Give yellow limes a try in crinkle cookies

My little Meyer lemon tree dropped all its developing fruit in last July's heat wave. But the Bearss lime tree, protected under a pergola, seemed unbothered, and now, five months later, has the most gorgeous crop. In the past few weeks, almost all of the limes have ripened, transforming from classic green to a bright yellow-green.

I'm never ready for this switch, immersed as I usually am this time of year in baking with cinnamon and ginger and chocolate. But I hit on a recipe to use several of these limes, and I'm thrilled with the results, which are headed to a party.

When ripe, limes are juicier and less tart, more floral than their green selves. They are still limes, just enhanced. I stumbled on an Epicurious story from 2016 headlined "Are Yellow Limes Better Than Green Ones?" The answer, for baking anyway, is "yes."

The best explanation in the story comes from Karen Beverlin of FreshPoint, a produce distributor: "A ripe [yellow] lime is to a regular lime as a Meyer lemon is to a regular lemon," she says. 

So why do we see green limes in the supermarket? As with commercial tomatoes, ahem, they travel better when they're still hard and green. Great for margaritas and grilled shrimp, though.

So back to this cookie recipe, which I've adapted from several lemon/Meyer lemon versions. I snuck a sprinkle or two of green decorating sugar into the rolling sugar -- so there is some festive green in these cookies.

If you don't have ripe limes, try this recipe with regular ones (you may need one or two more) or with either type of lemon.

Baking notes: Allow at least two hours for the dough to chill; overnight is even better. And removing the cookies from the oven when they're slightly underbaked makes them wonderfully tender and chewy. If you prefer cakey cookies, continue baking until the bottoms just start to brown; the cookies won't flatten as much.

Also, the double sugar rolling is a technique I learned awhile back: The granulated sugar keeps the layer of confectioner's sugar from melting off the cookie. That's how you get those gorgeous crinkly clumps.

Ripe lime crinkle cookies

Makes 30 to 36 two-inch cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar

1 generous tablespoon grated lime zest (from 3 or 4 ripe limes)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 egg, room temperature

1 egg yolk, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons fresh ripe lime juice

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

For rolling:

1/3 cup granulated sugar (include some green sugar if desired)

1/2 cup or more confectioner's sugar

Instructions:

Place the 1 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl. Add the lime zest, and rub the sugar and zest together with a spatula, spoon or fingers until thoroughly combined.

Then stir in the melted butter, the egg and egg yolk, and the vanilla until combined. Whisk in the lime juice.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Stir the flour mixure into the butter-sugar mixture about one-third at a time until fully incorporated. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

When ready to bake, heat the oven to 325 degrees. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl, and the confectioner's sugar in another bowl.

Using a tablespoon or a medium cookie scoop, scoop out a rounded mound of dough and roll it into a ball. Roll the ball first in the granulated sugar, then in the confectioner's sugar. Place it on a prepared cookie sheet, and continue with the rest of the dough, spacing the balls 2 inches apart.

Bake the cookies until cracks form and the edges are set but not brown,  about 12 minutes if using insulated cookie sheets, about 10 minutes if using non-insulated baking sheet. (Check the bottom of one cookie to make sure it is not browning.)

Remove the cookie sheet to a cooling rack and allow cookies to cool on the pan. They will deflate a little. 

Store cookies in an airtight container if not serving soon.