Lemon Lime Macaroon Bars

I often bring treats to my dance teacher and she recently brought me this recipe that she’d seen in a magazine. It sounded great; I love lemon bars and this was a fantastic variation on the classic lemon bar. This one has toasted coconut in the base and then uses both lemons and limes. These are perfect for a sunny day, or a day you were wishing was sunny! It’s been pretty rainy and chilly in the Pacific Northwest.

I did have a bit of trouble getting limes that would work for this recipe. My store had limes at a good price, but the ones they had were tiny and not juicy at all. I knew I needed the juice so I was able to find some organic limes and they worked very well. I ended up using 2 and a half small limes and about 1 and a half medium-sized lemons. I don’t usually measure zest when I bake, but I did this time. I find that a little lime goes a long way and too much can be a bad thing.

I was in a bit of a hurry making these. (Oh, I have plenty of time to put these together before work, no worries!) Toasting the coconut took just a couple more minutes than I had. You were supposed to let the crust cool 20 minutes before adding the filling, I only let mine cool about 8 minutes or I would have been late to work. It worked out ok. The crust of these is fairly thick so they were hard to cut, but once I got started it wasn’t too bad. The lemon and lime flavor in these is balanced perfectly, just tart enough and just sweet enough. They are a bit sticky to eat, but having sticky fingers is a small price to pay for such a great treat.

Lemon Lime Macaroon Bars

2 cups coconut, toasted*

1-1/2 cups flour

¾ cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup cold butter, cut in pieces

¼ cup flour

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons each lime and lemon zest

¼ cup each lime and lemon juice

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9” x 13” baking pan.

In a large food processor, combine the coconut, flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch and salt. Pulse to stir. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Press the mixture onto the bottom and slightly up the sides of the prepared pan.

Bake for 25 minutes, until light golden. Allow the crust to cool slightly while you prepare the filling.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and sugar. Add the eggs, zest, and juice and whisk until smooth. Pour over the slightly cooled base and bake for 22 minutes, until just slightly jiggly in the center. Allow to cool. Refrigerate for several hours before cutting into bars. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Recipe from Sunset Magazine

*To toast the coconut, place the coconut on a baking sheet and toast for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, at 350 degrees.