Tasty Bites – Frozen Margarita Bars…

ByMary Lenaburg
Welcome to a new feature on the blog. Every Thursday I will be sharing the recipe for a Tasty Bite. When I first started blogging almost eleven years ago now, I shared recipes all the time. Courtney was still alive and baking was a huge stress relief for me. My kitchen is still my happy place these days and now that I’m back to writing in this space full-time, I thought it was time to share a little kitchen love once more.

I love a frozen margarita in the summer time. It’s cold and tart with a salty finish and is the perfect drink at the end of a hot and humid summer day. When I was searching for the perfect dessert for a dinner party I was having last week, I kept coming back to the idea of a frozen margarita.

I first came upon this recipe in the mid 1980’s when Mr. Food shared a version during the noon news in my hometown. It required minimal baking and had all the components of the class drink including the salty bits from the pretzel crust. There are a million and one versions of this recipe out on the world wide web but this is the one I have been using for more than 20 years. It’s creamy and tart with a crunchy crust. You can increase the tartness by increasing the lime juice by one or two tablespoons if you’d like or decreasing the sugar by the same amount.

It’s the perfect tasty treat for a hot summer day. Let me know how you like it.

Bon Appetite!
Mary

Frozen Margarita Bars
Serves: 8-9 servings
Ingredients
  • For the crust:
  • 1 stick salted butter (1/2 cup), melted
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 2½ cups pretzels, mimi pretzels or pretzel sticks work best for this recipe.
  • 4 squares of graham crackers (2 sheets)
  • For the filling:
  • 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
  • ½ cup fresh lime juice (about 4-5 limes)
  • 2 tablespoons tequila
  • 2 tablespoons Cointreau or Triple Sec
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • For the topping:
  • Zest of 1 lime
  • whipped cream
Instructions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8×8-inch square pan with parchment paper leaving the extra hanging over the sides.
  2. In a food processor combine the pretzels and graham crackers. Pulse until crushed. You should have about 1¼ cups of crushed pretzels and crackers. If you don’t have a food processor or you just don’t want to pull it out, you can combine the pretzels and graham crackers in a gallon ziplock bag and pound them with your rolling pin. It’s a fabulous exercise if you are peeved about something. Call it Kitchen Therapy.
  3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the melted butter and the granulated sugar. Add the crushed pretzel mixture and stir until combined. Gently press the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Allow it to cool completely before filling.
  4. For the filling beat the cold whipping cream in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
  5. In another medium mixing bowl combine the sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, tequila and Cointreau/Triple Sec. Gently fold in the whipped cream, just until blended. There are you tube videos available that show you how to fold ingredients. Just remember to be gentle. You don’t want the whipped cream to fall.
  6. Pour the filling into the prepare crust and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight. Garnish with a lime zest and whipped cream. Cut into 9 to 12 servings.
Notes
These bars are best cut frozen. Store leftovers in a sealed container in the freezer.