Christmas
Party Eats, Desserts, Recipe
The Ultimate Lemon and Lime Bars Recipe
A really good and easy lemon bar recipe is hard to come by. Most are cloyingly sweet and have no connection to lemon other than their color.
This lemon square recipe has such a lovely balance between sweet and tart and is so different from the sugar bombs that masquerade as lemon bars that your guests may wonder if you’ve engaged in some kind of citrus dessert wizardry. Jump to Recipe
The recipe can be made interchangeably with lemon or limes. I made a batch of each and cut up squares that I laid out in a checkerboard pattern on a white plate. It creates a fun, striking look that will definitely get your guests’ attention.
It can also be an elegant addition to a lemonade stand to help your kiddos make some extra money.
These lemon bars are not overly sweet and will definitely make you pucker up a bit.
But it’s easy to control the sweetness of the dessert by the amount of powdered sugar on top.
The lemon bars get their bright color from the lemon itself but the lime bars’ color was just a little dull. So I brightened it up with a couple drops of food coloring.
The Ultimate Lemon and Lime Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup Butter
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 cups White All Purpose Flour
Filling
- 1 1/2 cups Sugar
- 1/4 cup White All Purpose Flour
- 4 Eggs
- 3 Lemons or 5 Limes, juiced
- 2 drops green food coloring for lime bars (optional)
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350°
Prepare the Crust
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Blend the softened butter, the 2 cups of flour and the 1/2 cup of sugar in a medium bowl.
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Press evenly in the bottom of an ungreased 9" x 13" pan
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Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. When done it should be firm and golden.
Make the filling
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In a separate bowl, whisk the flour and sugar
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Whisk in the eggs and the lemon or lime juice. Add the food coloring if desired.
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Pour the filling over the baked crust.
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Bake for an additional 20 minutes.
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Let the bars cool out of the oven before cutting. They will firm up as they cool.
Recipe Notes
Prepare one batch each of the lemon and the lime bars. Cut them all into squares and arrange them in a checkerboard pattern for an impressive dessert.
And go ahead and get creative. Try orange or grapefruit bars. Cut the bars into rectangles and make a brickwork pattern, or an arch, or a rainbow.
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Picked for you:
I’m so excited to make these for my mom. They are her absolute favorite dessert and they are almost always too sweet. These look perfect. Thank you!!
Thank You! Try them, you won’t be dissapointed!
Yum! Love the lemon-lime combo! Can’t wait to try this recipe to bring to a weekend pool party! Thanks for sharing!
Like the addition of the lime! A great summer treat to try!
Lime is so refreshing. Thank you!
These look amazing and lemon/lime are my favorite flavors!! So refreshing! I’m totslly making these!!
Ohhh I’m intrigued with the lemon/lime combo. I must try it. Lime is a fave!
It’s such a summer flavor! Try it!
This looks so delicious ? I need to try it !!
Oh I love lemon bars so I am totally making some of these during the weekend!!
Let me know how it goes!
Oooohh! I have had lemon bars but never lemon-lime! What a fun twist on a delicious dessert!