Lime Bars with Coconut Crust

I hadn’t made any bars cookies in a while so I was looking for something new to make. My husband suggested lemon bars, but those don’t always travel that well. I was looking through the pictures in the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion and I came across these lime bars. I guess they are pretty close to lemon bars, but I liked the coconut crust. I thought that would be great.

I was a bit worried that all of the crust ingredients would fit in my food processor, but it did ok. Toasting the coconut made my kitchen smell divine! I used bottled lime juice which was a big convenience. I used just regular lime juice and not key lime juice as the recipe specified. I’m not that used to limes, so I don’t know how different that would taste.

My challenge with bar cookies is waiting until they are completely cool before cutting them. I think my husband is always disappointed when he can’t snag a cookie as soon as they are out of the oven! I let these cool for an hour and then about half an hour in the fridge and they seemed cold enough to cut. They were still a little soft but buy did they cut easily. They don’t have a super-strong lime flavor and the coconut has a good flavor. I’m so glad I tried these!

Crust

3 cups shredded coconut

2/3 cups brown sugar, packed

1-3/4 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon coconut extract

½ cup butter, cut into cubes

Filling

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1-3/4 cups sugar

Pinch of salt

3 tablespoons flour

4 eggs

½ cup lime juice

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and toast for about 10-12 minutes or until lightly toasted. Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Spray a 9” x 13” pan with cooking spray.

In a food processor, combine all of the crust ingredients. Pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Set aside one cup of the crumbs, press the remaining crumbs into the prepared pan. Bake for 16-18 minutes, until light golden brown.

To make the filling, put the cream cheese in a large mixer bowl, beat until soft. Add the sugar and salt and beat until well blended. Stir in the flour, then beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the lime juice and continue stirring until smooth. Pour the filling over the partially-baked crust.

Bake the bars for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining crumbs and bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until set around the edges but still wobbly in the center. Cool at room temperature for one hour. Refrigerate completely before cutting in to squares.

Recipe from King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion