LAMORINDA WEEKLY | A fun twist to the lemon bar tradition


Lemon-Lime Bars on Shortbread Crust Photo Susie Iventosch

These lemon-lime bars are a fun twist on traditional lemon bars with the combination of freshly-squeezed lime and lemon juice. We actually like them better than straight lemon bars, which are hard to beat. We love the tangy sweet filling and crispy shortbread crust. They are the perfect summer dessert, so light and delicious. The combination of citrus flavors is mouthwatering and will have you and your guests coming back for more. If you're anything like us, you won't be able to leave them alone till they're all gone!

These bars store well in the refrigerator for several days, so you can keep coming back for more, or at least make them ahead of time for your next party.

Lemon-Lime Bars

Prep Time: 20 Minutes | Bake Time: 1 hour total | Makes about 24 two-inch bars

INGREDIENTS

Crust:

1 cup unsalted butter (8 oz. or 2 sticks), softened to room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

Lemon-Lime filling:

6 large eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

Garnishes: 1/4 cup powdered sugar, candied lemon, and lime slices, or thin slices of lemon and lime peel.

DIRECTIONS

Crust:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease or spray a 9x13 inch baking dish. (We prefer to simply spray or grease the baking dish because when we've used parchment paper instead, we had the unfortunate result of the filling undermining the crust and we ended up with lemon-lime upside-down bars!)

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, sugar, and vanilla. Stir in flour and salt and mix until well integrated.

Press the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. The crust will be 1/4 to 1/3-inch thick.

Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes. You want the crust to be a nice golden brown, but not too dark since it will be baking again with the filling.

Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 300 F.

Lemon-Lime Filling:

Meanwhile, while the crust is baking, whisk eggs until beaten. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar and flour and then whisk into eggs. Finally, whisk in lemon and lime juice until well blended.

Pour filling mixture over the warm crust and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until lemon-lime custard is set.

Remove from oven and cool completely. Refrigerate until firm and then cut into 2-inch squares. Dust everything with powdered sugar and serve with a dollop of whipped cream or plain.

Garnish with lemon and lime peel shavings, or candied lemon and lime slices.