Lime Meltaway Recipe (Bookmarked Recipes)

And now, back to your regularly scheduled blogging… Sorry about all the photography posts recently. I’ve kind of been in a cooking/baking rut recently and haven’t been making blog-worthy food. But I’m back with some posts that should remind everyone that I do love to bake!

I added a star to this recipe when I saw it come into my Google Reader. I made some Lemon Curd cookies earlier this year that everyone loved. It’s very unexpected to eat a cookie that is very bright and citrusey. Don’t get me wrong I love all sorts of chocolate cookies but these sure are a nice change of pace.

This is my second entry in Bookmarked Recipes. Every Monday I see the roundup and every Monday I tell myself that this is the week I’m going to submit a post. The majority of my meals come from other bloggers or Food Network shows so it makes sense.


I ended up almost doubling the amount of lime juice and I forgot to put the food coloring in until the very end, so the green color is a little swirled.

Lime Meltaways – from How to Eat a Cupcake – originally from Martha Stewart – makes 2 dozen
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar – divided into 1/3 cup and 2/3 cup
Finely grated zest of 2 limes
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

Put butter and 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (I thought it was weird to use the whisk here, next time I’d use the paddle attachment), and mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add lime zest and juice and vanilla, and mix until fluffy.

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add to butter mixture, and mix on low speed until just combined.

Divide dough in half. Place each half on an 8-by-12-inch sheet of parchment paper (I used plastic wrap). Roll in parchment to form a log 1 1/4 inches in diameter, pressing a ruler along edge of parchment at each turn to narrow log. Refrigerate logs until cold and firm, at least 1 hour (I let mine chill overnight in the fridge).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove parchment from logs; cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Space rounds 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 13 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, toss cookies with remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

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27 Responses to “Homemade Fig Newtons”

  1. #
    1
    nutmegnanny — September 8, 2010 at 4:48 pm

    I always loved fig newtons too 🙂 I have never thought of making my own. Now I know where to find a great recipe 😉

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    Michael — September 8, 2010 at 4:51 pm

    I am going to have to make these. As well as making them with some blackberries.

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    Eliana — September 8, 2010 at 5:52 pm

    These look amazing and waaaay better than the store bought brand.

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    mybizzykitchen.com — September 8, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    My husband loves fig newtons – just added this to my ever growing list of things to make!

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    Maegan — September 8, 2010 at 9:46 pm

    I liked Newtons until they messed with the recipe…Maybe this version will be yummier.

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    newlywed — September 8, 2010 at 10:33 pm

    I love the idea of making these at home! I still buy Newtons from time to time…they’re so nice and wholesome.

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    Melissa — September 8, 2010 at 11:58 pm

    You are so creative! My family loves Fig Newtons….can’t wait to make these!

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    Evan B — September 9, 2010 at 2:42 am

    My boyfriend and I were just talking about fig newtons this evening! I was saying how much I loved them but hadnt had them recently.. and heres a way to make them myself!

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    Elina — September 9, 2010 at 1:32 pm

    I moved to the US when I was 15 so I didn’t grow up eating fig newtons but I liked them at my very first bite. I’m sure the homemade version is so much more gourmet 😉 Your pics make it look like raspberry filling which I bet would be amazing!!

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    Katy — September 9, 2010 at 3:59 pm

    These bring me back to my childhood! Only, these look infinitely more delicious and decadent. The Blue-Eyed Bakers must make these soon!

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    Carolyn — September 10, 2010 at 9:18 pm

    They look fantastic, and I’ve never actually been that much of a Fig Newton fan. Love the polka dot background for the pics too.

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    Linda — September 11, 2010 at 11:36 am

    I love fig newtons. Hopefully, I can find my figs around here so I can try these.

    http://www.lindaslunacy.blogspot.com

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    jonathan — September 14, 2010 at 8:31 pm

    Congratulations on making one of the top food blogs!

    Jonathan
    Gluten Free

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    Peggy — September 17, 2010 at 9:57 am

    I was always a fig newton-lover as a kid too! Glad I wasn’t the only one and these homemade ones look fantastic!

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    I Like To Cook 222 — October 13, 2010 at 5:33 pm

    I did make these and loved them! I did just what you suggested and used a little less of dough for that amount of filling and just made some grape jam filled ones with the rest of the dough. They came out perfect! Thanks for sharing!
    http://ouritaliankitchen.blogspot.com/2010/10/fig-newtons.html

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    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn — November 17, 2010 at 4:33 am

    When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!

  17. #
    17
    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn — November 17, 2010 at 4:33 am

    When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!

  18. #
    18
    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn — November 17, 2010 at 4:33 am

    When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!

  19. #
    19
    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn — November 17, 2010 at 4:33 am

    When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!

  20. #
    20
    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn — November 17, 2010 at 4:33 am

    When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!

  21. #
    21
    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn — November 17, 2010 at 4:33 am

    When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!

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    Jen — November 17, 2010 at 1:18 pm

    Laurel, Mikey & Quinn – Yes, scoop out the flesh and seeds and discard the skins. Let me know how they turn out!

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    Erin — January 17, 2011 at 2:02 pm

    Thank you for posting this! Great recipe and I want to try with different fillings. I used strawberry for mine – yummy!

    In response to the dough ratio, I made it the way you posted but ended up with very thin dough once it was rolled out to 12×16 inches. I think you should leave it doubled.

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    Hadar — May 16, 2013 at 3:08 am

    Hi, I want to make raspberry newtons and am finding it very hard to get an easy recipe online… think I could use this dough with raspberry jam?

    • beantownbaker — May 16th, 2013 @ 8:41 am

      You could definitely use raspberry jam for the filling!

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    Hadar — May 26, 2013 at 1:03 am

    I made them with 3 different fillings: strawberry jam, blueberry pie filling and vanilla cream. All came out very tasty, and also last freezing nicely.
    A few comments:
    1. The dough was not easy to deal with, even after cooling. It was sticky and fell apart easily.
    2. With the first roll I made, I sliced it to cookies and separated them on the baking pan before baking. All of the Jam oozed out. The other ones I sliced but didn’t move the pieces, and it came out well.
    3. I think in order to taste like real newtons they lack some oats/cereal. Any Idea of how to add some to the dough?

    • beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 1:10 pm

      I would think you could grind up some oats and replace some of the flour with the ground up oats. If you try it, I’d love to hear how they turn out!

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