Happy Thursday! Wait – you say you aren’t having a happy day? I think I know why. It’s because you don’t have any of these Lime Buttermilk Bars at your house. We can fix that!
You will feel like spring has come to stay when you bite into one of these delightful, citrusy, creamy-on-the-top, crunchy-on-the-bottom bars. Trust me when I tell you this, because I am always truthful when it comes to dessert
I have to tell you a story about the making of these bars. Well, more about the photographing of them really. Taking photos is something I think most food bloggers have a love-hate relationship with. You need good photos or no one will care what you are making until they can see how good it is. So, I am all set up to take the photo that you see at the right here. I had already taken a few of the others, but this top photo is the most important because it’s the first one you see when you get here, and if it’s pretty, people will pin it on Pinterest and post it on Facebook and Twitter – all the stuff that food bloggers hope everyone does.
I have everything set up on the table where I take my photos, and over in the kitchen, I carefully plate up the bars, and top them with that little squiggle of whipped cream and a little extra lime zest. Perfect. I pick them up and start to walk over to the table and plop – one of the bars slides off the plate and lands upside down on the floor! I uttered a choice phrase that I wouldn’t want my grandma or Jesus hear me say, and the second one slides right off its plate and land upside down next to the first one. Sigh. I mean, really?
So, I cleaned up the mess, cut more squares [which actually look even better than the first ones did] and got the shots. And now about every 10 minutes, Riley goes over and thoroughly re-cleans each spot on the floor where they landed. I guess my cleaning isn’t as good as I thought it was.
I know that is a pretty exciting story about my mile-a-minute life, so I hope it’s not too much for you. Lets make something sweet, ok?
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 & ⅓ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup flaked, sweetened coconut, packed
- ½ cup cold butter, cut in 6 or 8 pieces
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 & ⅓ sugar
- ¾ cups buttermilk
- ½ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated lime zest
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Preheat the oven to 350º. Generously butter an 8 x 8 pan. This is the pan I use. I also line the pan with two long pieces of parchment paper to make getting the bars out of the pan easier - after it cools for a bit, you can just pick it up to remove it from the pan, which keeps the edges nice and neat.
- Put the flour, first amount of sugar, coconut, butter, vanilla and salt into the bowl of the food processor.
- Run the processor until the mixture is uniform - about 30 seconds to a minute.
- Empty the resulting mixture into the prepared pan and pat out evenly in the pan, packing the mixture down well - I use the flat bottom of a measuring cup.
- Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, wipe out the bowl of the processor and put all of the remaining ingredients into it.
- Run for 30 seconds to a minute, then allow it to sit for 5 minutes or so.
- Run another 30 seconds and then feel of the bottom of the bowl to see if any undissolved sugar remains. If it does - run another 30 seconds.
- After 15 minutes, bring the crust out of the oven, and carefully pour the mixture from the food processor over it.
- Return to the oven and bake for another 45 to 55 minutes- until a knife inserted near the center comes out just about clean.
- Cool completely in the pan before removing. Cut into bars or squares. A little whipped cream on top is nice, or maybe a dusting of powdered sugar.
- Refrigerate leftovers.
These are really good sliced into narrow bars like this
OR – you cut them into larger squares and serve on a plate with maybe a little whipped cream. They are tart and fresh and will really brighten up your outlook on life.
And just ’cause I love ya – make sure to check out my latest post for Great American Spice Blog: 10 Food Bloggers Share a Favorite Chili Recipe
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