Lime Bars

So yeah...lime bars...Fairly simple, which is just as well, because I made them on the wrong day.

Here I was, trying to be the smug mother again baking for the cricket crew. I made the mistake of listening to my husband when he told me that cricket was on Monday again, so I went ahead and made a batch of these. As they were cycling over, I even found a sturdy container, packed them well, and made him get some bungees to strap it to the panier rack. Cricket was to begin at 5:45, so I sent them on their bikes at half past, texting a friend to watch out for Michael if she wanted any of tonight's treat.

At quarter to six I got a call. "So...cricket isn't on...but these bars will keep, right? You can just put them in the fridge and give them out on Wednesday?"

I thought for a moment, and said "Err, I can just make something different then. In the meantime, go to X's house and drop some off there, and then go to Y's house and give some to her, cause I was talking about this recipe with her today as well."

So they set off on their deliveries, and we got a bit more peace and quiet at home.

In the U.S., lemon bars are fairly standard bake sale and coffee shop fayre, but you don't see them here much. This is just a slightly sexed up version of them, using lime instead of lemon, and adding a glaze layer on the top.

A food processor in your life will make the first step VERY easy: just stick some flour, icing/powdered sugar, salt, and butter into a food processor until it resembles breadcrumbs and dump it into your lined 9X13 pan. If you don't have one this size, think about getting one if you want to master a lot of American recipes. Or half the recipe and do it in a square 8 inch pan.

I used a small nutella jar that I now use as a drinking glass to stamp it down a bit.

Then baked it for 10 minutes.

I then poured a simple mixture of limes (zest and juice), eggs, sugar, flour, and baking powder on top, which I had managed to put together during the 10 minutes the base was in the oven, even while managing a 3 year old who wanted a chocolate donut, a request he kept repeating over and over and over and over...

I didn't have any, and told him I didn't intend to get any, so he took my ipad and took a photo of what my kitchen really looks like when I don't zoom in to edit out all the crap everywhere.

The pan went back in the oven for another 25 minutes or so, at which point it came out looking like this.

Once it had cooled a bit I put a mixture of limes (juice and zest) and icing/powdered sugar on as a glaze and let it set while I read about Berenstein Bears on Vacation, at the Doctor, on their Moving Day, with Trucks, Going to School...and then about Fancy Nancy and her Butterfly Birthday.

The bars were now ready for slicing, so the books were abondoned. One day, I might actually learn to make even squares when slicing. Not today.

Then into the box they went on their city adventure. Here they are being lovingly packed in some vintage tupperware which doesn't crack or break when you drop it. This is important for me, as I am really good at breaking stuff. I made the mistake of splurging around Christmas-time on a modern 2 tiered cupcake carrier and broke it the second time I used it. Vintage tupperware, on the other hand was made to last, so we are good pals and shall remain so for a while I suspect.

I'll post the recipe below but here is the link. Soon it looks as if I shall have to focus my efforts on  copying and pasting a lot from the BBC recipe site as it is being shut down!!! Scary biscuits!

"A different take on the lemon bars we all love. I actually prefer them to lemon. This is my favorite bar cookie and I'm asked to bring it when going to a potluck or picnic. The recipe says it serves 36, but you can't eat just one of these delicious, tangy lime bars. You can omit the glaze and sprinkle with powdered sugar if that's your preference."

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• 4 eggs
• 1/3 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons grated lime peel, or more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lime peel (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease a 9X13-inch baking dish.
2. Mix 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, and salt in a bowl; cut in butter with a pastry cutter until crust mixture resembles crumbs. Pat crust evenly into bottom of the prepared baking dish.
3. Bake crust in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
4. Whisk eggs, 1/3 cup lime juice, 1/4 cup flour, white sugar, 2 teaspoons lime peel, baking powder; pour over the crust.
5. Return baking dish to oven; bake until filling is set, about 25 minutes. Cool thoroughly.
6. Whisk 1 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon lime juice, and 1 teaspoon grated lime peel to make a smooth glaze; spread evenly over cooled lime bars. Let glaze set before cutting

Lime Bars

Well, after the lacklustre "lemon brownies" I decided to go with a more reliable citrus bar. Lidl had a special deal on limes, so I picked up a bag and got out a recipe for lime bars that I had made a while back. 

Lemon bars are not often seen here in Scotland, as much as they are a staple in American cafes, and certainly no one here had ever seen a lime version of these citrus treats. I failed at first when describing it to my colleagues as the laden tin was presented.

"They're lime bars," I said confidently.

"What? Lion bars? What are lion bars?"

"Ha ha, no, not lion bars, LIME bars!"

"Oh. What are lime bars?"

"Um...Kind of a shortbread base with a lime topping. Kind of a gooey topping, sort of a custard but not really. They're crusty on top. Gooey but crusty"

"Uh...thanks..."

"No, really! It's kind of like a lime curd topping! With a shortbread base! They're good!"

"Great."

Of course, ultimately, they were home made goodies so people ate them. And darn it, they liked them too.

And for the record, the last time I made these for a separate group, I was told they were the best dessert bars one person had ever eaten ever and they demanded the recipe. So there. 

Here's the recipe I used here, also copied and pasted below.

Gather Up:Cookie Crust

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 /2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 cups flour
Pinch kosher salt

Lime Topping4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
6 tablespoons flour
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons lime zest
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.

To make the crust, combine the butter and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium high speed for 2 to 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the flour and the salt, and mix another minute until well combined.

Pat the dough out to an even thickness over the bottom of the pan, and then gently push up and build an edge all around. (This will prevent the filling from seeping down underneath the crust when it is added later.)

Bake the crust for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden. Remove and let cool completely on a rack.

To make the topping, whisk together the eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the flour and whisk until just combined. Whisk in the lime juice and the zest.

Pour the lime topping over the cooled crust and return to the 350 degree oven. Bake for an additional 25 minutes until the filling is set.

Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Generously dust with confectioners’ sugar and cut into squares. Bars will keep 2-3 days at room temperature.

Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

There are many things I like about not owning a car: the avoided expense (including those unexpected repairs that seem to happen to everyone I know), the people watching on bus journeys, not having to focus on driving while little people scream in the back of the car. When we rent a car for long journeys, it seems expensive at first glance, but you always get a brand new car and again you don't have to worry so much about mileage and strange rattling noises.

The main times when I really wish we did own a car are when my kids get invited to birthday parties. For their younger years we were fine - they were usually very casual affairs somewhere nearby where we could walk to, and parents were always invited to stay (often enjoying the party far more than the children). But now that two of my children are of school age, parties have been amped up a notch. I totally get why - usually you are under pressure to invite a high number of kids, and entertaining a group of primary schoolchildren for two hours is enough to give anyone nightmares. So instead, people usually choose some venue out on an industrial estate where, for a fairly reasonable price, they will promise to look after the little terrors and celebrate a child growing a year older, so long as you bring the cake and party bags (do NOT forget party bags). Parents are only half-heartedly asked to stay, as while there is space for kids, there is not a great deal of room for adults. If there is, it is usually a small waiting room or an isolated corner of a VERY LOUD ROOM.

Now this is fine and great if you have a car. You can usually draw a deal with some other parents where one of you will drop them off and another will pick them up, and having handed the kids over the parent will usually involuntarily begin to grin like a madman at their short period of freedom.

If you don't have a car, this means studying the Lothian Bus website and Google streetview to figure out which buses to take, what the bus stops look like so that you know when to disembark, and what the actual venue looks like so you know where you are heading to and don't walk the wrong way round a building with the same circumference as Lake Erie dragging the child who is invited and two other children who have to come along anyway now matter how much they complain.

This weekend my son has been fortunate enough to be invited to a tubing party. The lucky kid gets to go on the dry ski slope with 10 of his friends and speed down it on an inner tube at the speed of 100 miles an hour, screaming with delight the entire time. The small drawback is that it is two bus rides away, and then one has to trek up a hill to get to the ski centre. I have done it before in good weather, but as I looked at the weather predicted for today it did not look good. My husband had told me he was going to be in Glasgow for the day, and suddenly I pictured myself on the last stretch, buggy-less, dragging up the kids in wind, hail and sleet and I decided this called for desperate measures.

I begged.

To be precise, I sent an email to all the other parents who had kids going and asked if any could transport my child there, explaining our lack of wheels. For the first hour after I sent the email, I confess I cursed them all, wondering why they hadn't dropped everything to tell me they would take my precious child. Then the offers came pouring in, the father of the birthday boy even asking if I'd like them to take my son there and back. I cheered, I wept tears of joy...and I got out my pinterest board of baking ideas.

I couldn't offer to return the favour today, but I could offer baked goods at least to the parents willing to chauffeur my offspring. I decided on this recipe, using lime zest as well as lime juice, but there was one little problem: I'm off sugar. When I am making something, especially when I am making it for the first time, I like to taste it to make sure it is ok before giving it to anybody else. Yes, of course I could cheat and have a bite, but that would just be like sticking dynamite next to a dam...once started I wouldn't be able to start - it's all or nothing, really. So I made a batch and made my kids try them.

"Thumbs up!" my son cried.

"Yes, they're ok," my daughter said.

"Do they taste like lime?" I asked.

"Lime?" they both asked.

"Yes, lime! You know, kind of like lemon?" I demanded.

They both shook their heads no and continued chewing. So I juiced another lime and added icing sugar until it looked like an ok consistency for drizzling over the tops and added it on.

My husband, who had ended up not going out of town in the end (I know my son is totally going to rat me out on this, by the way, so I'll need to explain myself next time I see the parents) came shuffling through at this point and decided to give up his lunchtime fasting.

"I'm not feeling well!" he said as he chewed. "I'll start fasting again tomorrow."

"Are they ok?" I asked.

"Mmm...gorgeous..." he replied, then shuffled back to bed.

"Do you taste the lime?" I shouted after him.

No response.

So I can't fully endorse this recipe, as I've not actually eaten any, but I've sent them off with the parents anyway (though the dad may have been slightly disappointed as they were in a plastic chocolates tub).

But on a positive note, now that I'm in city car club, kids' parties will be more welcome in my life. I didn't have enough courage (or car seats) to do the journey in one today, fearing that my first ever trip in one of their cars would be too stressful to attempt going to this party, but next time, Gadget...next time...

Coconut Lime Sugar Cookies

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1½ cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
zest and juice of 1 lime
½ cup toasted coconut

juice 1 lime, icing sugar

Preheat your oven to 350 F/180C.

Beat butter and eggs until smooth and fluffy. Then, add in eggs, vanilla, and lime. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking soda, coconut and baking powder.  Carefully add the dry ingredients to the wet.

Drop rounded teaspoon size balls onto parchment paper-covered cookie sheets and bake for 8 – 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Let baked cookies sit on the cookie sheet for a minute or two and them move to wire cooling racks.

Once cookies have cooled, juice 1 lime then add icing sugar until glaze is consistency you want it. Put it into a ziplock bag, snip off the very end of the corner, and drizzle over cookies.