Key Lime Crackles Recipes

KEY LIME COOKIES I

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
• In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar, egg, and egg yolk until smooth. Stir in lime juice and lime zest. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; blend into the creamed mixture. Form dough into 1/2 inch balls, and arrange on the prepared cookie sheet.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks. Sift confectioners' sugar over cookies while still warm.

KEY LIME BARS

Steps:

• Make crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a small bowl. Press evenly onto bottom of an 8-inch square glass baking dish. Bake until dry and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. (Leave oven on.)
• Make filling: Put egg yolks and lime zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on high speed until very thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add condensed milk in a slow, steady stream, mixing constantly. Raise speed to high; mix until thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add lime juice; mix until just combined.
• Spread filling evenly over crust using a spatula. Bake, rotating dish halfway through, until filling is just set, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or overnight).
• Cut into 2-by-2-inch bars. Put cream in the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the clean whisk attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Garnish bars with whipped cream and a slice of lime.

KEY LIME PIE TRUFFLES

Steps:

• Combine the heavy cream, condensed milk and lime zest in a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat until the mixture just barely reaches a simmer, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the lime zest to steep in the cream for about 20 minutes.
• Place the cream back over medium-low heat and cook until it just barely reaches a simmer, about 3 minutes.
• Put the white chocolate chips in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Pour the warm cream over the chips and let sit for about 2 minutes. Whisk the mixture until smooth; if there are lumps, microwave the mixture in 15 second intervals, stirring in between intervals, until smooth.
• Stir in the lime juice. Stir in the butter. Cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic lays directly on the surface of the ganache. Refrigerate until the ganache is firm, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put the graham cracker crumbs on a plate. Scoop up 1 tablespoon of the ganache filling and roll it between your hands to form a ball. Roll the ball in the graham-cracker crumbs until completely coated, then place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining ganache. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

KEY LIME BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil, then brush with melted butter. Place pan in the freezer until needed.
• Cream butter for crust in a bowl with an electric mixer. Beat in flour, brown sugar, and salt. If mixture does not hold together, knead it on a work surface. Place mounds of the mixture in the cold baking pan; press with your fingers to smooth it into a firm layer on the bottom.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly colored, about 18 minutes.
• While the crust is baking, prepare lime layer: pour 2 tablespoons regular lime juice into a small bowl. Discard any extra, or reserve for another use. Add lime zest and Key lime juice; mix to combine.
• Combine sugar, eggs, flour, and baking powder in a bowl; beat with an electric mixer at high speed for 1 minute. Stir in lime zest-juice mixture and food coloring.
• Remove crust from the oven and immediately pour lime mixture over top. Return to the oven and bake until top is light colored and custardy, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool, about 30 minutes. Move to the freezer and chill for 30 minutes.
• Remove from the pan and cut into 16 squares. Sprinkle confectioners' sugar on top.

KEY LIME BARS WITH ANIMAL CRACKER CRUST

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325°.
• Cut about 12" length extra-wide heavy duty foil; fold cut edges back to form 7 1/2" width. WIth folded sides facing down, fir foil securely into bottom and up sides of 8" square baking pan, allowing excess to overhang pan sides. SPray foil with nonstick cooking spray.
• In workbowl of food processor, pulse animal crackers until broken down, about ten 1 second pulses; process crumbs until evenly fine, about 10 seconds (you should have about 1 1/4 cups crumbs). Add brown sugar and salt; process to combine, ten to twelve 1 second pulses (if large sugar clumps remain, break them apart with fingers). Drizzle butter over crumbs and pulse until crumbs are evenly moistened with butter, about ten 1 second pulses.
• Press crumbs evenly and firmly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake until deep golden brown, 18-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack while making filling. Do not turn off oven.
• While crust cools, in medium bowl, stir cream cheese, zest, and salt with rubber spatula until softened, creamy, and thoroughly combined. Add sweetened condensed milk and whisk vigorously until incorporated and no lumps of cream cheese remain; whisk in egg yolk. Add lime juice and whisk gently until incorporated (mixture will thicken slightly).
• Pour filling into crust; spread to corners and smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until set and edges begin to pull away slightly from sides, 15-20 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Cover with foil and refrigerate unti thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours.
• Loosen edges with paring knife and lift bars from baking panusing foil extensions; cut bars into 16 squares. Sprinkle with toasted with toasted coconut and serve. Can refrigerate for up to 2 days, crust will soften slightly. Let refrigerated bars stand at room temperature about 15 minutes before serving.
• Can make triple citrus bars using 1 1/2 teaspoons each of grated lime zest, lemon zest, and orange zest (mince zest after measuring), and using 6 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and 1 tablespoons orange juice.