Lime Christmas Tea Cookies

Hello everyone, guess who's back! My back is still bugging me, but not nearly as badly as it was a couple of months ago. I meant to come back sooner, but I spent most of last month taking care of my Mom who had a stay in the hospital and who I've been accompanying to her follow-ups with her doctors.

Now before I talk about this recipe, I would like to tell you a little bit about my holiday baking method. I love to make small or half batches of 9-12 items, because I feel that when it comes to holiday baking variety is key. I usually end up putting together 4-5 cookie boxes and a big platter to take with me to Christmas Breakfast. I feel with variety, you can make sure EVERYBODY finds something that they like, and I prefer it to just making multiple batches of only a couple of things. So there you go, not for everyone but for me it's worked amazingly well and kept me from being bored by what I bake.

Anyway, a little bit about these bad boys, they are delicious and oh so pretty. These work best if you use a larger tree-shaped cookie cutter, if you use one that is too small they will more than likely fall apart. They are very tart, so if tart isn't your thing you should probably share this with someone.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup lime juice

2 tsp. grated lime peel

1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
10-12 drops green food colouring
3/4 cup finely chopped pistachios

FROSTING
1 package (3 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. lime juice
green food coloring (optional)
green colored sugar sprinkles (optional)

1) In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the lime juice, lime peel, and vanilla.

2) Gradually add flour and mix well.

3) Add green food colouring.

4) Stir in pistachios.

5) Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or until easy to handle.

6) On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 in. thickness.

7) Cut with a 2 1/2 in. tree shaped cookie cutter.

8) Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 F. for 8-10 minutes or until set.

9) Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

10) In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, confectioner's sugar and lime juice until smooth. Decorate cookies with frosting as desired and sprinkle with colored sugar. Store in the refrigerator.