Well, orange season is pretty much over. Sure, I can still go to the store and grab some navel oranges, but the peak season for the good stuff…. Clementines, Blood Oranges, Cara Caras, Tangelos, is about kaput till next Winter. That makes me sad, as I could live on oranges and yogurt if allowed to. Of course, my husband gives me looks and tells me I need to eat something more substantial, but what does he know? Oranges and yogurt are a perfectly acceptable breakfast…or lunch..or dinner. Speaking of oranges, I have some blood oranges in my fridge that are looking pretty peaked and old. I got notices from the Social Security office in their name the other day saying it was time to sign up for benefits and for some reason, every morning when I get up, they are all lined up in front of the TV with an anti wrinkle cream infomercial playing. So if anyone has any ideas of how to use them up before they move onto Viagra commercials, I’d appreciate it. I wait much longer, I’m going to have to pay to have them put in a home for aged oranges.
So it’s time to move on to my other favorite citrus- limes. Is there anything to hate about a lime? They are a beautiful color, they smell absolutely amazing and they taste delightful. Well, not plain so much. I’ve never been the wedge of lime and shot of tequila type of gal, though I do enjoy a slice in a gin and tonic. But baked into something? Delicious and a definite favorite in my household.
These are based on my Triple Lemon Bars which is one of those baked goods I can’t control myself with, thus I rarely make them. They make me weak in both the knees and the self control and make my already tight jeans tighter. So I made lime bars instead… because I’ll do soooo much better in the area of self control with these <insert sarcasm font here> I wanted to change them up a little. So I made the crust with browned butter instead of just plain old butter. Sounds so simple and boring, ehh? But oh my gosh, you wouldn’t believe the difference it made. I found myself eating bits of the raw dough until I stopped myself before it got to the point where I wouldn’t have enough for the crust. it just adds this caramelly, nutty flavor and scent to the crust and tastes so good. I have plans now to just make a browned butter shortbread in some flavor or another. Add in a tart sweet lime filling and a tangy lime glaze? Yeah, just say goodbye to self control.
You know the drill… 🙂
Tangy Lime Bars With A Brown Butter Shortbread Crust
- Crust-
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon lime zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Filling-
- 6 eggs
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons lime zest
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon lime oil (optional, but recommended)
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 cup fresh lime juice
- Glaze-
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/8 teaspoon lime oil
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 3 to 4 tablespoons milk
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 13×9 inch baking dish with foil.
- In a large bowl, combine all the crust ingredients and beat on low speed with a hand mixer until it is moist and crumbly throughout. You should be able to pick up a piece and press it together in your hand and have it stay. If it doesn’t, add about a teaspoon more water and beat it again for a minute.
- Press the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Slide into the oven and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned around the edges.
- Meanwhile, make your lime filling- In a large bowl, combine the eggs and sugar. Use a whisk to beat until thoroughly combined. Add in the lime zest, vanilla extract, lime oil, flour and baking powder and whisk until well combined. Pour in the lime juice and whisk again just until combined.
- Pour the lime filling over the hot crust. Place back in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes, until the filling is set when lightly pressed on, light brown and doesn’t look liquidy at all. Let cool in the pan for an hour or two then place it in the fridge for about an hour at least; overnight is even better.
- About an hour before you’re ready to serve, make your glaze- In a small bowl, whisk together all the glaze ingredients until smooth. Pour over the cold bars. Let set up for at least 30 minutes or so before slicing. Use the foil to lift the bars out of the pan onto a cutting board and use a knife that has been dipped in hot water then wiped dry to cut squares from the bars.
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If I double or triple the crust recipe, could I just bake that as a kind of shortbread on its own?
I haven’t yet tried it, Kora, so I can’t tell you yes with 100% surety, but I would guess so. It is fairly crumbly when cooked as a crust, so I would wager it will be as a plain shortbread too. I wouldn’t triple, but doubling it and patting it into a foil lined pan, then letting it cool and cutting it with a sharp knife should work. let me know how it turns out and if you flavor it in any way! 🙂
Our office manager’s reaction to these was rather… interesting, shall we say.