Tart Bars!

I’ve got a pantry full of all sorts of citrus! It’s exciting isn’t it?! Well I think sooo.. hehe…So there I was standing staring at lemons, key limes, and Mexican limes then I thought why not make a lemon lime bar! I quickly searched for condensed milk and thankfully I found about 5 cans. I didn’t have enough graham crackers though but I did some more searching and found a large pack of crisp oatmeal cookies. I imagine the crust would be a bit heartier with the combination of oats and whole wheat!

This is a simple no brainer kind of recipe and boy is it as good as it is easy to make! You get a nice browned crust with a hint of cinnamon and cloves combined with a luscious puckery tart custard from the citrus! I think if I topped it with whipped cream and perhaps some toasted coconut it would be really over the top…don’t you?

Tart Bars!

Crust:

2 ½ - 3 C dry and crisp oatmeal cookies (or you can use graham crackers)

2 T sugar

1 T salt

1 Stick butter melted

Filling:

2/3 C key lime juice

Juice of 1 lime

Juice of 2 lemons

1 ½ tins of 14oz Condensed milk

½ C mascarpone cheese

1 T salt

Preheat oven to 350º. Line an 9x13-inch pan with parchment, leaving a few inches overhang on two sides. 

Bash the oatmeal cookies till they represent coarse sand, add sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Pour melted butter over and stir to combine. Press mixture into prepared pan and bake for 15 minutes till its quite golden. Set on a wire rack to cool.

While crust is cooling, make filling by whisking together the filling ingredients in a medium bowl. You will notice clumps in the batter due to the mascarpone but that will melt while baking. Pour filling into cooled crust and return to oven. Bake for 11 minutes, or until the filling feels just firm to the touch. Do not brown. Cool at room temperature, then chill thoroughly. Cut into bars and top with whipped cream and toasted coconut, if desired