I’ve been reading the website Culinary Concoctions by Peabody for more than a year and have ogled over the food photography and recipes there, but have never made anything. Until recently. Peabody bakes a lot and I love to bake, so a lot of her recipes strike me. I saw this one in the beginning of August forKey Lime Pie Cookies and we had a barbecue that weekend, so I made them. They were fun. You make one dough that is like a crust with cinnamon and whole wheat flour and one that is lime-flavored. Roll one around the other and you’ve got full key lime pie flavor in a small cookie form.

Key Lime Pie Cookies

Key Lime Ice Box Cookie
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2/3 cups granulated sugar
zest of one lime
3 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup key lime juice

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl place the sugar and lime zest together. Using your hands, rub the lime zest into the sugar to release the lime oil into it. Run sugar through a sifter to remove lime zest pieces. Using a standing mixer, with paddle attachment, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat on medium high speed the egg yolk and key lime juice. Scrape down bowl. Switch to low speed and add flour mixture. Blend until mixture comes together. It will look a little crumble but will stick together when you press it.

Graham Cracker Ice Box Cookie
3/4 cup graham flour (use whole wheat if can’t find, but does make a difference)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
3 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 egg yolk
2 TBSP honey

In a medium bowl, sift together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Using a stand mixer, with paddle attachment, cream together the butter, honey, and brown sugar, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg yolk, and beat until fully incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture. Blend until mixture comes together in a ball.

To assemble the cookies:
Start with the key lime layer. Set out a long piece of wax paper. Pat out the dough into a long rectangle, about 18-inches long and 6-8 inches wide. Roll the graham cracker dough into a long tube and place it down the center of the key lime dough. Kind of like a hot dog. Using the wax paper to help you, roll the key lime dough over the graham cracker dough, so that the graham cracker dough will be in the middle of the cookie. Once graham cracker dough is completely covered, roll cookie dough into desired shape…round, square, somewhere in between like what I have. Roll up in wax paper and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Unwrap the cookie dough and cut into slices about ¼-inch thick and bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake until lightly browned around the edges, about 12 minutes. Cool the cookies on a rack and store in an airtight container.

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