The perfect mixture of tart and sweet, these lime bars with a zippy gingersnap crust always disappear quickly!
Lime Bars Recipe with Gingersnap Crust
When I first set out to make these lime bars, my most serious task was to develop a crust that would complement the tart lime filling. Little did I know that flavors and textures would be the least of my concerns. Rather, I was distracted by two little hands that kept creeping onto the counter to seize the cut lime halves. My 6-year old son finds it difficult to resist any sort of citrus. If there are lime, lemon, orange or grapefruit wedges in site, they are likely to be in his mouth before you can say, “Goodbye, tooth enamel.”
My only chance of concentrating on the task at hand was to sit him down with a bowl of lime wedges, which he happily sucked dry. I have no explanation. Then again, this is a kid that would choose a plateful of eel sushi over Cheerios any day of the week.
With the lemon already taken out of the traditional lemon squares, I figured that a shift away from the standard cake-like or shortbread crust was in order. During the height of rhubarb season, I had great success with my Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars with Gingersnap Crust.. The chewiness of the crust stood up well to the tart, creamy cheesecake filling. Given that these lime bars have a very soft and acidic filling, it seemed likely that the pairing would work in this case, too. And did it ever!
The lime squares recipe:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare a 8-inch square baking pan by lining the pan with aluminum foil, leaving 3-4 inches of foil draping over the sides of the pan.
For the crust, place 3 whole graham crackers and 12 gingersnaps, broken into 1-inch pieces, into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the crackers form fine crumbs, about 30 seconds.
To the crumbs, add unsalted butter (melted and cooled), brown sugar, all-purpose flour, and salt. Pulse until the ingredients are fully combined. Using the bottom of a measuring cup or your fingers, press the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan.
Bake until the crust is beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven.
Prepare the filling while the crust bakes so that the warm filling can be poured into a still-warm crust.
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks, a couple of large eggs, and the sugar. Next, whisk in some grated lime zest, fresh lime juice and a pinch of salt. Add unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces, and set over medium heat. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to thicken and it reaches 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Immediately pour the mixture through a strainer set over a medium bowl and stir in the heavy cream. Discard the lime pieces left in the strainer.
Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
Pour the filling into the warm crust and bake until the filling is opaque and jiggles slightly in the center when shaken, 10 to 15 minutes. Be sure to rotate the pan halfway through baking.
Place the pan on a wire rack and let the bars cool for about 2 hours. Using the foil ends, lift the bars out of the pan, remove the foil, and cut into 16 squares. Dust with powdered (confectioner’s) sugar just before serving.
Other desserts with lime:
David Lebovitz’s Lime Meringue Tart
The Pioneer Woman’s Key Lime Pie
Two Peas and Their Pod’s Chewy Lime & Coconut Sugar Cookies
Lime Bars with Gingersnap Crust
Ingredients
The crust:
- 3 graham crackers, broken into 1-inch pieces
- 12 gingersnaps, broken into 1-inch pieces
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted & cooled
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
The filling:
- 7 egg yolks
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Cup + 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup grated lime zest (from 4 to 5 limes)
- 2/3 cup fresh lime juice (from 4 to 5 limes)
- Pinch of salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
- 3 tablespoon heavy cream
- Powdered (confectioner's) sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare an 8-inch square baking pan by lining the pan with aluminum foil, leaving 3-4 inches of foil draping over the sides of the pan.
The crust:
- Place graham crackers and gingersnaps into the bowl of a food processor and pulse
until the crackers form fine crumbs, about 30 seconds. - To the crumbs, add butter, brown sugar, flour, and salt. Pulse until the ingredients are fully combined.
- Using the bottom of a measuring cup or your fingers, press the crumbs into the bottom
of the prepared pan. - Bake until the crust is beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
The filling:
- Prepare the filling while the crust bakes so that the warm filling can be poured into a still-warm crust.
- In a medium saucepan, whisk together egg yolks, eggs, and sugar. Whisk in lime zest, lime juice, and salt. Add butter, and set over medium heat.
- Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to thicken and it reaches 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.
- Immediately pour the mixture through a strainer set over a medium bowl and stir in heavy cream. Discard the lime pieces left in the strainer.
- Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- Pour the filling into the warm crust and bake until the filling is opaque and jiggles slightly in the center when shaken, 10 to 15 minutes. Be sure to rotate the pan halfway through baking.
- Place the pan on a wire rack and let the bars cool for about 2 hours. Using the foil ends, lift the bars out of the pan, remove the foil, and cut into 16 squares. Dust with powdered (confectioner’s) sugar just before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Cooking Mama says
What pretty pictures! I LOVE sunflowers. These bars look grand. 🙂
Emily Malloy says
Absolutely delightful!
A Creative Dream... says
Yuuummmmm! Lime and ginger are one of my favorite pairings in anything! I'll be making these next weekend!
Rachel (Two Healthy Plates) says
I love lime desserts – lime and gingersnap sounds like a great combo! Yum!
marla {family fresh cooking} says
I bet your little guy couldn't keep his hands off these squares! They sounds amazing….and I know what you mean about the tooth enamel. We encounter the same thing over here. Makes brushing teeth at bedtime very difficult!
Food o' del Mundo says
Lime and ginger, what a perfect combination! Love the fact that your son helps out 😉
I really like your new design, I was hoping that your page would load faster, but it continues to take more than 90 seconds on my end – I don't understand it, I've got the highest speed on my internet service.
I can't believe I'm complaining about a minute and a half, HA!
Alison @ Ingredients, Inc. says
This looks fabulous! Drooling!
Sue says
Your crust sounds fabulous! Your little son has sophisticated taste buds:)
ravienomnoms says
These just look absolutely divine, I bet those are just melt in your mouth good!
Cookin' Canuck says
Cooking Mama, Emily, Alison – Thank you!
Creative Dream, Rachel – The lime and ginger really work in this dessert. Now I'll be thinking of other ways to use the combination.
Marla – He loves his citrus any way he can get it!
Mary – I'm sorry you are having so many problems loading my site. I haven't had any other reports of this, but I will ask around and work on it if others are having the same problem.
Sue – Yes, he does. He regularly surprises us!
sara @ CaffeIna says
The colors in these pictures are simply amazing. Love the flavor combo.
Delishhh says
Ok this recipe is saved on delicious. Lemon and ginger cookies – oh my, how could they not go together! Thanks!
Sara says
Love the gingersnap crust! I am a huge citrusy fruity dessert fan! Love your photographs too! 🙂
Kristen says
You definitely have a foodie in the making if your son likes sushi better than cheerios.
I love what you did with the lime squares. The crust sounds perfectly suited. It's all delicious!
Tia says
looks wonderful! great sunflowers too 🙂
Paula - bell'alimento says
I'll take a dozen please ; ) Love lime & ginger! And I adore bars.
Sippity Sup says
I have been away and am trying desperately to play blog catch up! TWhat a bright and cheerful welcome home. GREG
Becky at VintageMixer says
lovely photos and I'm loving your new blog design!
Elizabeth says
Beautiful and tart with a spicy chewy crust? Yes please! These look fabulous.
BTW, your son is weird, and I mean that in the nicest way. Ha! I'd actually prefer that to my son who won't eat anything!
And another funny thing, I just took some pics today using sunflowers too..great minds think alike!
Belinda @zomppa says
Kid's got some palate. This is sooooo awesome. I love tart squares.
[email protected]'s Recipes says
Fabulous pictures! Love your new blog design very much. 🙂
Evan @swEEts says
Yum! These are some of my favorite flavors.. and its kind of nice how you've got the citrus of summer and the ginger snap of fall.. a perfect combo for this transition period 🙂
Pegasuslegend says
love the lemon and ginger crust very nice….your new blog really pops look great!
Nancy says
Beautiful photos. I love the idea of mixing the gingersnaps with the graham crackers – I am sure it makes for a divine crust. Will have to try!
Sprinkled with Flour says
These look so delicious, and the photos are beautiful! I'm really loving the new look of your blog too:)
Kay Heritage says
oh, I LOVE limes! This recipe looks fantastic, Dara.
Milisa @ Miss in the Kitchen says
Ooh! I think I will have to try these out. We are huge lime fans and I've never had lime & ginger together. Can't wait to try it. And I love, love, love your new header. Very cool!
Michelle says
The Gingersnap crust sounds so good with the citrus!!
Carolyn Jung says
A refreshing change from the usual lemon bar. Mmm, I wonder if a little bit of fresh mint would be good, too? Almost like a mojito in cookie form? 😉
Cherine says
What a beautiful dessert!! Looks so good!
MaryMoh says
Beautiful lime squares. I was just thinking and craving for lemon bars this morning. Now I see yours….so tempting. I think I have to try and make one soon.
Jenny says
Prettiest little dessert ever!
Lazaro Cooks! says
Delicately presented lime squares. Great recipe and appealing color. Bravo!
Marly says
This looks delicious! Love the sunflower too!
Michelle @ Brown Eyed Baker says
These are gorgeous squares, love them!
Tristan @ Enjoy Life With Breakfast says
Looks wonderful! These are by far the most gorgeous lemon bars I've ever seen! I bet the taste fantastic as well!
Chef Fresco says
What a perfect creation! Love the crust. Your son sure does have the mature taste! I would've gone for the cheerios as a kid. 🙂
Marisa says
I love anything lime. When I was little I used to love to suck the juice out of citrus too! (Not so much the eel sushi though lol). These sound great–love that gingersnap crust.
P.S. I like the new header!
Priscilla - She's Cookin' says
I love citrus – although not as much as your little guy 🙂 Lemon bars are one of my favorites, so I'm sure that these would hit the spot! Great recipe!
Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) says
Love the new blog design and banner!
A SPICY PERSPECTIVE says
What a pretty little treat!
All That I'm Eating says
Your pictures are so cute! These look really tasty.
SMITH BITES says
Am in love with that gingersnap crust! Such a nice contrast to the lime – makes my mouth water just reading the recipe!
wasabi prime says
Your blog is so dangerous — now I'm craving these beautiful sweet treats!
Cristie says
Dara, these sound wonderful. The crust mixed with the lime filling is a perfect blend. Can't wait to have a reason to try them.
C&C Cakery says
I'm in love! And so is Mr. C – this is his favourite dessert!
C&C Cakery says
I'm in love! And so is Mr. C – this is his favourite dessert!
jawz33 says
I made these and they were very good. Both cooking times took considerably longer than what was listed in the recipe.
I had to press the filling thru the strainer as it was too thick otherwise.
The combiniation of lime and ginger was tasty. I could have eaten the crust by itself.
Husband was happy.
Soma says
Sounds fabulous! The crust the lemon & everything about it. can't wait to try these.
Jean says
I've been away for almost a month and trying to play catch up on your posts. Of course, as soon as I saw lime squares, this had to be my first stop. I love the combo of lime and gingersnap and I also can relate to your son's love of anything citrus. This is a winner!
Jeniece says
I made these for my bible study tonight as I love most things made with lime. To be completely honest, they didn’t turn out all that great. The flavour was just as I had imagined but the texture was off for me. Way to wet and sticky. I even baked it a few more minutes.
That being said, I read the recipe wrong and bought regular cream instead of heavy cream so that could easily be the explanation for the odd consistency.
Anyone else made this and wish that zest could come in a jar? I know that would ruin the beauty of fresh grated zest, but it’s just so time consuming!
Erin says
Do you think if I made these today they would still be good and yummy to orrow eve? I dont want the crust to get mushynor anythjng in the fridge overnight….whaddaya think?