Key Lime Bars
When you're lucky enough to find key limes, put them to good use and make these Key Lime Bars! They're an easy-to-make summer treat with the perfect balance of tart and sweet.
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Makes: 16 bars
Ingredients
- 9 graham cracker sheets (1 sleeve of graham crackers)
- 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 ½ Tbsp grated key lime zest (can also use zest of regular limes), plus more for garnish
- 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
- ⅔ cup fresh squeezed lime juice (about 23 key limes), plus key lime wedges for garnish
- Whipped cream, for topping
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Put graham crackers in a food processor or blender and blend until they turn into fine crumbs. Pour in melted butter and sugar and pulse a few times until well blended.
- Press graham cracker mixture evenly onto bottom of an 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish. Bake for about 10 minutes, until dry and golden brown. Let cool completely. Leave oven on.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer with whisk attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, add egg yolks and lime zest. Mix for about 5 minutes on high speed, until the mixture is nice and thick.
- Reduce the speed to medium and add the sweetened condensed milk in a slow stream.
- Bring speed back up to high, mix for an additional 3 minutes, until thick. Bring speed to low and add in the fresh squeezed key lime juice, mix until combined.
- Pour the filling over the baked graham cracker crust and, using a rubber spatula, spread it evenly. Bake for about 10 minutes until the filling is set.
- Let bars cool completely on a wire rack then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Once chilled, slice into 2-inch bars. Top with whipped cream and additional lime zest, if desired.
Notes
- Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart
- Tips and Substitutions:
- If you can't find key limes, you can use conventional limes. The flavor may be ever so slightly different, but most people report no big taste difference between key limes and conventional limes.
- In a pinch, you can use a store-bought bottle of key lime juice instead of juicing fresh key limes.
- You can also use zest from conventional limes since zesting key limes can be difficult and time-consuming.
- If you don't have a mixer or blender, you can crush the graham crackers in a bag (I like putting the bag on a cutting board and using my meat mallet) and then mix the graham cracker crumbs with the sugar and melted butter in a large bowl.
- If you can't find cinnamon graham crackers, plain graham crackers work fine, too. You can add a bit of ground cinnamon in, if you like, but it's not totally necessary.
- I recommend topping with whipped cream right before serving as it tends to get liquid-y after sitting for too long (especially if you're using homemade).
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