Baking/ cookies/ Desserts

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Minty Lime Bars

Today’s cookie recipe is a twist on lemon bars, and it’s delightful. Lemon bars are one of my favorite cookies. These bars are made with a mint-lime flavored shortbread crust topped with a lime curd filling that’s quite tart, yet still sweet.

On Day Seven of my Advent Cookie Challenge, I’ve discovered that I can simplify The New York Timescookie recipes, and they still turn out great.

I overhauled today’s recipe in several ways. First, I never use aluminum foil in cooking if I can avoid it. The original recipe calls for lining the pan with foil, but I used parchment instead. Arguably, baking with parchment paper is not super healthy, as the paper is coated with silicone, but I’m betting it’s safer than aluminum, which has known health hazards.

Second, instead of laboriously manipulating every ingredient with my bare hands, I used a stand mixer. Will the bars be less successful? I don’t know, but I don’t have the patience to use my fingers to massage the lemon zest into the sugar and mash the butter into the dough for the crust. My mixer and a good spatula will do all that for me.

I also used a mixer to beat the eggs and mix up the rest of the curd ingredients. Saving time and energy is why these machines were invented! If you know how to make a roux (it’s easy), you can make the lime curd. It’s basically a thickened pudding you pour over the crust and chill so you can cut it into bars.

My simplified, gluten-free, dairy-free, low(ish) sugar version of this recipe turned out great. My teenager ate several bars–success! I love lime and mint, so I expected to love these bars, and I do. They’re tart and refreshing, which is not something you can say very often about a cookie.

Springhouse Turtle

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Minty Lime Bars

Tart and sweet, these bars combine a shortbread crust with a lime filling.

Ingredients

  • Shortbread Crust:
  • 2 tablespoons lime zest (3 limes)
  • 3 tablespoons coconut sugar
  • 1 tablespoon xylitol or erythritol
  • 1 tablespoon food-grade vegetable glycerin
  • 1 cup gluten-free flour mix
  • 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • pinch salt
  • 1/3 cup non-dairy butter, softened
  • Lime Curd Filling:
  • 3/4 cup fresh lime juice (7 limes)
  • 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (1 large lime)
  • 1 teaspoon starch (corn, arrowroot or tapioca0
  • Pinch kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/2 cup xylitol or erythritol
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup [
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1 large egg
  • 6 tablespoons cold unsalted dairy-free butter, cut into cubes

Instructions

1

Use non-dairy butter or shortening to grease an 8" by 8" square pan.

2

Line the pan with parchment, then grease the parchment, and set aside.

3

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the lime zest, coconut sugar, erythritol and vegetable glycerin.

4

Stir in the flour mix, xanthan gum, baking powder and mint.

5

Gently mix in the non-dairy butter until the mixture looks like large grains of sand.

6

Press the crust mixture evenly over the bottom of the prepared pan.

7

Bake at 350 degrees F until light brown, about 30 minutes.

8

Remove from oven and allow to cool.

9

In a small saucepan over medium high heat, whisk together the lime juice, lemon juice, corn starch and salt.

10

Bring the mixture to a boil, and allow it to thicken, whisking constantly.

11

Remove from heat.

12

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the yolks, whole egg, coconut sugar and erythritol for 1 minute.

13

Whisk the heated lime mixture, one tablespoon at a time, into the egg mixture.

14

Return the lime curd to the saucepan, and whisk constantly over medium heat, until it thickens, about 5 minutes.

15

Remove from heat and whisk in the non-dairy butter, one tablespoon at a time.

16

Pour the lime curd over the prepared crust.

17

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 30-35 minutes.

18

Remove from oven and allow to cool in the pan.

19

Refrigerate for 1 hour, then cut into squares.

20

Sprinkle with powdered sugar or powdered erythritol, and serve.

Springhouse Turtle

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