lime, oatmeal, and … beer? ::::
One thing is for sure, the United States is known for its love of chocolate chip cookies. There are thousands of recipes in books and on the internet with enumerable variations: white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or semi-sweet chocolate; chips, mini chips, or chunks; walnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, almonds, or hazelnuts; soft, crispy, chewy; thin or thick.
Call me crazy but I’m just not a fan.
I hear the gasps, see the horror in your eyes, and already feel so judged. What? A hater of all-American chocolate chip cookies? “But they’re so gooey and sweet,” one friend said as a string of chocolate ran down her chin mid-bite of a recently baked cookie. “How can you not like chocolate chip cookies?” said another, mouth full of one. “That’s, like, weird.” Yet another shook her head in disbelief.
It’s not that I don’t like chocolate or a simple flour, sugar, and butter-made cookie. There’s something better.
Oatmeal and raisins. Oatmeal and creaminess. Oatmeal and dried apricots. Throw in some nuts.
A hearty cookie is driven by its ingredients, and the simple yet complex oatmeal wins me over. And the spin of a cream filling, with citrus!, even better. Give me this fruit-laden oatmeal cookies any day over chocolate chip cookies. You won’t be surprised when I forgo your tray of chocolate chippers. My heart is enveloped in oatmeal rustica. This is no frou-frou cookie: it stands up to the best. And even does so with a round of beer.
Eat and I found that the Mirror Pond Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon paired very well with these lime oatmeal bars. We didn’t intentionally try to make a good pairing; our bottle of beer we split during dinner still wasn’t finished during dessert and we couldn’t waste it. It was a serendipitous find that the two went well together. Kind of like me and oatmeal. *best buds*
One year ago: baked polenta
Two years ago: sage-mint tea and sparkling cranberries with lemon pudding
- 1 can (14 ounces = about 400 ml) sweetened condensed milk
- 3 teaspoons grated lime zest
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 1¼ cups flour
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line an 8x8-inch pan with parchment paper.
- Mix milk, lime zest and lime juice in medium bowl until thickened; set aside. Mix remaining ingredients in another medium bowl until crumbly (I used my fingers to help this along).
- Press half of the crumbly mixture in pan; bake 10-12 minutes or until set.
- Spread lime-milk mixture over baked crust. Sprinkle remaining crumbly mixture over the lime-milk mixture, press down gently.
- Bake about 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden brown and center is set but soft. Cool completely. Cut 4 rows by 4 rows. Keeps at room temperature in an airtight container for 2-3 days.
2 COMMENTS
These are creamy lime oatmeal bars but the “instructions” part of your recipe refers to lemon zest and lemon juice.
You are right! It was a mistake, as I had changed the original recipe from lemon to lime. I fixed it in the recipe instructions. Thank you!