Erica's Sweet Tooth » Lemon Lime Squares

Lemon Lime Squares

posted by Erica on April 24, 2010

During times in my life when I have no free time to bake, such as during exam time (ahem, now), I find myself daydreaming about the endless list of delicious and adorable treats I would rather be baking. As you can imagine, this curtails my attention span when it comes time to conquer alveolar ventilation and ammoniagenesis.

So last night I bit the bullet and broke all the rules — I baked the weekend before an exam! Granted today is Ryan and I’s 3 year anniversary of dating, so there was already a lingering reason to bake for my citrus-loving beau. In an effort to satisfy my studying-induced craving to bake, I bring you lemon lime bars. Delicious? Definitely. Adorable? Well the jury’s out on that one…

These bars are not the most beautiful thing to come out of my oven — bars are a tough thing in general to make look really special. But I tried! I baked the bars in individual square tins (something like this, like I used for my Holiday Surprise Cupcakes) so I could have better control over the flow of the separate lemon and lime fillings and make a distinct color and taste separation. Although the technique worked (thanks to my handy boyfriend and a spatula), the pan we used resulted in a crust around each square, rather than just the squares cut from the edges if we had used just one large pan. Although I love a good, chewy brownie edge, the edges around each lemon lime square took away from the translucent, gooey appearance that I love so much in other lemon bars. I guess beauty on the inside is just as important, right??

See the distinct lemon and lime separation? Squint harder! I added a bit of green coloring to the lime filling to help it stand out, and I’m glad I did. Have I mentioned yet how delicious these are? There’s so much more to these lemon lime squares than their crusty exteriors, they pack a zingy, refreshing, and delicious lemon-lime punch. I’m a huge fan of lime, and I love it’s addition to a classic lemon bar.

Give these a try, maybe just mixing the 2 batters together and reverting to the classic method of baking lemon bars in a 8×8 Pyrex. I love experimenting with baking, and even if the end result doesn’t always work out exactly how I planned, I’m always learning!

Lemon Lime Squares

For the Crust:

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt

For the Lime Filling:

Zest of 1 lime
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 tbsp lime juice
1-1/2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 egg
Green food coloring (optional)

For the Lemon Filling:

Zest of 1/2 large lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1-1/2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 egg

– Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the pan (either an 8×8 Pyrex, or individual tins like this)
– With an electric mixer, beat together butter and powdered sugar on medium speed until creamy. Turn the mixer down to low and slowly add the flour and salt. Mix until well combined.
– Press the dough into the pan and bake for 10 minutes
– While the dough is baking, prepare the fillings: in one bowl, mix together the ingredients for the lime filling and in another bowl, mix together the ingredients for the lemon filling. (If you’re just going to use an 8×8 Pyrex, go ahead and just mix everything together in 1 bowl)
– To recreate my 2 color look, put the tip of a spatula diagonal in the square cavity and spoon in about 1-1/2 tbsp of the lime on one side of the spatula and 1-1/2 tbsp of lemon on the other. (For the pyrex, just pour it all in)
– Bake for 15 minutes if you’re using the mini tins and 20 minutes for the 8×8 Pyrex, or until the filling is slightly golden brown

Photobucket

posted in Bars

17 comments »

17 Responses to “Lemon Lime Squares”

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1

oneordinaryday — April 25, 2010 @ 12:11 pm

I love the color separation. So pretty!
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Deborah Dowd — April 25, 2010 @ 2:24 pm

These look so yummy- perfect for the warmer weather! I am giving them a try even though I don’t have a special pan.
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withoutamicrowave — April 25, 2010 @ 7:05 pm

Ooooh, I’ve only ever had lemon bars before! I wonder how this would be if you used key limes which are a little bit more tangy…I might have to try that!

Also, happy anniversary to you and Ry!
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4

bakies — April 26, 2010 @ 6:24 am

i’ve never had lemon lime square before but they do look delicious!! will definitely try making these sometime!
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5

Raina — April 26, 2010 @ 10:19 pm

I think those look and sound delicious. Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe.
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Alisa — April 27, 2010 @ 3:18 pm

What a great combination and I love that hint of green.This would be perfect with my tea right now.I’d love to guide Foodista readers to your site if you won’t mind.Just add your choice of foodista widget to the end of this post and it’s all set, Thanks!
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7

Barefoot Belle — April 27, 2010 @ 4:12 pm

Yum! Love lemon bars, and I love lime bars. I know the mix is just divine!
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Memória — April 28, 2010 @ 6:55 am

What a fantastic idea!!! I would love these bars. I must make them ASAP!
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Jules — May 1, 2010 @ 1:22 pm

LOVE YOU!! about to try these…. here goes nothing :)
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Anonymous — May 11, 2011 @ 3:33 am

I made these the other day for Mother’s Day and my mom loved them! I am going to try to make your Frappachino cupcakes for her birthday this coming week!
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Anonymous — June 3, 2011 @ 12:07 am

I’m the one that posted before about the mothers day…i cannot stop making these…and its sooo easy cause we have basically everything you need except the lemons and limes and those are so cheap!
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Anonymous — November 2, 2011 @ 9:09 pm

these turned out GREAT!!!
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Anonymous — April 5, 2012 @ 11:48 am

I just made a batch.. I love it thanks :)
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Shaun — April 21, 2012 @ 3:03 am

I just made these in my brownie pan. You know, the one that’s “As Seen on TV” brownie pan where you don’t have to cut out each piece. I made the crust as indicated and baked it in the pan. Then I put the insert on top and pushed down to cut the crust and left the insert in the pan. Then I used a spatula to “split” each section and put in the lime and lemon mixtures as indicated above. Baked 15 minutes and they are AWESOME!
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Anonymous — July 11, 2012 @ 7:01 pm

Found your recipe on pinterest and made these yesterday. They were delicious! I made it all in one pan and left out the green food coloring. Thank you for such a great and easy recipe :)
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Alannie — December 8, 2013 @ 12:58 am
hello Erica can you please tell me how many grammes for 1 cup?
thank you
Alannie
- Erica — December 8th, 2013 @ 11:47 pm
  
  Depends on what ingredient you’re asking about. I would recommend just googling it, you can get pretty good conversions online! Good luck :)