Lemon Lime Bars Recipes

LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.
• Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
• For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
• Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners' sugar.

THE BEST LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
• Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.

LIME BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 12x15-inch baking dish.
• Mix 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, and salt in a bowl; cut in butter with a pastry cutter until crust mixture resembles crumbs. Pat crust evenly into bottom of the prepared baking dish.
• Bake crust in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
• Whisk eggs, 1/3 cup lime juice, 1/4 cup flour, white sugar, 2 teaspoons lime peel, baking powder, and food coloring in a bowl; pour over the crust.
• Return baking dish to oven; bake until filling is set, about 25 minutes. Cool thoroughly.
• Whisk 1 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon lime juice, and 1 teaspoon grated lime peel to make a smooth glaze; spread evenly over cooled lime bars. Let glaze set before serving.

MINTY LIME BARS

Steps:

• Arrange an oven rack in the center position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square pan, preferably metal, with 2 sheets of aluminum foil, crossing one over the other and pressing the foil into the corners and up the sides. Butter the bottom and sides of the foil, and set the pan aside.
• Make the shortbread crust: In a medium bowl, use your fingertips to massage the lime zest into the sugar until the fragrant oils are released and the mixture looks like wet sand. Add the flour, chopped mint, baking powder and salt, and toss to combine. Add the ½-inch pieces of chilled butter and toss to coat in the flour mixture. Use your fingertips to smash the butter into the flour mixture, working until no large pieces remain and you have lots of moist crumbs that hold together easily when squeezed.
• Bake the crust: Scatter the shortbread dough evenly across the bottom of the prepared pan. Use your hands to flatten the crumbs into an even layer, working it into the corners and against the sides. Bake the shortbread until lightly golden across the surface, about 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven. (Leave the oven on and reduce the temperature to 300 degrees.) Let the crust cool while you make the filling.
• Make the lime curd filling: In a small saucepan, combine the lime juice, lemon juice, cornstarch, salt and ½ cup/100 grams of the granulated sugar, and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, to dissolve the sugar. When the mixture comes to a boil, whisk constantly until it thickens slightly from the cornstarch, about 1 minute, then remove the saucepan from the heat.
• In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk the egg yolks, whole egg and remaining ½ cup/100 grams sugar until the mixture is smooth, thick and has paled in color a couple of shades, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle the hot citrus mixture into the eggs a tablespoon at a time to slowly raise the temperature, until you've added about half the citrus mixture to the eggs.
• Whisk the egg mixture back into the saucepan, then set back over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the curd turns opaque, is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and barely hold the marks of the whisk (it will register 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer), about 5 minutes. Remove the curd from the heat and whisk in the butter a piece at a time, waiting until each piece melts before adding the next, until the mixture is smooth.
• Bake the bars: Pour the hot curd over the crust and shake the pan gently so it settles in an even layer. Bake the bars until the sides have puffed and the center is set but still a bit wobbly when you shake the pan, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let the bars cool completely in the pan
• Chill before serving: Transfer the cooled pan to the refrigerator and chill until the bottom of the pan is cold to the touch, about 1 hour. This will harden the butter in both the curd and crust, making it easier to remove the bars from the pan and slice.
• Use the edges of the foil to lift the bars out of the pan, then peel down the sides of the foil and slide a metal spatula underneath to loosen the crust from the foil. Slide the bars off the foil onto a cutting board and slice into 16 squares. Dust with confectioners' sugar and top with more lime zest before serving. They are best eaten on the first or second day, but will keep for up to 5 days stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

LEMON BARS

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine the flour, butter and confectioners' sugar. Pat into an ungreased 8-in. square baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. , For filling, in a small bowl, beat eggs. Add the sugar, flour, baking powder, lemon juice and zest; beat until frothy. Pour over the crust. Bake 25 minutes longer or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Cut into bars.

LEMON-LIME LAYER BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup softened butter, and 3 tablespoons brown sugar in a bowl. Pat into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until slightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven; leave the oven on.
• Combine 1 cup brown sugar, coconut, pecans, eggs, 3 tablespoons flour, vanilla, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and spread over baked first layer. No need to cool in between.
• Bake in oven for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, stir pudding mix, white sugar, 1/4 cup water, and egg yolks together in a medium saucepan. Stir in remaining water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in lime gelatin mix until dissolved. Spread over baked second layer in the pan while still warm.
• Refrigerate until well set, 8 hours to overnight. Cut into 24 squares and serve.

LEMON LIME BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Line pan with parchment, pressing the paper onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan; set aside. In a large bowl combine the 2 cups flour, the 1/2 cup powdered sugar, the cornstarch and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (mixture will look dry). Press firmly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes (crust will still look dry).
• Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, half-and-half and 3 tablespoons flour; divide in two bowls. In one bowl add lemon peel and lemon juice; in the other bowl lime peel, lime juice and green food coloring into other half. Pour the lemon filling over hot crust; bake 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Carefully pour lime filling over lemon filling; bake 10 to 12 minutes more or until set. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
• Use paper to lift uncut bars from pan. Cut into bars. Sift over powdered sugar. Top with lemon and lime peel, if desired. Refrigerate to store. Makes 32 bars.