Looking for a super fun new way to enjoy your favorite cocktail? Why not in cookie form with these out-of-this-world Margarita Cookies with Tequila Lime Glaze.
Think a buttery and soft shortbread cookie infused with lime, dripping with a sweet and citrusy tequila lime glaze. They’re easy, they’re quick, they’re delicious, and let’s face it—they’re so much fun!
I absolutely love baking, and margaritas are up there with one of my favorite cocktails (and Marley’s Menu community members agree—this Frozen Pineapple Coconut Margarita has long been popular on the site!). So, this mashup felt kismet!
Margarita Cookies Ingredient Highlights
It’s best if your butter is unsalted and softened. If you only have salted butter on hand, you can use that, just omit the added salt.
You’ll know your butter is softened when your finger leaves an imprint when you poke it. For more info, check out my article on how to quickly and easily soften butter.
These cookies call for just the yolk of an egg, but don’t waste the egg whites! Check out this Egg White French Toast. Using just the yolk yield a more buttery cookie while using the whole egg makes for a crumblier cookie.
Powdered sugar, or confectioners’ sugar, is aerated. It’s already so light and fluffy and is the perfect hack to achieve a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookie every time.
While you can substitute granulated sugar for the cookies in this recipe, you will need powdered sugar for the glaze, so I highly recommend using it for both!
Tequila Blanco is preferred just because it tends to be a tad more citrus-y, which plays well with the fresh lime. I also like the bright white color the Blanco yields, as opposed to a slightly yellow glaze from a darker tequila. Any works, really. I used Don Julio.
This recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of tequila. It’s enough to give you that tequila flavor (I can’t call these Margarita cookies without bringing that tequila now, can I?), but not too much to be overpowering or give you a buzz.
How I Make Margarita Cookies
How I Make the Cookie Dough in One Bowl
Use a hand mixer to combine your powdered sugar and softened butter together first to form a base for your cookie dough. Then, add your flour and salt and mix again.
Separating the egg white from the yolk is easily achieved by cracking your eggshell in half over a bowl and transferring the egg yolk back and forth between either half of the shell, allowing the egg white to fall into the bowl.
You are now left with the egg whites in the bowl and the egg yolks in the shell. And voila! Just like that, your eggs are separated. Add the yolk to the dough.
In order to get enough lime flavor to stand out in the cookies, we will add lime in the form of both zest and juice.
Make sure to rinse the outside of your lime to make sure the zest is clean and safe for consumption.
Inside the cookies, you will add 1 tablespoon of lime juice and 1 tablespoon of lime zest.
You’ll also add 1 teaspoon of lime juice to your glaze and garnish the top of the cookies with more zest.
Still, 1 lime should produce enough juice and zest for these cookies. If you want to play it safe, grab an extra lime.
Mix the lime juice and egg yolk into your cookie dough before folding in the lime zest.
How I Make Tequila Lime Glaze for Cookies
Making a successful tequila lime glaze is all about patience and following your instincts. Fill a large mixing bowl with your tequila and 1 teaspoon of lime juice, get your hand mixer going, and start adding the powdered sugar.
Usually, 1/2 cup powdered sugar is just right, but it’s better to start with 1/4 cup and continue to add your powdered sugar, with the hand mixer on low, and checking the consistency as you go.
You’re aiming for a fragrant glaze that is sticky, smooth, and just thick enough to slowly run off your spoon. A proper glaze for these margarita cookies will almost resemble glue.
Make sure your cookies are nice and cool before adding the glaze, so the hot cookies don’t melt the glaze right off.
Storing Your Margarita Cookies
If you store these delicious cookies in an airtight container, they will last about a week at room temperature, 10 days in the refrigerator, and up to 3 months in the freezer.
Allow them to thaw naturally before enjoying out of the freezer.
You can also opt to freeze the dough for up to one month and bake them as you want to enjoy them. In this case, roll the dough into balls and store them in an airtight container in the freezer.
When you’re ready to bake them, just pop them on your baking mat as usual. The tequila lime glaze will last in the freezer in its own container for about a month as well.
Margarita Cookies with Tequila Lime Glaze
Equipment
- Cookie Scoop (optional)
Ingredients
Margarita Cookies
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened (½ cup usually = 1 stick)
- ½ cup powdered sugar, tightly packed (aka confectioner's sugar)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
Tequila Lime Glaze
- 2 teaspoons tequila Blanco
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- ¼ to ½ cup powdered sugar
- extra lime zest for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Margarita Cookies
- In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer on medium speed to combine butter and sugar.½ cup unsalted butter, softened, ½ cup powdered sugar, tightly packed
- Add the flour and salt and combine with your hand mixer on medium speed.1 cup all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Add the egg yolk and lime juice and combine with your hand mixer on low (see tip below on how to separate egg yolks).1 large egg yolk, 1 tablespoon lime juice
- Fold in the lime zest.1 tablespoon lime zest
- Use a large cookie scoop or wet hands to form your dough into 8 round cookies and place them on a lined baking sheet, leaving at least an inch of space in between each cookie.
- Place the cookie sheet with your cookie dough in the freezer to set for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Bake cookies for 14-16 minutes, until the outer edges just start to brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely before adding glaze.
Tequila Lime Glaze
- Add tequila and 1 teaspoon of lime juice to a large mixing bowl.2 teaspoons tequila Blanco, 1 teaspoon lime juice
- With your hand mixer on low, add 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Keep your mixer on and continue to add more powdered sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, checking the consistency as you go. You will know you've added the right amount of sugar when the glaze is just thick enough to slowly drip off of a spoon.¼ to ½ cup powdered sugar
- Once your cookies have cooled, drizzle the glaze on top and add some more lime zest for a fun and fragrant finish!extra lime zest for garnish
Pro Tips
- Separate your yolk from your egg by cracking your eggshell in half over a bowl and transferring the egg yolk back and forth between either half of the shell, allowing the egg white to fall into the bowl.
- Don’t waste the egg white! It can be used in these Candied Walnuts or Love Potion Cocktail.
- If you prefer tequila Reposado, you can substitute it for tequila Blanco in this recipe.
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13 thoughts on “Margarita Cookies with Tequila Lime Glaze”
Is adding the tequila to icing safe for children to eat?
Hi Elizabeth! Since the tequila in the icing is raw and not cooked off in any way, no, I would not recommend serving it to children.
If you’re concerned about giving these cookies to children due to the alcohol content in the icing, keep in mind that vanilla extract has virtually the same amount of alcohol by volume as tequila. So if you make icing with either of these ingredients, vanilla extract is about 35% ABV (alcohol by volume), and tequila is typically anywhere between 35%-55% ABV.
That’s so true, Heidi–Great point! Thank you SO much for your input!
Will the icing firm up to store cookies?
Yes, once the cookies cool and you add the icing, it does firm up to form a glaze.
With the tequila are they safe for children to eat?
The tequila is only present in the glaze, not the cookie itself! So, the cookies are safe for kids, but not the icing. But, without the glaze, I would probably call this a lime shortbread cookie rather than a Margarita cookie 🙂
Cookies took about 3 times longer to cook, and never did get brown edges.
Directions are misleading about putting just cookie sheet in the freezer, or if cookie sheet with raw cookies on it goes into the freezer. As the directions say to place cookies on cookie sheet and then say to put cookie sheet in the freezer, it would denote that cookies should go into the freezer. BUT, cookies were almost frozen when I took them out after 30 minutes. Took forever to cook them!
Flavor is good, but directions are quite misleading.
Hi Lisa! Thank you so much for the feedback. Sorry if you felt mislead in any way. I added “place the cookie sheet with your cookie dough” to avoid future confusion 🙂 I do wonder about the baking time. I’ve never had that issue before! I’d love to get an answer for you. I’m going to test with chilling in the refrigerator rather than the freezer to see if we can get it more consistent.
How long should these keep in airtight containers? Do you know if they freeze well, or don’t they last that long? 😉
So sorry! I just saw where you share storage expectations! My bad! Trying these now!
No worries at all! So glad you found it. I hope you love them 🙂