I will tell you right from the top, I will not post about Citrus related Desserts for the rest of the year. OK, maybe if I'm motivated to do 1 of my favorites, a Key Lime pie! For all intents & purposes this will conclude the month of Citrus Desserts. Combining my recent surge in Lemon Bar postings and my love for Key Lime Pie, I decided that Key Lime Bars using the Lemon Bar recipe
http://www.anymonkeycan.com/2012/04/lemon-bars-3-4-banana-difficulty-level.html
would be a good thing. It was a good thing!! But it was more work than this monkey is used to doing to make a dessert. It takes a lot Key Lime squeezing to get an adequate amount of Lime juice...maybe I won't make that Key Lime pie after all... I may have to drop the "Key" from the title and just make "Lime Bars." Or maybe use:
http://www.anymonkeycan.com/2012/04/my-moms-lemon-bars-2-banana-difficulty.html?utm_source=BP_recent
recipe and use the Lemon Cake Mix, but use Lime Juice and Zest in the filling to make "Lemon Lime Bars"...
Enough blabbering, today 'this monkey' is going to show you how to make Key Lime Bars!
WHAT YOU NEED:
(for the crust)
1 1/4 c All Purpose Flour
1/2 t Salt
1/2 c Powdered Sugar
8 T Butter - softened about 30 min at room temp & cut in 1 inch pieces
(for the filling)
6 Large Eggs - at room temp
1 c + 2 T of Granulated Sugar
3/4 c Key Lime/Regular Lime Juice**
1/4 c Lime Zest**
1/8 t Salt
4 T Butter - melted
3 T Half and Half
1/2 c All Purpose Flour (optional)
Powdered Sugar to dust the tops if desired
**2 lbs (45-50 Key Limes) AND 3 Regular Limes should meet your needs**
WHAT ELSE YOU NEED:
8"x8" Pan
Parchment Paper
Mixer with Paddle Attachment
Rubber Spatula
Box Grater or Lemon Zester
Strainer
Whisk
Medium Bowl
Large Dish
Cooling Rack
WHAT YOU DO:
(making of the crust)
1. Butter the Edges of the Baking Dish with the Butter Wrapper, then line the dish with Parchment Paper
2. Whisk the Flour & Salt together.
3. Using the Mixer with Paddle attachment, cream the 8 T of Butter & Powdered Sugar.
4. While the Mixer is on Low, slowly add the Flour/Salt to the Creamed Butter & Powdered Sugar until just combined.
 |
| Will look coarse at this point |
5. Pour this mixture onto the Parchment Paper (in the Baking dish) & press down into a crust. Refrigerate for 30 min.
6. You may want to give yourself a head start and start juicing the Key Limes (NOT THE REGULAR LIMES YET) at this point because it take a little while...
7. Pre Heat Oven to 350 deg
8. Zest the REGULAR Limes & Juice them as needed to add to the Key Lime Juice to equal the 3/4 c of Lime Juice
9. Bake the Empty Crust for 30 minutes (until Golden Brown)
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| Make sure to get a good golden brown crust otherwise you could end up with some doughy or soggy Bars since the filling is quite runny before baking! |
10. While the Crust is baking, Whisk the Eggs, then add the Granulated Sugar & whisk until combined
11. Now add the Lime Juice & Zest as well as the Salt. Stir together
12. To this, add the Melted Butter & Half & Half and Stir; Also add the OPTIONAL flour if desired
13. Pour the Filling onto the Warm, Golden Brown Crust
14. Bake at 350 deg for 30 min
15. Let cool in the Pan on Cooling rack for about 30-45 minutes
16. Use knife to loosen edges as needed. Then using the Parchment paper, carefully lift the Key Lime Bars out of the Baking Dish & back onto the cooling rack.
17. Using a Small Turner between the Bars & the Paper, Carefully slide the PARCHMENT PAPER OUT FROM UNDERNEATH OF THE BARS leaving the Bars on the Cooling Rack for about 30 minutes longer to cool
18. Cut into small squares, dust with Powdered Sugar if desired & serve
The juicing of all of those Key Limes really make this a time consuming recipe. Maybe it's worth it, I just don't know. Maybe I'll have to try this recipe with Regular Limes instead to see what that tastes like...next year! Right now, I'm Lemon/Lime Bar-ed out!!
So I'm not exactly thrilled with the Key Lime Bar presentation. It looks a bit like a green chile and egg casserole if you know what I mean. A dusting of the powdered sugar would fix that or it might be worth it to reduce the Zest amount by 50% to see what that may look like.
Nonetheless these do taste nice and limey just like I was hoping for!
Until next time, your friendly neighbor web Monkey!!
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