Lemon and Lime Butter Cookie Rosettes

Lemon and Lime Butter Cookie Rosettes are buttery cookies, flavored with refreshing lemon or lime, piped into rosettes. The cookies are sandwiched with citrus icing that dries firm, giving each delicious bite a sweet and sour crunch!

About this recipe

The Half Price Books store saw me coming. All summer, I have been helping a friend liquidate an estate. The items that family members and friends didn’t want, had to be sold or donated.

The easiest collection (and not even the heaviest) to take care of were the books. We loaded up my SUV and my friend’s trunk with dozens and dozens of books and delivered them to the Half Price Books store. They pay a very small amount for the books they want, and donate the rest.

While the sales person went through the books I brought in, I was encouraged to “look around” at the well stocked store.

Of course, I gravitated to the baking section and began perusing the cookie books. I’m always on the lookout for cookie cookbooks that indicate storage time with each recipe.

For my carload of books, my friend received $16 dollars. Then I spent $22.

Because the 75 cookbooks on my kitchen shelves (and double that on other shelves) aren’t enough, apparently. Can cookbooks be an addiction?

The good news is that I started using those new cookbooks right away. Lemon and Lime Butter Cookie Rosettes are adapted from “European Cookies for Every Occasion” by Krisztina Maksai, a book filled with Monday Box possibilities.

The vast majority of the cookies in the book are reported to stay fresh for two weeks or longer! If even a few of the recipes produce cookies as delicious as Lemon and Lime Butter Cookie Rosettes, I’ve found a winner of a cookbook!

Lemon and Lime Butter Cookie Rosettes are not difficult to make, but they aren’t quick. Piping the dough into beautiful rosettes takes more time than a scoop or drop cookie.

These butter cookies are delicious on their own, however I strongly recommend sandwiching them with the citrus icing. The icing filling is basically a lemon or lime royal icing. It dries with a wonderful crunch.

If you are looking for a special cookie in both flavor and appearance, Lemon and Lime Butter Cookie Rosettes are a great choice!

Baking Tips 

• Piping bags are often large. I found it much easier to pipe with a smaller amount of dough in the piping bag. For that reason, the recipe indicates dividing each dough flavor into halves and filling the piping bag with one half of the dough at a time.
• The dough pipes easiest when it is warmed by your hands.
• Piping a rosette is very simple and is done with one continuous piped strip of dough. Keeping the piping bag vertical, start at the middle of the rosette and make a small dollop of dough. Then continue piping the dough in one circle around the dollop. When the circle is complete, cut off the end of the dough at the piping tip with a knife.
• Don’t skip the chilling. Chilling firms the dough so that the rose shape doesn’t melt while baking.
• The filling should be fluffy and thick. It should not drip when added to the cookies.  If the filling becomes too fluid after folding in the lemon/lime juice, mix in more confectioners' sugar until desired thicker consistency.
• Add any color or no color at all I used a few drops of food coloring gel to color my roses lemon yellow and lime green. Coloring is optional. Leave it out completely or choose your favorite colors.
• Lemon and Lime Butter Cookie Rosettes fit perfectly into mini cupcake papers for a pretty presentation on a tray or for gifting. I used green papers to look like leaves behind the roses.

More lemon cookies

Shrewsbury Biscuits are lovely lemony British biscuits that are a traditional tea time favorite. Try this English biscuits recipe and they will become your favorite as well.

This recipe for Lemon Biscotti makes the BEST summer biscotti. These crunchy Italian cookies are extra delicious with a cup of tea.

Lemon Poppyseed Cookies are bursting with citrus flavor. A crunchy, cooling treat.

Italian Easter Cookies, Taralli Dolci Di Pasqua, are coated in a crisp, lemon icing. So pretty and delicious!

Lemon Sugar Cookie Lemon Slices taste and look like lemon slices! These easy to decorate sugar cookies make a fun care package or cookie jar treat.

Italian Lemon Cookies are like soft, lemon pillows coated in sparkling sugar.

Crunchy, lemon Bunny Cookies are made with a rolled out lemon sugar cookie dough. Enjoy these sweet treats as Easter cookies or use a different shape for year round use.

Ready to bake? Join the free membership group to get new recipes and a newsletter delivered to your inbox! You can also stay in touch on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’d love to stay in touch!

Lemon and Lime Butter Cookie Rosettes

These buttery cookies are flavored with refreshing lemon or lime. They are piped into rosettes then sandwiched with citrus icing that dries firm, giving each delicious bite a sweet and sour crunch!

5 from 2 votes

Print Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: European

Prep Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 hours hours

Servings: 28

Calories: 255kcal

Author: Wendy Sondov

Adapted From: European Cookies For Every Occasion by Krisztina Maksai

Ingredients

COOKIE DOUGH

• 1 ½ cups unsalted butter room temperature
• 1 ⅓ cups confectioners’ sugar
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ cup cream
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice
• Grated zest of 1 lime
• ½ teaspoon lime juice
• 2-3 drops of yellow food coloring gel Optional
• 2-3 drops of green food coloring gel Optional

FILLING

• 2 egg whites from pasteurized eggs or reconstituted powdered egg white
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar divided
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons lime juice

Instructions

TO MAKE THE COOKIE DOUGH

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and confectioners’ sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs and cream. Mix to combine.
• Gradually mix in the flour, ¼ cup at a time.
• Remove ½ of the dough into a large mixing bowl.
• Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and yellow coloring gel (if using) to one of the bowls of dough. Stir until well mixed and the yellow color is uniform.
• Add the lime zest, lime juice, and green coloring gel (if using) to the other bowl of dough. Stir until well mixed and the green color is uniform.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Place ½ of the lemon dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip (I used Wilton M1).
• Pipe lemon rosettes onto one of the prepared baking sheets, about 1 “apart. To pipe a rosette, hold the pastry bag vertically at a 90 degree angle. Squeezing the bag continually, pipe a center dollop of dough continuing by circling the dollop with one row of piped dough. After one circle, cut off the dough at the piping tip. Continue making rosettes. When the dough in the bag is used up, place the second half of the lemon dough in the bag and continue piping lemon rosettes.
• On the second baking sheet, pipe the lime rosettes using ½ of the dough at a time, just like the lemon rosettes.
• Place the baking sheets in the refrigerator for at least one hour until the dough is firm.
• Preheat the oven to 350° F.
• Bake the cookies, one baking sheet at a time, for 12-15 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.
• Remove from the oven. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

TO MAKE AND USE THE LEMON FILLING

• In the bowl of an electric mixer or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat one egg white until stiff peaks form.
• Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until stiff and shiny, about 3-5 minutes
• Fold in the lemon juice using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.
• Working with pairs of lemon cookies, place about 1 heaping teaspoon of the filling on the flat bottom surface of one lemon rosette cookie, then top with another lemon cookie, bottoms together. Place the filled sandwich cookies on a flat surface for at least two hours or overnight, until the filling is dry and slightly hardened.

TO MAKE AND USE THE LIME FILLING

• In the bowl of an electric mixer or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat one egg white until stiff peaks form.
• Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until stiff and shiny, about 3-5 minutes.
• Fold in the lime juice using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. If the filling becomes too fluid, add more confectioners' sugar until desired thicker consistency.
• Working with pairs of lime cookies, place about 1 heaping teaspoon of the filling on the flat bottom surface of one lime rosette cookie, then top with another lime cookie, bottoms together. Place the filled sandwich cookies on a flat surface for at least two hours or overnight, until the filling is dry and slightly hardened.
• Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. Separate layers of cookies with wax paper or place each cookie in a mini cupcake paper.

Notes

• Piping bags are often large. I found it much easier to pipe with a smaller amount of dough in the piping bag. For that reason, the recipe indicates dividing each dough flavor into halves and filling the piping bag with one half of the dough at a time.
• The dough pipes easiest when it is warmed by your hands.
• Piping a rosette is very simple and is done with one continuous piped strip of dough. Keeping the piping bag vertical, start at the middle of the rosette and make a small dollop of dough. Then continue piping the dough in one circle around the dollop. When the circle is complete, cut off the end of the dough at the piping tip with a knife.
• Don’t skip the chilling. Chilling firms the dough so that the rose shape doesn’t melt while baking.
• The filling should be fluffy and thick. It should not drip when added to the cookies.  If the filling becomes too fluid after folding in the lemon/lime juice, mix in more confectioners’ sugar until desired thicker consistency.
• Add any color or no color at all I used a few drops of food coloring gel to color my roses lemon yellow and lime green. Coloring is optional. Leave it out completely or choose your favorite colors.
• Lemon and Lime Butter Cookie Rosettes fit perfectly into mini cupcake papers for a pretty presentation on a tray or for gifting. I used green papers to look like leaves behind the roses.

Packing tips

• Wrap small stacks of 2-3 rosette sandwiches in plastic wrap. Place the stacks in a column across the bottom of a quart or gallon size freezer weight ziplock bag. Remove as much air as possible before sealing.
• These cookies also make a lovely gift packaged with each sandwich cookie in a mini cupcake paper and arranged in a gift box. Be sure to place bubble wrap or crinkled up wax paper between the cookies and the box lid to prevent any movement of the cookies.

Nutrition

Calories: 255kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 11mg | Potassium: 36mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 353IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg

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