Lime Bars

I am a girl who loves the changing of the seasons. . . but I am almost always ready for them to change before they are.  About this time of year I start craving spring in a major way.  It pops up in my clothing, my house keeping and decorating, my desire to hit the yard work, and in my kitchen.  I get the urge to grill things and make lots of citrus-y dishes.  So when my husband declared the need for dessert tonight, I vetoed the fudge brownies or cookies and suggested lime bars.  Yum.  So glad I did.  And since we had given in to the urge to buy raspberries yesterday, I threw some in for good measure.

I have posted many other citrus desserts, but this recipe is super quick, in case you get a hankering for spring and you need it now.

You will need:

1 1/2 cup of cracker crumbs (typically graham cracker, but I had none, so I crushed up lemon Girl Scout  cookies--yum)
6 Tbs butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar (which I didn't add--I figured with the lemon cream filling I was covered!)
Zest of one lime

Filling:

2 large egg yolks
1  14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lime juice (about 4-5 limes)

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.

For the crust, crush your crackers. . .

Then mix with your zest, butter and sugar.

Butter an 8x8 inch pan.  If you want to easily remove the bars from the pan after they have baked, line the bottom with parchment paper and up two (opposing) sides--so you can lift them out before cutting.

Pour the crust into the pan and press with a spoon or fork until evenly covering the bottom. Bake for 10 minutes. let cool slightly.

For the filling, combine the yolks, sweetened condensed milk and lime juice.

Pour over crust and bake for 15 minutes, or until set.  Cool completely.  If you used parchment, remove uncut bars from pan by lifting the parchment. Cut into squares, garnish as desired, and serve.

I garnished mine with whipped cream, a little more lime zest, and fresh raspberries.  It was springtime in my mouth.  Enjoy!