Coconut-Lime Crumble Bars

I made pink grapefruit bars recently that were good, but not great. I think they didn’t taste enough like grapefruit to me, given that half of the citrus juice was actually lemon… But then I made these coconut-lime crumble bars that were more nuanced. And also not unlike the coconut-lime cookies I made recently. They’re just two flavors that go really well together!

Note that the original recipe called for 14-ounce cans of sweetened condensed milk. That’s obviously not lactose-free, so I used sweetened condensed milk instead. I knew that the cans are smaller (7 ounces vs. 14 ounces), so I got two and I was sure I was fine. It’s only as I reread the recipe when I was typing it here that I realized that the recipe called for a total of 28 ounces (TWO cans), and I used only 14 total… Oh well, what can I say, it was still delicious! It also calls for the non-standard 9” square pan; I used my 8” square one and added 20 to 30 minutes to the baking time to compensate. Again, my bars turned out great and I love them as is, but I thought you might want to know about these differences!

For the crust
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
¾ cup salted roasted macadamia nuts
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) lactose-free butter or margarine, softened
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. kosher salt

For the filling
14-oz. sweetened condensed coconut milk (see note above)
3 large egg yolks
1 Tbsp. lime zest plus 1 cup fresh lime juice (from 8 limes), plus more zest for serving


For the crust
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper (I used my 8-inch square pan).

Combine flour, coconut, nuts, sugar, butter, baking soda, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until crumbly but beginning to clump together, about 15 pulses. Set aside 1½ cups flour mixture for topping. Firmly press remaining flour mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake until crust begins to brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes.

For the filling
Whisk condensed milk, yolks, lime zest, and lime juice in a medium bowl until smooth. Pour over crust and sprinkle with reserved flour mixture.

Bake at 350 °F until filling is just set and topping is light golden brown, 22 to 24 minutes. (For the 8-inch square pan, add 20 to 30 minutes to the baking time.) Let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days. Cut into 12 bars and garnish with lime zest.