I love cookies and I love margaritas, so obviously MARGARITA COOKIES are a very good thing in my book! Sweet and salty, with a buttery texture and lime flavor, this margarita cookie recipe is an absolute favorite of mine! While you can spike the glaze with a sweet and salty tequila glaze, it can also be made with just lime juice for a family-friendly lime cookie treat.
These cookies are a really interesting flavor combo, kind of a buttery shortbread meets lime with a bite of tequila. My husband and I loved them.
These margarita cookies are pretty simple to make, though the dough does need an hour to chill out in the fridge, so make sure to factor that in.
If you aren’t a tequila fan, you can absolutely leave that out of these, and just make a great lime cookie. But if you are a tequila fan, there’s just a hint of tequila flavor that comes through in the glaze. Yum, yum.
You add lime zest to your dough. I somehow do not own a microplane, and started using the grater I always use for zesting. It’s totally the wrong kind and all it does is collect all the zest in it’s grips and not let go. Total fail. Luckily I realized I had this handy little OXO Spice Grater which worked wonderfully.
After making your dough, you roll it into two logs and then let it chill in the fridge for about an hour.
Then when it comes out you roll it in a salt and sugar mixture. Yum yum.
Then it’s slice and bake. I knew I was going to leave the tequila glaze off of some of the cookies, so for those cookies I added some extra sugar and salt mixture to the tops.
After baking you allow them to cool, then make the glaze. As I mentioned you can leave the glaze off, or omit the tequila.
Because the salty part of a margarita is SO important to me, I sprinkled some of the sugar and salt mixture on top of the glaze. It also adds a nice crunch.
Salty. Sweet. Lime. Butter. Good stuff.
If you are looking for an easy and delicious meal to start with prior to these margarita cookies, I highly suggest trying my easy SHEET PAN NACHOS!
MARGARITA COOKIES RECIPE
Margarita Cookies With Salty Sweet Tequila Glaze
Ingredients
Cookies:
- 2 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
- Green Food Coloring optional - I used six drops McCormick Neon Green & 2 Drops McCormick Green
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lime peel
- 1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Orange Extract
- 1/2 cup sanding sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Tequila Glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon tequila
Instructions
Cookies:
- 1. Mix flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Set aside. Beat butter and granulated sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg, lime peel, extract and food coloring if using; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Divide dough in half. Form each half into a log about 9 inches long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap in wax paper.
- 2. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm.
- 3. Preheat oven 350°F. Mix sanding sugar and kosher salt. Roll each cold dough log in mixture to coat evenly. Cut dough into 1/4-inch thick slices. Place on ungreased baking sheets. If desired sprinkle a bit of additional sugar and salt mixture on tops.
- 4. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
- 5. Drizzle Glaze over cooled cookies. If desired sprinkle lightly with salt/sugar mixture. Let stand until glaze is set.
Tequila Glaze:
- Mix 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, and 1 tablespoon each water and tequila in small bowl until smooth. (Or omit tequila and use 2 tablespoons water.)
Cheers!
Amanda says
You are always coming up with the most creative ideas. I’m filing these away for my Cinco de Mayo party!
Tash @ The Velvet Moon Baker says
these look absolutely gorgeous. I’ll admit I’ve never tried a margarita (or any cocktail of any kind) but I really want one of these cookies now!
Christi says
Tash, if you like lime and sweet/salty – they are great! You can totally omit the tequila aspect if you like, and they are still great. 🙂
Janine - sugarkissed.net says
These sound like the perfect summertime treat! Do you think they would go well served with margaritas or would that be overkill?
Christi says
Janine, oh no, not overkill at all. I think it’s a fabulous combo! 🙂
Sandra says
Love from the oven for sure, yumola!!!!
Christi says
Thanks Sandra!
Windy P. says
Oh, these sound fabulous. I love margarita cupcakes. I think I’m going to love these just as much. I’m a big fan of the sweet, tart and a little salty flavor combination! 🙂 Thanks for the recipe.
Jess says
I need these in my life right now!! 🙂 I pinned them for quick reference!! 🙂
Please join me at my Blog Hop this week! 🙂
http://www.pluckys-secondthought.com/pluckys-blog-hop-4-with-co-host/
Kathy @ Food Wine Thyme says
What a fantastic concept for a cookie. I almost feel as if these should be “adult only” cookies just so that I can have more for myself. 🙂
michelle says
yes! definitely pinning and making these!!
Samantha says
I must try these! Sounds yummy!
Also, I too find myself without a microplane and often use my grater. The best trick I have found is to use a pastry brush to brush the zest off the grater. It works surprisingly well. Note: the smaller the brush, the easier it is to remove as the bristles seems to stay a bit stiffer giving u the sturdiness you need.
Angie says
u lady are an evil one!! j.k I could eat my weight in these things!! with a rita to wash them down!! thanks for sharing.
Katrina @ In Katrina's Kitchen says
yesssssssssssssssssssss mama needs a cookie!
Olivia says
I made these and they were not the same shortbread-like consistency as shown in the pictures. Still delicious!! but because there was no rising agent, they spread out and looked a lot more like a flat regular cookies. Maybe i did something wrong!! but the flavor was delicious!
jenn says
Hi, just wondering if you have to put the orange extract to get the margerita taste? Thanks.
Christi says
Jenn, I’m pretty much a pure lime girl when it comes to margaritas, as in I don’t even like the triple sec in my drinks, so in my opinion, they are fine without any orange, but again, those are my tastes, you could certainly add some if you like the flavor!
Connory Ramsey says
I’m assuming self rising flour since they are cookies – is this correct? Thanks!
Christi says
Connory, nope, just all purpose. I pretty much never use self rising flour.
Lori says
I live in Okinawa and don’t have access to sanding sugar. I realize that regular sugar will melt in the oven, so it won’t have the same effect. Do you have any suggestions? Should I skip rolling the dough logs in the sugar/salt mixture and just put more sugar/salt on top?
Christi says
Lori, do you have turbinado or raw sugar available? Those are usually larger sugar crystals and would work perfectly. Otherwise I would skip the rolling and just sprinkle some on top like you mentioned, I think that would work great as well.
Katie says
Yum yum yum, these look amazing!!!!!!
Cindy Sullivan says
I realize it has been quite a while since you posted your margarita cookies recipe, but I just found it. What about adding some freeze dried strawberries ground in a food processor to make strawberry Margarita cookies? Do you think the original recipe would need any changes?
Thank you
Christi says
I haven’t tried it, but it sounds great!
Marissa says
Hi! These cookies look amazing! Quick question: How many cookies does this recipe make?
Thanks!
Christi says
Hi Marissa, you should get about two dozen cookies depending on the size you make them.
Jeanne says
I made the cookies but they totally flattened. What did I do wrong?
Christi says
Hmm, how thick did you cut your slices? Mine don’t really rise all that much, they stay pretty close to the thickness of the slice. Different temperature issues could have an impact, as well as freshness of ingredients (not always easy to really tell with say flour).
Janet says
Ohmygosh these cookies are awesome! They looked exactly like your pictures, tasted delicious, and all my friends loved them. Thank you for sharing
Jenny says
Ok, I’ve been wanting to make these forever!! I’m finally doing it for a pool party taco bar! Let me just tell you, if you don’t have orange extract…. any orange liqueur works GREAT! These are fab!!
Kim Courtney says
What is sanding sugar??
Christi says
Hi Kim, it’s a fine decorating sugar that you often see in the sprinkles section.
Kim Courtney says
Christi,
Thank you!!
J says
I made these and they worked great! To make sure they keep their shape, don’t soften the butter too much, and make sure to chill the dough at least an hour if not longer. While I was cutting one log, I kept the other log refrigerated. Don’t handle them too much before they go in the oven to prevent melting the dough with your hands.
Mary Ann says
Just made them – I think the cookie needs more lime flavor so next batch I’m going to add either lime juice or key lime juice to punch it up a little.
Otherwise – yum!
Yo says
My girlfriend is a baking guru. But for my parents 40th anniversary, I made these for my mom (a tequila aficionado), and double chocolate for my father.
This recipe is amazing, although I did add another half of lime zest to the mixture, used turbinado sugar instead of sanding, and heavily zested the glaze in the cookies before it set. I also used Casamigos blanco for the glaze, and added a splash extra.
This is absolutely a recipe to revisit, but don’t hesitate to follow my suggestions 🙂
Jenkins says
I made 500 or so of these for my marketing team for a Margarita Pour off! Everyone loved them. I switched the water in the glaze with lime juice to give them an extra kick! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
Taylor L says
Hi there! Have made this recipe and LOVE it. I wanted to make it this weekend for an event with some gluten-free friends. Do you think this recipe would still work with 1:1 gluten-free flour all purpose flour?
Christi Johnstone says
Hi Taylor, I don’t do any gluten free baking so I’m not familiar with any of the GF flour products. Sorry.