:

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2 tablespoon sour cream

4 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
zest from one lemon, grated fine

dash of salt

1 drop lemon food coloring

1-2 tablespoons milk**

Preheat oven to 325 convection or 350 regular bake.

Take butter out of refrigerator and microwave for about 15 seconds. Place butter, shortening, cold sour cream and lime zest in a mixing bowl. Mix for about one minute. Add sugar and almond or vanilla flavoring, mix until smooth. Add all dry ingredients at once. Mix just until flour disappears and the mixture comes together in a ball of dough, about 1-2 minutes on very low speed. 

Spray the cookie scoop with a little cooking spray. Scoop the dough onto a cookie sheet. I use either a 1 3/4 inch or a 2 inch scoop. A two inch scoop will produce a cookie similar in size to the Swig cookie. If you don't have a cookie scoop, roll the dough into a ball about the size of a golf ball. 

Place about 1/4 cup sugar into a small bowl. 

Flatten the cookies with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar (press the bottom of the glass against the cookie first, then dip it in the sugar so the sugar will stick) . Press the cookies so they are flattened a bit, twisting the glass as you press to produce a jagged edge. 

Bake in oven for about 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly golden and cookies are slightly firm to the touch. Remove from oven, let cool. Place the cookies in the fridge and chill. 

Prepare the frosting:

Beat together the butter, sour cream, powdered sugar, lemon juice, zest and salt. When all ingredients are incorporated, add the drop of food coloring and milk if the frosting needs to be thinned. 

Frost after the cookies are completely chilled. 

Makes about 18  large cookies.

Tips:

-If you want the cookies to taste more like the Swig cookies make this adjustment to the dough:

 omit the almond flavoring and reduce the sugar to 1 cup. I prefer the cookies to be a bit sweeter, so I liked 1 1/2 cup of sugar in the dough.
-I use a microplane grater to grate the zest.

-The Swig cookie is frosted with quite a thin layer of frosting. I prefer my frosting to be a bit thicker. If you want to frost the cookie with a thinner frosting, add about 3-4 tablespoons of milk to the frosting.
-This cookie stays quite well in the fridge for two weeks  if kept in an air tight container. I almost always have a cookie sheet filled with these in my fridge for emergencies :)  They taste as good after two weeks as they do on the day they are made.

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