Lemon bars are probably one of my favorite desserts, but I recently started to wonder if I could do something similar with limes. I wanted to enjoy the taste of fresh limes in pastry form, and I was not about to be denied. Naturally, I set to work finding the perfect recipe to fill that craving.
To start off, we took a look at the crust. Many recipes call for graham crackers, but we actually found crunchy gingersnaps were a much better replacement, adding even more complexity to the dish. For the filling, we combined cream cheese, egg yolks, condensed milk, and some lime juice with zest. We also combined it all with a little shredded coconut to finish off these bars. Keep reading below for our favorite recipe…
Coconut Key Lime Bars
(makes 16 bars)
Ingredients
CRUST
- 2 cups finely crushed gingersnap cookies
- 3 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
FILLING
- 4oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 4 large egg yolks
- 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup finely shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup key lime juice
- 2 teaspoons lime zest
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- powdered sugar for dusting
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9″X9″ baking pan with aluminum foil, leaving an overhang on the sides, and lightly spray with nonstick spray. Mix together the melted butter and brown sugar. Set aside.
- To make the crust, pulverize the crunchy gingersnap cookies into a fine crumb with a food processor. Pour into a medium sized bowl and mix with melted butter and brown sugar mixture. Press firmly and evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes.
- While the crust is baking, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the egg yolks until incorporated. Beat in the condensed milk, coconut, lime juice, lime zest, and salt until combined. Pour into the warm crust once it’s done baking.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the edges of the bars begin to brown. Allow the bars to cool at room temperature in the pan or on a wire rack. Once cooled, place in the fridge to chill completely (at least 2 hours).
- Once chilled, lift the bars out of the pan using the foil overhang. Cut into squares. Garnish with confectioners’ sugar.
- Enjoy!
Recipe adapted fromSally’s Baking Addiction
