I created these holiday Lime Christmas Squares because I wanted something a little more festive than plain old lemon bars. A gingerbread toffee crust and a tangy lime filling are a perfect pairing in these delicious gingerbread lime bars. Topping them with green sparking sugar or powdered sugar makes these lime squares extra festive for your holiday baking tray!
These Christmas Squares have definitely become a favorite of the whole family and the most highly coveted of the Christmas treats in my house. This recipe is very popular during the holiday season, but they are a delicious treat any time of year. They are a nice change from the usual Christmas cookies and great for cookie swaps!
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These are not your typical key lime pie bars. They were an experiment in combining gingerbread and lime flavors that ended with these scrumptious Christmas Treats!
And if you're looking for more bars and squares for the holidays, you'll love these Mocha Eggnog Cheesecake Bars! Searching for something a little more traditional? Try my Date Slices or Chocolate Squares.
🥘 Ingredient Notes
These lime and gingerbread Christmas squares are addictive is what they are! The Skor toffee bits really make this gingerbread crust sing!
For this lime square recipe, you'll need the following simple ingredients:
- Brown sugar. Brown sugar gives the gingerbread crust a deeper, richer flavor.
- Unsalted butter. I use unsalted butter because I like to control the salt in my recipe.
- Cinnamon ground ginger and a little molasses. These 3 flavors are the ultimate divine gingerbread flavor trio!
- Toffee bits * I use Skor or Heath toffee baking bits (affiliate link) and they add texture and out-of-this-world toffee flavor to the delicious gingerbread crust. I also use them in my Christmas Bread Pudding!
- Fresh limes. Fresh limes give this square a tangy taste that melds perfectly with gingerbread, making this delicious dessert shine!
- green food coloring * I use Wilton Kelly Green gel food coloring (affiliate link). I don't recommend using grocery store food coloring.
- green sparkling sugar (optional) (affiliate link) Green sparkling sugar gives this square a sparkly and festive touch!
The photo below shows the size of limes I used in this recipe.
*See recipe card for full list of ingredients and quantities
📖 Variations & Substitutions
- Butter - you can substitute salted butter, but just skip the salt in the recipe
- Toppings: can be served plain or with a green and white coconut topping or sprinkled with green sparkling sugar. You can also sprinkle on powdered sugar.
- Christmas Trees (shown below): I used a mini chocolate bar (coffee crisp) and I used a maraschino cherry on top
- Food coloring: you can skip the food coloring altogether if you're not a fan, but they will be a very pale green.
🔪How to Make Lime Christmas Squares
Prep: Preheat oven temperature to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C). Spray a 9 X 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Step 1: Make the crust: Put all crust ingredients (except toffee bits) into food processor and process on high until butter is evenly distributed and mixture clings together.
- Step 2: Add toffee bits, then process for about 30 seconds or until dough is combined.
- Step 3: Press crust dough mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan and bake in a preheated oven for 15- 18 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. (18 minutes is perfect for me).
- Step 4: Meanwhile, make the filling: In a medium bowl, mix flour and baking powder.
- Step 5: In a large bowl, beat together (for about 30 - 45 seconds until combined) eggs, white granulated sugar, and lime juice.
- Step 6: Then stir the dry ingredients into the lime mixture, along with the lime zest and green food coloring.
- Step 7: Remove the cooked crust from the oven.
- Step 8: Immediately pour filling over hot crust.
- Step 9: Bake squares in preheated oven on middle oven rack for 20 -25 minutes until filling is set. (23 minutes works perfect for me). Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes, then move to refrigerator to cool for 20-30 minutes. *Do not try to cut these squares warm (the colder the better!)
- Step 10: Cut into 16 squares with a sharp knife, then cut those squares in half diagonally. Topping : sprinkle on as much green sparkling sugar or powdered sugar as desired.
Tips for Success
- Make sure your eggs and butter are at room temperature. Room temperature ingredients are able to bond and blend together more easily, resulting in a smooth filling and dough.
- Do not overmix. Overmixing can cause cracks. The crack won't affect taste or texture, but they won't look quite as nice. You can cover them up for the most part with powdered sugar or sparkling sugar. *I had a small crack in mine because my oven mitt accidentally pushed into the bars, not because I overmixed it.
- Generously grease your pan. When you’re preparing your pan, grease it very generously with non-stick spray (or better yet, Wilton Cake Release), making sure you cover the sides and get in the corners of the pan. These lime squares can easily stick to the pan. Greasing it well will help you remove the bars without casualties. *If they do stick, use a butter knife to loosen them from the edge. And if the edges look messy, trim them!
- Small bubbles might form on top. It’s a totally normal lime bar occurrence! It happens when air from the egg mixture rises to the surface of the squares as they bake. It won’t affect the taste or texture of the bars (and you can easily hide it with powdered or sparkling sugar). But to minimize it, try not to overmix the filling, as whisking adds air to the mixture.
- Immediately after pouring the filling over the crust, put the squares in the oven. The acidity of the lime juice reacts with the baking powder to help the filling rise and once wet, the baking powder starts reacting. Delaying baking can lead to a loss of some of its leavening potency, so they won't rise properly.
- Let them cool and chill in the fridge. Do NOT cut these squares while they are still warm. I know it's hard to wait, but you'll be rewarded with firm bars that won't ooze and create a mess when you try to eat them!
🌡️Storing
Fridge: Keep these Christmas bars in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to 4 days.
Freezer: If you want to keep them longer, then freeze them for up to 3 months in a sealed container.
Tip: If you are stacking these dessert bars, put parchment paper between the layers, and don't add the green sparkles and/or powdered sugar (or coconut) until just prior to serving.
👪 Serving Size
This Christmas square recipe makes 16 lime squares, but I cut them in half diagonally to get 32 triangles (as shown in photos). However, you can half, double, or triple the recipe by clicking on the serving number and selecting the number of servings you'd like. The ingredient quantities will automatically adjust. If you half the recipe, make it in an 8X8 square pan.
These tangy lime bars are sweet treats that will add a unique and festive flair to your holiday baking tray.
They also make great edible holiday gifts. So if you are looking for Christmas Squares recipes or a holiday recipe, especially one that uses fresh lime, you will love this festive take on the lime bar, as will all the citrus lovers out there!
❔ Recipe FAQs
Cracks can happen when the lime and egg mixture is overmixed or you bake your bars at too high of a temperature. Then when you take it out of the oven, the dramatic temperature change will sometimes create these cracks. These cracks don't affect the taste, and you can cover it with powdered sugar.
Yes, you can but key limes can be harder to find out of season, which is the majority of the year. They’re smaller, more yellow, and a little sweeter than standard limes. You can substitute key limes for regular limes in this recipe, but they won't be as tart, therefore the result will be sweeter.
You can, but it's not really practical, since you are using the lime zest from the same number of limes anyway. You may as well just juice them! But if you are skipping the lime zest, and prefer to use lime juice from concentrate, just use half the amount (¼ cup).
These Holiday Lime Gingerbread Bars may have become part of our family’s holiday food traditions. Being added to a baking tray is one thing, being Santa-worthy is a whole other level of special.
But I think my kids' proud placement on the Christmas Eve Santa plate is evidence enough that these squares are completely Santa -worthy and the ultimate Christmas Square!
Happy Holidays and Enjoy!
🎄More Holiday Baking Recipes!
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📋 Lime Christmas Squares Recipe
Ingredients
Crust:
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup sifted powdered sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅓ cup toffee bits I use Skor or Heath
Filling:
- 4 large eggs beaten with a fork
- 1 ½ cups white granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon grated lime zest (zest from about 4 limes)
- ½ cup fresh lime juice (the juice of about 4-5 limes)
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ - ¾ teaspoon green food colouring, depending on how dark you want the green to be I use Wilton Kelly green icing color which I usually buy at Michael's Arts & Crafts or on Amazon
Garnish:
- Green Sparkling sugar sprinkled
- powdered sugar, sprinkled
Instructions
Crust:
- Preheat oven temperature to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C). Spray a 9 X 13 pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Put crust ingredients into food processor and mix until butter is evenly distributed and mixture clings together.2 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 cups all purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, ⅓ cup sifted powdered sugar, 1 cup unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon molasses, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- Press dough into the bottom of prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 15- 18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool.⅓ cup toffee bits
Filling:
- Meanwhile, make the filling: MIx flour and baking powder together in a small bowl.¼ cup all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder
- In a large bowl, beat together eggs, white granulated sugar and lime juice.4 large eggs, 1 ½ cups white granulated sugar, ½ cup fresh lime juice
- In another medium bowl mix flour and baking powder, then stir flour mixture into lime mixture, along with the lime zest and green food coloring.2 teaspoon grated lime zest, ¼ - ¾ teaspoon green food colouring, depending on how dark you want the green to be
- Immediately pour over hot crust and bake in preheated oven on middle oven rack for 20 -25 minutes until filling is set. Cool in pan on wire rack for at least 15 minutes, then refrigerate for 20- 30 minute before cuttingDo NOT try to cut these squares while they are warm.
- Cut into 16 squares with a sharp knife, then cut those squares in half diagonally.
Topping:
- Sprinkle on green sparkling sugar, powdered sugar or coconut flakes.Green Sparkling sugar, powdered sugar,
Notes
- Make sure your eggs and butter are at room temperature. Room temperature ingredients are able to bond and blend together more easily, resulting in a smooth filling and dough.
- Do not overmix. Overmixing can cause cracks. The crack won't affect taste or texture, but they won't look quite as nice. You can cover them up for the most part with powdered sugar or sparkling sugar. *I had a small crack in mine because my oven mitt accidentally pushed into the bars, not because I overmixed.
- Generously grease your pan. When you’re preparing your pan, grease it very generously with non-stick spray (or better yet, Wilton Cake Release), making sure you cover the sides and get in the corners of the pan. These lime squares can easily stick to the pan. Greasing it well will help you remove the bars without casualties. *If they do stick, use a butter knife to loosen them from the edge. And if the edges look messy, trim them!
- Small bubbles might form on top. It’s a totally normal lime bar occurrence! It happens when air from the egg mixture rises to the surface of the squares as they bake. It won’t affect the taste or texture of the bars (and you can easily hide it with powdered or sparkling sugar). But to minimize it, try not to overmix the filling, as whisking adds air to the mixture.
- Immediately after pouring the filling over the crust, put the squares in the oven. The acidity of the lime juice reacts with the baking powder to help the filling rise and once wet, baking powder starts reacting. Delaying baking can lead to a loss of some of its leavening potency, so they won't rise properly.
- Let them cool and chill in the fridge. Do NOT cut these squares while they are still warm. I know it's hard to wait, but you'll be rewarded with firm bars that won't ooze and create a mess when you try to eat them!
Terri Gilson
I love how these Gingerbread Lime Squares turned out. They're a fun twist on traditional holiday desserts, and the lime-gingerbread combo is surprisingly delicious. My family can't get enough of them during the holidays, especially with those addictive Skor toffee bits mixed in!
Heathers EATS
I would never have thought of putting these two things together but of course it would work! Very creative, thanks for sharing.
Food Meanderings
Hi Heather:thanks! Yes, it is really a match made in heaven!
Starr @ The Misfit Baker
I must admit, lime and gingerbread is not a combination that's ever occurred to me. But as I love them both separately, it's something that I'm definitely going to have to try!
Food Meanderings
I know- I felt the same, Starr! I'm not even a huge gingerbread fan, but I cannot get enough of these! 🙂
mdivadomestica
These are really cute. Thanks for sharing!
Food Meanderings
Thanks, Melissa!