Lemon and Lime

I have been in the kitchen a lot lately making all kinds of treats for various events. It was more enjoyable than usual this week because I got to break in my new KitchenAid mixer! I have no idea how I have survived so long without one of these. Let me tell you, making five batches of frosting was WAY easier with this than my wimpy old hand mixer! I know a mixer shouldn't be this exciting, but it is. LOVE IT!!!

This week I made a couple of desserts: Lemon Crinkle Cookies for the cake decorating party and Key Lime Pie for last night's Mexican fiesta. Both turned out very yummy. I love light, citrus-y flavors for the summer. The cookies were very light and airy. If you didn't pick them up carefully they would break in half. I have decided that this is a very good quality for a cookie to have. It is definitely a recipe that I plan on using again. The Key Lime Pie was very good too. I never used to think that I liked Key Lime Pie but I proved myself wrong. Deeelightful! Here are the recipes:

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
½ tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1½ cup flour
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking powder
⅛ tsp. baking soda
½ cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease light colored baking sheets with non stick cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again.
Sift together all dry ingredients (except powdered sugar) and add to the wet mixture slowly until just combined. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly.
Chill dough for about 30 minutes. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar.
Freeze formed cookie balls overnight. This keeps them from spreading too much when they bake.
Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottom of cookies begin to barely brown and cookies have a matte finish (not melty or shiny). Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

(this picture is compliments of Google because I spaced on picture taking when I made these. But this is what they looked like - ok, these ones are prettier)

Key Lime Pie
2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
½ cup butter, melted
2 14 oz. cans sweetened condensed milk
½ cup sour cream
¾ cup key lime juice (about 20 limes)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
⅛ cup powdered sugar
½ tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350° F. Mix graham cracker crumbs and melted butter until well blended. Press mixture into a 9” pie plate. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Refrigerate until cool.
In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, and lime juice. Mix well and pour into graham cracker crust. Bake in preheated oven for 5 to 8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of pie. Chill pie thoroughly. In a large bowl, whip cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Top chilled pie with whipped cream and serve.