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Are you a lime lover? If so, you will love these Chewy Lime Sugar Cookies! Sweet and soft, with the perfect amount of chew and fresh lime flavor.
I don’t know what the weather is like in your area, but here in Ohio, we’re in that odd phase of the year where one day it’s 90 and the next it’s 65.
While I am a true fall lover at heart, we’re still trying to hold onto the last couple of weeks of summer.
Which basically means I’m still whipping up key lime and fresh berry desserts all while craving pumpkin roll and a big slice of pumpkin crunch cake.
MY FAVORITE COCONUT LIME COOKIES
Key lime and lime-flavored treats are a summer staple in my house.
From Key Lime Pie Bars and Key Lime Pie Ice Cream to Lemon Lime Cupcakes and Lime Sour Cream Bundt Cake, I love the fresh, crisp flavor lime imparts to any recipe.
These sweet, chewy little cookies are certainly no different. Lots of lime zest and lime juice add a fresh citrus flavor to a classic chewy sugar cookie base.
These Chewy Lime Sugar Cookies are made even better because they have toasted coconut in them.
That’s right! In addition to the fresh lime flavor, these cookies get a hint of sweet and toasty coconut. If you love tropical flavors, these cookies are absolutely for you!
I also think these chewy lime cookies would be amazing made into ice cream sandwiches with some homemade vanilla ice cream. You could even roll the edges in some more toasted coconut! How delicious would that be?
HOW TO MAKE THESE CHEWY SUGAR COOKIES
I’ve made lots of different sugar cookie recipes over the years. Some are soft and cakey, like Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies, some are sandwiched together with buttercream frosting, like Easy Sugar Cookies.
But my favorites are probably the chewy variety, like these Chewy Lime Sugar Cookies and my Chai Sugar Cookies.
Start by toasting some coconut. If you’ve never done this before, I have a handy tutorial to learn how to toast coconut you can check out.
Whisk together the dry ingredients – flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt – and set those aside.
Using a mixer, beat together the butter and granulated sugar until smooth and very fluffy. You can then beat in the egg, vanilla, lime juice and finely minced lime zest.
Gradually add in the flour mixture and toasted coconut, and the dough is ready to be rolled into balls.
After you roll the dough into balls, roll them in some more granulated sugar for a little sparkle and texture on the outside of the baked cookies. At this point, you can either bake the cookies right away or freeze them for later! Just follow my instructions for how to freeze cookie dough to have Chewy Lime Sugar Cookies ready to bake any time you like.
Chewy Lime Sugar Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Zest of one large lime finely minced
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- ½ cup unsweetened toasted coconut
- ½ cup sugar for rolling cookies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy.
- Beat in egg, vanilla extract, lime juice and lime zest.
- Gradually blend in the dry ingredients and toasted coconut.
- Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned.
- Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These were great! My only comment is that I think a “teaspoonful” seemed very small to me (unless it’s wrong to use an actual teaspoon for measures.) The cookies were tiny. So I did about a tablespoon on the second batch and they were the perfect size. However, a few people in my office loved the small version since they are trying to be mindful of sugar intake!
I make these regularly for events. I was pointed to this recipe years ago by a friend and return to it often. I took a tip from her and typically separate this into two batches – one for everyone, including the kiddos, recipe as-is (perfect!), and to the other batch I add red pepper flakes for a surprise kick. Oh how people rave!! The chili-lime-coconut combo is magical. You can also chop red chilies finely, or use another dried pepper spice, but so far the red pepper flakes have been the most versatile and tasty, and you can adjust your heat level easily depending on the crowd.
I love that idea, Trish! I’m definitely going to try it!
Whenever I take the time to make these awesome cookies I usually make about a dozen batches. Friends and family can’t get enough of these. I make some with lime, some with lemon, some with orange, and once with blood orange. I add a little food coloring to each batch so people can grab their favorite. (Lime=Green, Lemon=Yellow, Orange=Orange) I’ve never had a complaint with these cookies. They are often my go to cookies for charity bake sales.
These are amazing!!! I added a little orange juice to my batter and lime and orange zest into my rolling sugar, fantastic & so pretty!
Made these today and they were fantastic although I found the lime and coconut flavors very subtle, but everyone in my family loved them. As a note, I made these at high altitude and found they still baked up well.
Steph-
Thanks so much for the feedback! I’m glad to hear your family enjoyed them!
Jamie
I just baked these cookies and I love them! They were so easy to make. They are so beautiful, chewy and soft and slightly crispy on the outside. I followed everything but just left out the coconut. They are refreshing and perfect for the summer. Thank you for sharing this recipe =)
I have made this and the lemon version dozens of times at work. I work at a retirement community and they recieve cookies every night, normally with fruit as dessert. Since I only do it every other weekend, I use both recipes for my cookies. The residents absolutely LOVE them!!! It’s different from the normal chocolate, peanut butter, or raisin cookie. Especially with the rough weather here in PA had. These are nice and refreshing. I had a request to make these with oranges. Do you think it will taste alright?
Mel-
I think the cookies would be great substituted with orange! Please stop back and let us know your experience in making them (and if they go over as well as the lime), and have a wonderful day!
-Jamie
Hi,do you mean salted butter? Thanks
Hi Michelle,
You can use either for this recipe. Your choice.
– Jamie
Sorry, in my previous comment I meant to say I made just half the recipe (it made 20) and used just 1/3 c. sugar.
This is a great-tasting recipe. Thanks for sharing it. It’s a keeper. I used lemon instead of lime and chilled the dough overnight. My cookies didn’t spread out as much as yours and were pretty puffy. I also used just 1/3 c. sugar in the dough and they were plenty sweet. I got 40 cookies using a 1 1/2″ diameter (#50) cookie scoop.
Terri-
I’m so happy that you enjoyed the recipe. Thank you so much for stopping in and sharing your experience with making the cookies. The substitutions that you made sound great! Happy holidays and thank you for following MBA!
-Jamie