Coconut Lime Cheesecake Bars

I purchased a bag of limes the other day with the idea to make a "summery" tropical dessert. Since I have an ongoing love for both coconut and cheesecake, these bars sounded perfect- a cross between a tangy lemon bar and cheesecake squares, with a coconut crust. Make sure you refrigerate them if you want a firm cheesecake (as pictured above), I cut mine while still warm, and you can see from the picture below, they are quite soft. We still managed to eat more than half the pan (we had company over- but I had doubled the recipe), they were delicious!

Creamy Key Lime Coconut Bars slightly adapted from the baker chick website

Ingredients: 

Crust:

1/3 cup brown sugar

7/8 cup unbleached flour

1 1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut, toasted

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. vanilla or coconut extract

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes

lime zest

 

Filling:

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1 3/4 cups sugar

Pinch salt

3 Tbsp unbleached flour

4 large eggs

1/2 cup  lime juice (from regular or key limes)

zest of a lime 

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 9x9 or 8x8 square pan with parchment paper  with a couple of inches of over-hang. (Note: I doubled the recipe and put it in an half-sheet cookie pan. Obviously, this makes more, but also makes the crust and filling thinner, because both filling and crust are spread thinner. If you want really thick bars, use a 9x9 or 8x8, or if doubling, use a 10x14 pan.)

 

2. Combine all the crust ingredients except butter, in a medium sized mixing bowl. Cut in cubes of butter to flour/coconut mix with a fork or pastry cutter. (Coconut makes it a little more difficult.)  Mix until crumbly and well-combined. Set aside 1/2 cup of the crumbs and press the remaining crumbs into the bottom of the pan.  Bake about 15  minutes, until it's golden brown. Mix lime zest (about 1 tsp) into reserved topping.

3. While the crust is baking, in a medium sized bowl, beat the cream cheese until soft. Add the sugar and salt and beat until well blended.  Stir in the flour, then beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the lime juice and zest mixing until smooth. Pour onto the crust.  Bake for 15 minutes.

 

4. Remove bars from oven and sprinkle top with reserved crumbs and bake an additional 15 minutes or until bars are set around the edges but still slightly soft in the middle. (For a firmer bar, bake an additional 3 minutes or until middle is more firm).  Remove from oven and let cool at room temperature for 1 hour. (For a firm bar and to easily cut, refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.)