Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

Recently it's been increasingly difficult to make good cookies in my house. This happens often in North Carolina summers since we get 100 degree weather paired with 100% humidity (not a great combination for baking).  Ahh, the south.  My house gets warm too because we have a porch that is closed in, but doesn't have any AC. We leave the door to it open for my dog so she can go through it to the backyard. It's fine 320 days a year, but let me tell you, on a hot day it makes for a miserably hot house. Still, everyone loves cookies (including me) and I feel like batch of cookies around the house is a must in summer..or any other time of the year! I hate when batches spread too much, but I'm willing to take a chance with the humidity all in the name of cookies.

In my house, we've got a house divided on a number of different things. There are obvious things, like my Duke fan parents and two siblings who attended Duke versus my brother and I, UNC kids to the core. There are also other minor things, mostly these deal with food. Coconut is one of those foods. It used to be my mom against the house. She would choose a coconut cake over just about anything else, but nobody else liked it one bit. Then I realized coconut really just sweetens things up and that's always a plus in my book. So now it's me and my mom against the house. That's why whenever possible I love recipes like this that sneak in coconut in a subtle way. Coconut makes these cookies chewy and sweet. They are the perfect summer cookie. Because my house was an oven the day I made them, they didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, but the taste is great.

Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies  
Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of one large lime, finely minced
3 tbsp lime juice
½ cup unsweetened toasted coconut
½ cup sugar for rolling cookies

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. If you haven't already toasted your coconut just put a layer of coconut on a cookie sheet and bake it at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Watch out. It goes from white to burnt really quick if you aren't watching closely.
2. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Using a mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and very fluffy.
4. Beat in egg, vanilla extract, lime juice and lime zest.
5. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients and toasted coconut.
6. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and roll in sugar. Place on lined cookie sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. I made mine too big and they ran together. These do spread quite a bit.
7. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned.
8. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.