I don't know why, maybe because it's June, but for some reason I was craving lime and felt like making lime flavored blondies -- specifically, White Chocolate Lime Blondies.
I didn't have a recipe and ended up putting one together with the goal being a dense, sweet, chewy bar cookie with a real punch of lime flavor, white chocolate, maybe some coconut, and macadamia nuts. Adding cream cheese seemed like a good idea too, but that didn't work out so well.
Test Bake #1: Cream Cheese Confusion
Maybe you skipped right to the recipe and already have these in the oven, but I wanted to tell you more about the process meow, meow, meow. I made a version with cream cheese and coconut oil, thinking it would come out rich and tropical. Well, the texture was off. The bars were a little too soft, not sweet enough, and the macadamia nuts felt out of place — too crunchy against the smooth and soft crumb. The lime flavor was there, but dulled.
Test Bake #2: Closer… But Still Not Quite
I tried again, changing sugar levels and nixing the coconut oil. Better texture, better balance, but still not right. Coconut oil was a fun idea, but the bars were better with all butter. I also really wanted the bars to be chewy and solid enough not to clash with the macadamia nuts.
The Winning White Chocolate Lime Blondies
The final blondie that hit the spot? No cream cheese. No coconut oil. Just good butter, plenty of lime zest, and a lot of white chocolate. Sort of. I ran out of money buying white chocolate and started using white chips. They worked just fine if not better than the white chocolate.
So this final version, at least to me, has the best flavor, and the best balance of sweetness. Finely chopped macadamia nuts (I like lightly salted to go with the sweet) give a bit of texture without interrupting the chew, but you can leave the nuts out. They're not critical to the texture. Plus if you use white chips, they tend to get a little firm themselves, so that might make up for the lack of nuts.
Pan Size
The recipe makes an 8-inch square pan of White Chocolate Lime Blondies. The blondies are already pretty thin, so please don't attempt to spread them across a 9-inch square pan. Not that you would, but still...these are thin. I also tested a half batch in an 8x4 inch loaf pan and loved the results. Every piece was an edge! For a larger batch, you can double and bake in a 9x12 inch pan (bake time will need to be increased slightly) or a 9x13 inch pan.
Recipe
White Chocolate Lime Blondies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup sugar (150 grams)
- 3-4 tablespoons lime zest (from 2 limes) (15 grams)
- 6 tablespoons butter, softened until squishy (84 grams)
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt, scant
- 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (110 grams)
- 2 tablespoons flaked coconut, can be unsweetened or sweetened (optional)
- ¼ cup lightly salted or unsalted macadamia nuts, finely chopped
- ⅔ cup white chocolate chips or about 3.5 oz white chocolate, chopped
Lime Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Line an 8-inch square pan with foil and grease the bottom only.
- Zest your limes first to get that out of the way. Lime zest measurements can be weird. I used the zest of two medium size limes which ended up being about 4 fluffy tablespoons with a weight of 15 grams.
- In a mixing bowl, using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer or just using a scraper, mix the sugar and your lime zest for about a minute so that lime zest releases its oil into the sugar. Enjoy the aroma therapy.
- Add the squishy soft butter to the bowl and beat until creamy, then add the egg and vanilla and beat by hand or on low until blended and smooth. Don't whip, just beat until blended.
- Add the baking powder, baking soda and salt directly to the batter and stir until blended, scraping the side of the bowl to make sure everything is evenly distributed, then add the flour and coconut and mix until blended.
- Lastly, stir in the white chocolate and macadamia nuts.
- Spread the mixture evenly in the pan. You can dampen your fingers with a tiny bit of lime juice and tap it down or do it with the scraper.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until the blondies appear set and the edges are very lightly browned.
- Let cool for about 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature, then place the pan in the refrigerator. Chilling improves the texture.
- Remove the bars from the pan and drizzle with lime glaze To make lime glaze, put ½ cup of powdered sugar in a bowl. Spoon fresh lime juice into the powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time, stirring until mixture is smooth and opaque with a consistency for drizzling.
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