Strawberry Lime Bars

Summer days call for these luscious, soft cookie bars that are bursting with strawberry and lime flavor!

What do you do when you’ve got a Costco-sized carton of strawberries that’s about to go bad? Make a dessert, of course! Or, at least, that’s the first thing that comes to my mind. 🙂

You know when you buy that fresh produce in bulk because it’s in season, completely delicious, and available at a great price, and then you tell yourself you’ll have time to eat it before it spoils? Yea, that’s what I did in this case. I swear I ate strawberries for every meal for a week and it barely put a dent in the supply. So, not wanting those yucky fuzzies to take over my precious berries, I acted fast and put together this incredible confection that’s just begging to be taken to all your summer potlucks and BBQ’s.

Citrus treats just scream summer, don’t you think?

That strawberry glaze is EVERYTHING! It just drips down the sides and tempts you to lick your fingers clean. Just save the glazing part for just before or no more than 30 minutes before you’ll be serving, because we wouldn’t want soggy bars, now would we?

These bars are incredibly easy to put together, as they start with a white cake mix that’s then doctored up a bit with some fresh lime juice, zest, and a few other simple ingredients.

I’m all about no-fuss goodies when there are more important things to be doing like playing hopscotch with the kids or watching them squeal as they run through the cold sprinklers.

Summer time has my heart! And so do these bars! Strawberry and lime are a total dream team!

Baking time included, these bars come together in about 15 minutes! So if you’re scrambling for time and need an easy sweet treat to take to a gathering with friends, this is your recipe!

Strawberry Lime Bars

Christine

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Ingredients

  

• Bars:
• 1 box about 16.25 oz white cake mix
• 1 tsp. lime zest finely zested
• 3 Tbsp. freshly-squeezed lime juice
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup 1 square butter, softened
• Glaze:
• 1/2 c. mashed strawberries
• 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. lime zest

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly coat a 9x13" pan with nonstick baking spray.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together cake mix, lime zest, lime juice, egg, and butter. Press or pat it into prepared pan.
• Bake for approximately 11-12 minutes. Remove from the oven before the edges begin to brown so the bars will be soft.
• While it's baking, prepare the glaze by mashing berries, then stirring in powdered sugar and lime zest. Place glaze in the refrigerator until ready to serve the bars.
• Remove bars from the oven, when done, and allow to cool completely. Pour chilled glaze over and slice into squares just before serving so the bars don't get soggy. Or, serve the bars by themselves with the glaze on the side and allow everyone to drizzle the glaze on their individual slices.

The cookie-type base has a punch of lime flavor from fresh-squeezed lime juice and zest. Then, the lime theme is carried further into the strawberry glaze with another pinch of zest.

If you’d like to make these ahead of time, just bake up the bars, set them aside, then make the glaze and let it sit in the refrigerator. Then, pour the chilled glaze over the bars just before cutting and serving them. These are a must-make summer time treat!