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.
Melissa Chapman
I have always loved lemon squares so i know i would love these lime bars. The coconut crust is a real bonus and should make them taste so good.
robin rue
These sound amazing and the best part is that no one in my family likes lime except for me so I would get to eat these all myself 🙂
Jolina
I like how you think Robin! LOL!
Jessa
So up until this year, I did not like lemon or lime flavored desserts. I tried, but it was always to tangy for me. Something changed though, and I can’t seem to get enough. Weird, huh? I’ll be making these!
Jolina
Not weird at all IMO, they are delightful! Hope you enjoy these bars!
Katrina
I am sure these bars are just as delicious as they are gorgeous! Just followed you on Instagram and will be stalking your recipes!
Angela Tolsma
I never would have thought to save my lemons by zesting and juicing them, then freezing it. That is a fantastic idea and definitely something I’ll be doing!
Jolina
Awesome! Hope it helps you save those lovely lemons and limes.
Gloria
These look easy, and totally delicious too. What a great dessert to take along to a party. You could easily make 2 pans to feed a crowd. I would love this with my afternoon latte today….it is still SOOOO hot!!
Jolina
Hi Gloria! No kidding, it’s been crazy hot eh???
Kim
These look so good and it’s not too complicated to make them, thanks for the video. Looks like they would go well with some milk or tea.
Jennifer
Thank you for sharing this recipe, I’m a HUGE fan of lemon and lime. I love sweet and tart! My favorite dessert is key lime pie 😉
Jolina
Mine too. And lemon cheesecake. And lemon bars. And the list goes on and on lol!
Ria Parikh
I love anything coconut and after reading coconut cookie base I was sold! This is a very interesting combination and your pictures are so enticing. I would love to try this recipe out this weekend!
Jolina
Sounds like a plan Ria! Hope you like them.
Lois
Wow, those look delicious! I can almost taste the tartness! And, because they’re made of fruit, they’re healthy and practically calorie-free, right?! LOL!
Jolina
I really love how you think Lois 🙂 And I totally agree!
Stephanie
I’ve made lemon bars in almost this exact way, but I never thought about making it with limes. We have a bunch of limes to use up soon, I’ll have to make these.
Yota Chelf
I love lemon flavoured desserts especialy with my afternoon tea or coffee. I will try to recreate those with egg substitute and oat milk! wish me luck!
Jolina
Luck! Looking forward to hearing how it goes.
Flossie McCowald
These look absolutely delicious! I LOVE lime and all things lime-flavored, so will have to give these a try sometime!
Dawn
Hey Jolina! I’m certainly ready to pucker up -love all the things citrus! And these would certainly help me through the cooler months…though, I’m totally confident these would be wicked anytime 😉 I’ve never frozen citrus zest before, so thanks for the tips….love using zest in baking…it really does add a lovely pop of flavour and brightness. Hope you have an awesome long weekend, my friend 🙂
Jolina
Hello Dawn! I forget you and I share the presidency of Team Lemon/Citrus lol. Hope you’re having a fab week!
Elizabeth
Sweet and tart, who can resist? Sign me up for this. Nice video too!
Jolina
Thanks Elizabeth! Can’t go wrong with sweet and tart amiright? 🙂