Lilikoi Lime Bars

Last Monday I brought these bars in to work.   One of my coworkers in another department sees me with the container while I'm checking out my keys and give me the "I want one" eye.   One bite and she was sold...bringing by a friend from her department to get in on the Lilikoi Lime Bars before they were all gone.    

And they were gone within one day.   Truly the sign of a winning recipe.  

For those of you who don't recognize the word lilikoi, it's the Hawaiian word for passion fruit.  Here, they are yellow (in the picture, the upper right), but you might find purple ones in the store near you. I've heard rumors that they might be $3 a piece on the mainland, but here, they grow in the backyard.  

This recipe is similar in ingredients to Easy Key Lime Pie.   Graham cracker crust, juice, egg yolk, and sweetened condensed milk make up the majority of the ingredients.  

What You Need

Crust
12 graham cracker sheets (or 24 squares), crushed
5 tablespoons melted butter/margarine4 tablespoons brown sugar
pinch of salt

Filling
zest of one lime
6 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice  (2 limes)
1/3 cup fresh lilikoi (passion fruit) juice
3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg yolk

What You Do

Preheat the oven to 325.    Line a 9x9 pan with foil and coat with cooking spray.

To make the crust:

Use a food processor to crush the graham crackers into crumbs easily.   Combine crumbs with melted butter and brown sugar.    Press the crust in the bottom of the pan and bake for 15 minutes.   Cool while making the filling.  

To make the filling:

In a medium bowl, zest your lime.    Then juice that lime, and one other, to get your 6 tablespoons of lime juice.    Whisk together the lime juice, zest, lilikoi juice, cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and egg yolk together until smooth (or smooth as possible....cream cheese might leave a few small lumps).     

Pour the filling over the baked crust and bake for 20-25 minutes until filling is set (no jiggling in the middle).    Chill in the refrigerator before cutting and serving.    

Notes

If you'd like a thicker crust and filling layer, try an 8x8 pan.  

If you've never tried getting juice from a lilikoi...it's full of seeds.   You'll want to use a strainer to push as much juice and pulp through without getting any of the black seeds.    Depending on the size of your fruit, you might need 3-5 lilikoi to get 1/3 cup juice.   

If you're feeling tropical, you might enjoy:

Lilikoi Bars

Mango Lemonade

Meanwhile in Maui

I have a friend from Colorado visiting and yesterday we did the road to Hana (and past Hana for that matter).    Each time I explore, I find new places to enjoy, like this quiet pool.  

Coconut Limeade for Adults

This limeade recipe is just a respectable vehicle for drinking Malibu rum and using my fancy glass swizzle sticks.    Not a problem.     This past week, the weather has gotten warmer and drier here on the west side of Maui.   Since it's always 5 O'Clock somewhere, and here in paradise, it seems like if you're not working, it's happy hour at any hour, I'm enjoying bringing this limeade into rotation.   I've sipped it on the lanai as well as taking it on the road to drink at the beach.

What You Need

Per cocktail:

1 shot of Malibu Coconut Rum

1 shot of lime juice (bottled or fresh, your call)

1/2 cup of coconut water

1 cup of club soda  

What You Do

Pour all ingredients into a tall glass (pint glasses work well).    Add ice to fill.   Stir.   Garnish with a flower from your garden or a wedge of lime.     If you want a berry limeade feel, add some muddled strawberries or raspberries.   

Simple.  Cool.  Refreshing.

Cheers to a long hot summer!

Put the Lime in the Coconut (Sugar Cookies)

Cookies, instagram style

We just started a healthy living & weight loss challenge at work.   Since I'm one of the people who put the program together, I feel like I need to participate.   With enthusiasm.   There's prize money for the top 5 who lose the highest percentage of weight loss, Biggest Loser style.   

 

I have some motivation.    Summer is coming up.   The Bike MS is coming up.   Sun dresses are coming up.   The contest is 12 weeks.  I can (as my trainer says) streamline my nutrition.   Make more conscious decisions and pay attention.    Yes, Starbucks lattes, that means you.   I'm paying attention to you.   

 

However, these cookies came up before the start of the contest.   As always, I like to give treats away.   I feed my co-workers and friends.   So there aren't that many of these left.    Less temptation.

 

I found different versions of this recipe on different blogs.  Some credited Cooks Illustrated.   Some credited America's Test Kitchen.    They were very similar - some had 1/3 cup oil, some had 1/2.   Some had lemon zest, some had lime.    No matter how you bake it - these cookies are delicious, soft and chewy. 

 

What You Need

2 1/4 cups AP flour (add an additional 1/4 cup flour if needed for altitude - I did)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, chopped (I know, you look at it and you say, it's already small...the coconut is really for texture, so chop it some more)

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 oz cream cheese, cut into small pieces (I used reduced fat cream cheese)

1 teaspoon lime zest

6 tablespoons butter, melted and warm

1/3 cup oil

1 large egg

1 tablespoon milk (I used skim)

1 tablespoon lime juice, from that lime you just zested...it looks sad and naked

 

1/2 cup granulated sugar for rolling the cookies

 

What You Do

 

Preheat oven to 350.   Put silicone baking mats on your baking sheets.

 

Whisk flour, powder, soda and salt in a medium bowl.  

 

Place 1 1/2 cups sugar, cream cheese and lime zest in a large bowl.         Pour butter over mixture and whisk until combined.   Whisk in oil until well mixed.  Add egg, milk and lime juice.   Continue to whisk until smooth.   Add flour mixture with a rubber spatula until a soft dough forms.  It is soft.  That's ok.  No reason to panic. 

 

How many cookies you'll get depends on how you roll them.   I got 36 buy rolling dough balls the size of quarters.    Roll the dough into balls and then roll in granulated sugar and place on baking sheet.    Lightly flatten using a glass or spatula.   Bake until edges are set, 11-13 minutes.   Let cookies cool for a few minutes before putting them on a wire rack.

 

Give them away or shove them in your mouth.   They are that good.