Lime Bars

My daughter turned 13 earlier this month and when a friend said to me “how is that possible that you have a teenager?” I looked in the mirror and was not at all surprised. I am so pleased by the person she is becoming - lovely, sensitive, funny, generous, kind. All of the work that my husband and I put in early on seems to paying off - with all three of our children. They are (usually!) fun to be around, pleasant company - I think at its simplest, that’s really the gist of parenting - raising kids who are good people.

My newly teenaged daughter loves chocolate, but she also loves my lemon squares, and I don’t make them very often, as they are not a majority favorite in my house. The other day I made these lime bars as a riff on the lemon squares and we both liked them even more.

Lime Bars

(click here for printable recipe)

Ingredients:

For the crust:

4 tablespoons melted butter, cooled

2/3 cup roasted hazelnuts

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lime zest (2 limes)

pinch of salt

For the filling:

2 eggs

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh lime juice (4 limes)

pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Line with parchment paper and spray again. In a food processor, grind hazelnuts, graham cracker crumbs, sugar, salt and lime zest. Add butter and pulse briefly to combine. Press mixture into bottom and about 1 inch up sides. Bake until ightly browned - about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Make the filling: In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and condensed milk. Add lime juice and salt, whisk until smooth. Pour filling evenly over crust and bake until set - about 18-20 minutes. Cool on rack, then chill at least one hour or overnight. Cut into squares using a damp sharp knife, wiping the knife clean between each cut to cut squares cleanly. Store in refrigerator.