It’s summer all year round with these fresh and easy Lime Bars!
I recently moved to this cute area of Southern California that people around here call “the hill”. Obviously they call it the hill because, well, it’s up on a hill. 😉 Up and away a bit from Los Angeles. But being up on a hill doesn’t mean it’s in a rural area. It’s still near the ocean and is a lively, family-friendly area that we are loving.
However, sleeping at night has been…interesting.
I’ll be about nodded off to sleep at night when all of the sudden I’ll hear a weird animal noise. One night I woke up and I swear, it sounded like a whole litter of kittens were meowing somewhere outside. Two owls live somewhere nearby, too.
But the craziest noise is this strange bird cawing. (Is cawing a word??) Anyway, I first started hearing it at night every once in awhile. Now I hear it all. the. time.
Finally I said something to my oldest son about it. I wanted to know if it was just me or if he was hearing it too. He said he had definitely been hearing the same bird noises. So of course, we googled it.
Googling bird noises is fun. You go on youtube and there are a bajillion videos of weird people that record weird bird noises. (I guess people have other hobbies besides cooking, right?) So we listened to a million different bird calls and finally hit the jackpot.
Guess what it was? A PEACOCK!!! Yes! Can you believe that? Apparently our area up here on the hill is well known for having a peacock issue. Go search peacock calls on youtube and you’ll see what I’m hearing day and night!
Also, as I was driving my son home from his baseball game tonight – I totally saw a peacock. In a residential neighborhood!! Just hanging out, walking across that street. Of course I snapped a picture of it. How cool is that?! Down by the fancy houses near the beach, there are quite a few apparently.
Okay, so that’s my bird story. Let’s talk about lime bars now! Are you a lime fan? Citrus fan? These are the best bars! I am a crust lover and this crust is so good. The lime layer is divine. It’s light and fluffy, almost like a meringue but full of lime flavor.
If you like lemon bars, you will love these lime bars! And how cute is the green color? Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day coming up soon.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 4 Tbsp. vanilla yogurt
- 1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 4 eggs
- 2/3 cup fresh lime juice
- 1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 3-4 drops green food coloring
- zest of 1 lime
- powdered sugar for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, powdered sugar, butter and yogurt. Mix until mixture is crumbly. Press onto bottom of ungreased 9x13" pan. Bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven. Pull out of oven and set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl with beater, beat sweetened condensed milk and eggs until fluffy. Add in lime juice, flour, baking powder, salt and food coloring just until combined. Lightly add in lime zest and pour over crust.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until filling is set and crust is golden brown. Cool in pan and then refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Cut into bars, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Looking for more bar recipes? Try these too:
More Lime Bars from friends:
- Coconut Key Lime Bars by Dessert Now, Dinner Later
- No-Bake Key Lime Meltaways by Lemon Tree Dwelling
- Key Lime Bars with Animal Cracker Crust by Eat Cake for Dinner
I fell in love with the lime flavor just last year. These look so simple and quick!
Thanks Julie, they really are! Have a great rest of your weekend!
So beautiful! It does not feel anywhere near spring or summer here! I Maybe one day we will see nice temperatures again… 🙂
Spring is coming! Hold tight! Easy for me to say, right?! Lol! Thanks Kacey!
Southern California sounds pretty idyllic right about now! We’ve got some deer and racoons, but no peacocks yet. These lime bars look so refreshing! Pinned 🙂
OMG Ashley, we have racoons too! No deer, though. 😉 Thanks for the pin, friend! xo!
We’ve been snowed in for days here. I’m so jealous of the So Cal weather right now. I did notice that it seemed brighter earlier than usual this morning. There is hope that spring is coming. Until then, I’ll nibble away on these bars and pretend I’m somewhere warm.
Spring will be here before you know it! Thanks so much, Jen! Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Nice bars. Thanks so much.
Thanks Liz! Have a great rest of your weekend!
No way! My husband and son are huge fans of key lime pie but I never thought to make lime bars! Brilliant!
Thanks Tonia!! You’re so sweet!
Love the flavor of lime! They look absolutely delicious 🙂
Isn’t lime the best?! Thanks so much!
Love the recipe! I have been addicted to all sorts of citrus fruits and now you can always find oranges, citrons and limes in my kitchen. So, your cake perfectly fits my taste and I bet it is just as delicious as it looks on your wonderful pictures!
//Valérie
http://www.globalspicedblog.tumblr.com
Thank you so much!!
I’ve made lime bars, but they didn’t have the meringue effect like yours. I’m intrigued! Pinning for sure. And, I’m laughing about the peacocks. I had to buy a book about identifying birds when we moved to our new house several years ago, because we kept seeing ones we never knew about and were constantly asking, “What is that?”
My brother was all about identifying birds when we were kids! We always had those bird books lying around. Thanks Andrea! Hope you’re having a great weekend!
haha.. peacocks! That is hilarious! We use to have pheasants by us, like look like road runners but they didn’t “caw”. 🙂
These lime bars seriously look delicious! Light how light they are!
Pheasants, I can see. Peacocks?! What the? Thanks friend! Miss you!
These bars look so light and refreshing. Yum!
Thanks Shelby!! They were a hit!
You had me cracking up about your “hill” story. My father in law lives up at the very top of that hill next to the water tower and we’ve heard all about the peacocks. lol Anyways these lime bars look so yummy! Pinned! I can’t wait to try them!
Seriously, the peacocks around here are nuts! I still can’t believe you live close and your father-in-law lives over by me! Small world!! Thanks for the pin, Mariah! xo!!
I need a little “summer” in my life right about now so these look awesome! And I can’t believe it was a peacock. That is hilarious!
Isn’t that crazy, Andrea?? Now I see them all over the place! Thanks, friend!!
Sounds at new houses are the worst!! Our bedroom is facing a busy highway and I never thought I would get used to the traffic noise! Love these springy bars!
Did you get used to the highway noise?? We had an apartment when we first moved to LA that was right next to the freeway and it took me awhile to get used to it! Thanks, Julie!!
Haha, “cawing” is definitely a word and a peacock?!?! That is soooo exciting! I’m kind of jealous! I’m also super jealous of these lime bars. I need one in my life now! Pinned!
Thanks for the pin, Justine!! You’re the best!
That is too funny! We have one here that sounds like a rooster…but it crows at, like 4pm. Someone told me it’s a peacock too…I have no idea if that’s true! These bars? OMG!
That is too funny about the peacocks in your neighborhood! I know their call very well because we have lots of them roaming around the SF zoo. It’s really loud, so I can’t imagine hearing that at my house all the time! These lime bars are gorgeous, Jen. Can’t wait to try them! xo
How does the sweetened condensed milk and egg get “fluffy?” I have beat it and beat it – no fluff.
Hi Sammie! I guess I should change the wording here to say “frothy”. It gets air whipped into it and the egg/milk mixture gets frothy. Did you finish making the bars?
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