Creamy lime bars – perfectly sweet and tart with a coconut cookie base. Watch the video to see how easily these velvety, citrusy bars come together!
(If your’e looking for lemon recipes, try these equally delicious Lemon Bars with Shortbread Crust or this Dreamy Creamy Meyer Lemon Pie, a reader favourite! This Eggless Key Lime Pie is very popular too – hint: it’s delicious.)
Hi everyone! Welcome to September and Happy Labour Day weekend to all of you who are celebrating.
School has probably started for a lot of you but here it typically starts after Labour Day.
So this long weekend usually signals the beginning of the end of summer. But hey, we technically have a few more weeks left so let’s make the most of it!
These creamy lime bars would certainly help – they taste like the tropics and scream of summer. They’re a breeze to make and would certainly transport you to your happy summer place, whatever the season.
Ready to pucker up?
Lemon and lime desserts
Those of you who have been with me for a while know that I love lemon desserts. Between chocolate and lemon, it’s lemon for me every single time.
I just love how they’re never too sweet, always just the right amount of tart. They’re also always so refreshing.
I’m not a fan of winter but citrus fruits are at their best in the wintertime (factoid of the day). It certainly makes me feel a little better about the -40C windchill! And with their bright colour and vibrant taste, they always remind me of summer
These creamy lime bars are the same.
They look like summer, they taste like summer and eating them will make you happy like it’s summer all year long. Which is why I always have limes and lemons on hand (also perfect for making lime cupcakes!)
Related: Quick and Easy Homemade Lemon Curd
The best way to store limes and lemons
Limes and lemons are probably two of the most common ingredients out there that we don’t give a second thought about how to store them.
But have you ever had a lime or a lemon dry up and shrivel on you? It’s a sad sight!
They are pretty low maintenance and should stay fresh at room temperature for about a week. To last longer though (about a month), store them in the crisper drawer of your fridge.
But you know what I do? I freeze them!
Related: The Best Lemon Cheesecake. Ever.
How to freeze lime and lemon zest
Whenever Meyer lemons are in season here (usually in the winter), I tend to buy a lot of it for use throughout the year.
I tend to buy a lot of limes as well and instead of allowing them to go bad, I freeze them.
There are several ways to freeze lemons and limes. My favourite way is to freeze the zest and the juice separately.
- Wash and dry them properly
- Zest with a microplane zester
- Place the zest in a small Ziploc bag and place the bag in the freezer. It helps to label the bag with the current date
- When you’re ready to use the zest, simply take out the amount you need and place the rest back in the freezer. Frozen zest can last for several months
Related: Meyer Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake (with video)
How to freeze lime and lemon juice
After I zest my fruits, I juice the living daylights out of them using my trusty wooden reamer.
- Spoon a tablespoon of juice into ice cube trays. This way, you know that 1 cube = 1 tablespoon
- Once frozen, transfer ice cubes in a Ziploc bag. Again, dating the bag would be helpful (but optional)
- Then when you need lime or lemon juice just take out however many ice cubes you need
Easy, right?
Related: Lemon Pavlova with Toasted Almonds & Coconut
How to make creamy lime bars video
Almost as easy as making these creamy lime bars. You don’t even need a mixer to make these.
The ingredients are pretty straightforward as well – graham cracker crumbs, sweetened shredded coconut, condensed milk, eggs, lime juice.
Watch the step-by-step video to see how easy!
More lemony recipes that are not desserts
Love lemons as much as I do? Then you would love these other lemony treats. What better way to start the day than with these lemony breakfast recipes?
- Lemon sweet rolls – buttery, lemony bread rolls glazed with a scrumptiously lemony glaze. Light, fluffy, a perfect springtime treat.
- This step-by-step guide on how to make fresh lemon ginger tea is quick and easy plus, this tea is delicious and good for you! Drink it to boost your immune system, to help digestion or simply to relax at the end of the day.
- Lemon ricotta muffins are crunchy outside, soft and tender inside. They’re light, lemony and a breeze to make. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, Easter, Mother’s Day, any day, everyday.
- Whip up a batch of these light fluffy lemon ricotta pancakes and start the day with sunshine on a plate! Bright lemon flavour, not too sweet, soft as a cloud.
Creamy Lime Bars
Ingredients
For the coconut cookie crust:
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
- ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
- pinch salt
For the creamy lime filling:
- 1 10-oz can condensed milk
- 2 pcs egg yolks from large eggs beaten
- ½ cup lime juice
- 1 tbsp lime zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper with slight overhang on each side. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine all crust ingredients and stir until evenly moist (looks like wet sand). Transfer to your prepared pan. Press down and make sure the crust is packed on the bottom of the pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Take out of the oven and allow to cool slightly. Keep your oven on. In the meantime, prepare your filling.
- In a large bowl, whisk all filling ingredients until smooth and incorporated. Transfer to your pan and bake for 10-12 minutes or just until you see the edges starting to set (don’t allow to brown).
- Allow to cool slightly before chilling 4-6 hours (preferably overnight). Cut into squares once set completely.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
Happy baking!
Did you bake creamy lime bars? I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
Daphne
I made these last night and they are so good! I’m wondering what they freeze like?
Jolina
Hi Daphne, unfortunately I haven’t tried freezing these so I can’t say for sure.
Cath
Very easy and delicious! I also really appreciated having the can of condensed milk required the same size I find on the grocery shelves in Canada – 10 oz (300 ml) as opposed to the usual 14 oz I see called for in American recipes. No quantity conversion needed. I did not have sweetened shredded coconut on hand, only unsweetened, so after measuring out the 1/2 cup, I removed 1 tbsp and replaced it with a tbsp of sugar. I don’t think I would need to do that next time though, there was plenty of sweetness already.
I will definitely be making these again.
Jolina
Hi Cath! I’m in Canada too so I use the same size can of condensed milk 🙂 Glad you liked the lime bars!
Suzanne
These are amazing! This is my third time making these lime bars because my boyfriend is obsessed with them!! Would highly recommend!
Jolina
That’s awesome Suzanne! They’re great all year-round 🙂
Carol
Love these lime bars! They’re crazy good with the sweet and the sour mixing together, it’s really such a nice treat. Thanks for this recipe, I love that it’s creamy!
Rosario
Will also give this a try as soon as I get hold of the sweetened shredded coconut. For now am baking your lemon bars with shortbread crust. Hope they turn out well. I just finished baking Brazo de Rosario, este Brazo de Mercedez. Hahaha! Tito Nel and Nathan said that their so delicious.
Jolina
Hahahaa cool! 🙂
Martha
Yum!!! I make lemon bars (I have a lemon tree) all the time, but never lime bars. I’d love to make a gluten free version of your recipe!
Marisa Franca
Although I love the Fall I want to hang on to summer a bit longer. These creamy lime bars would certainly do that. When I think citrus I think summer. Just thinking about them is making my mouth water. I’m pinning.
Helen
I love the sound of these – I usually make lemon bakes, but lime is so delicious – thanks for reminding me about it in such a tempting way!
Karly
Even though I’m a chocolate kinda girl, these looks amazing! I know these will be a crowd pleaser!
Kate
Oh my goodness! Your creamy lime bars look and sound amazing! Can’t wait to try them!
Kita Bryant
These look perfect. This is a perfect treat down here in the south!
Sara Welch
Lime bars look tasty. They have always made my mouth water like crazy!
Anosa Malanga
Ohh, I remember my cousin telling me about a lime or lemon bar. I guess I need to bookmark or print this so I can actually tell to my cousin about this.
Denise
I am constantly throwing out lemons and limes so I’m psyched to both storing them in the crisper and freezing the zest. I love using citrus zest in recipes. These look fantastic ….as always! 😉
Jolina
Thank you Denise! 🙂
Veena
I love how simple and easy this is to make Jolina. I am a huge fan of anything lemon so this one is definitely on my must-try list. SO yum. Saving for later.
Jolina
I’m Team Lemon too 🙂 Hope you’re having fantastic week Veena!