Glazed Lime and Crystallized Ginger Cookies

I once had the great fortune of working on a project with Ming Tsai and having lunch at his restaurant Blue Ginger. He served us ginger infused limeade and ever since I've thought those two flavors pair really well together so when I saw a recipe for Glazed Lemon and Crystallized Ginger Cookies in Cook's Illustrated, I swapped out the lemons for limes and they hit the mark.




Makes about 30 cookies.


The dough, formed into a log, wrapped in parchment paper, and then in plastic wrap, will keep in the refrigerator for up to three days or in the freezer for up to two weeks (tip - cut a few off each day to have freshly baked cookies every night for two weeks). The cookies are best eaten the day they are glazed.


Ingredients
Lemon Cookies
3/4 cup granulated sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
3 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cold, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Lemon Glaze
1 tablespoon cream cheese , softened
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar (6 ounces)


Instructions
1. For the cookies: Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions; heat oven to 375 degrees.


2. In food processor, process granulated sugar, crystallized ginger, and lemon zest until sugar looks damp and zest is thoroughly incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add flour, salt, and baking powder; pulse to combine, about 10 one-second pulses. Scatter butter chunks over; pulse until mixture resembles fine cornmeal, about 15 one-second pulses. In measuring cup or small bowl, beat together lemon juice, egg yolk, and vanilla with fork to combine. With machine running, add juice/yolk mixture in slow, steady stream (process should take about 10 seconds); continue processing until dough begins to form ball, 10 to 15 seconds longer.


3. Turn dough and any dry bits onto counter; working quickly, gently knead together to ensure that no dry bits remain and dough is homogenous. Following illustrations 1 to 3 below, shape dough into log about 10 inches long and 2 inches in diameter, wrap dough in parchment, and twist parchment to seal. Chill dough until firm and cold, about 45 minutes in freezer or 2 hours in refrigerator.


4. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough log from wrapping and, using sharp chef's knife, slice dough into rounds 3/8 inch thick; place on prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Bake until centers of cookies just begin to color and edges are golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through baking time. Cool cookies on baking sheet about 5 minutes; using wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire rack and cool to room temperature before glazing.


5. For the glaze: Whisk cream cheese and lemon juice in medium nonreactive bowl until no lumps remain. Add confectioners' sugar and whisk until smooth.


6. To glaze the cookies: When cookies have cooled, working one at a time, spoon scant teaspoon glaze onto each cookie and spread evenly with back of spoon. Let cookies stand on wire rack until glaze is set and dry, about 1 hour.