Key Lime Chess Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups premium flour + extra for working with the dough
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 165 g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 85 g of cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 and 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 large egg
• Finely grated zest of 1 lime
• 0.5 tsp. lime or lemon-lime extract
• Green food coloring

Preparation:

1. Combine flour and salt in a bowl. In a large bowl, beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the egg, lime zest, and lime extract. Reduce mixer speed to low; stir in the flour mixture. Transfer half of the dough to a separate bowl; tint with food coloring.
2. Dust the dough with flour; on floured parchment paper, roll out each color individually into a 0.5 cm thick rectangle. Freeze until firm, 15 minutes.
3. Trim each piece to form a 4.5 x 7.5-inch rectangle, setting aside the trim. Cut each rectangle lengthwise into nine 1-inch-wide strips. Lay three strips side by side on a baking sheet (white, green, white). Top with three more strips, alternating colors (green, white, green). Top with three more strips (white, green, white). Build another block, starting with green, white, and green strips. Refrigerate the blocks.
4. Gather the scraps, separating the colors. On floured parchment, roll each color into a 12 x 20 cm rectangle, 0.5 cm thick. Wrap the green rectangle around the block with the white corners, and wrap the white rectangle around the block with the green corners; trim off any excess.
5. Wrap the dough blocks in cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours.
6. Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Cut the cookie blocks into 0.8 cm thick cookies; place them 3 cm apart on baking sheets. Bake, rotating the baking sheets halfway through, until set, 12-14 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes; transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.