Coconut Lime Shortbread

Lovely buttery shortbread with the refreshing tang of limes and the exotic tones of coconut. A wintery biscuit with a summery twist!

Is it just me or do others immediately start singing “you put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up” as soon as they hear/think/say the words coconut and lime in the same sentence? And it’s one of those songs that really stick in your head. There, now that’s set me off again for the rest of the day. Anyway, can’t be avoided as I really want to share the recipe with you all, and that would be a bit difficult to do without saying the words.

So, while it’s still possible here in Greece, I’m doing some baking. Soon the oven will be retiring for the summer, so I took the opportunity to try this combo. I love limes and I love coconut, so it was a no brainer really. The only thing I had to decide was whether it would be cake or biscuits (cookies for my US friends). I settled on biscuits, purely based on the ingredients I had in the cupboard at the time. Let me just say… they worked. The coconut flavour was very discreet, leaving a lovely aftertaste. It may have been stronger had I toasted the flakes beforehand, but that would have required a degree of patience I did not possess at that point in time. If you want to try it go ahead, but I was happy with the result as is.

I do have one small pointer. In the photo you can see bits of lime zest on top of the icing. Don’t go there. After a while it dries up and becomes bitter. The zest in the cookie is plenty to give it the desired tang, so there is no need for frills. Unless you’re taking photos; then you can use it and pick it off later!