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These simple Paleo Lime Bars are the perfect healthy sweet pick-me-up for hot summer days! The best thing? They are gluten-free, dairy-free and also refined sugar-free.
Having Justin and Erica from Real Simple Good come over with these gorgeous Paleo Lime Bars literally made my week! They are a married couple that walked away from their accountant jobs to turn their Paleo blog into a career. Inspiring, right? And don’t these tasty lime bars look simply divine? I cannot wait to try the recipe myself. – Cheryl.
Hi there! We are Justin + Erica from the Paleo and Whole30 food blog Real Simple Good! Here’s a quick intro about us before we dive into these tasty Paleo lime bars that are a family friendly treat made with real food ingredients!
We are a husband and wife duo who tag teams our blog, business and life, really. While Justin and I started eating Paleo for different reasons, the idea of eating real food just really resonated and felt good for the both of us. So, we started cooking more and cataloging our recipes on what became our website Real Simple Good. We focus on Paleo and Whole30 recipes and meal plans and also tips for non-toxic living.
In our former lives before turning our blog into a business, Justin and I were both CPA’s (certified public accountants) – yeah I know….SO BORING right?! We both felt like we had more to give to the world than punching out spreadsheets and talking about last year’s financial results. To top it all off, I was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Multiple Sclerosis (MS) over a decade ago and really needed to get out of the grind and stressful work environment our accounting jobs demanded. So…we took a crazy bold step, leap of faith (whatever you want to call it) and quit our jobs, moved to a smaller town and began to focus on our blog and how we could help people live more vibrantly.
You can learn more about Justin and I here, and more about my journey with MS here. We hope these Paleo lime bars become a new favorite summer treat recipe for you and your family!
You can follow along with us on social media at the links below for all our latest posts and recipe videos.
Instagram: @realsimplegood
Pinterest: @realsimplegood
Facebook: @realsimplegood
And Now Onto These Paleo Lime Bars
It would be a lie to say that I’ve given up treats since going Paleo because I haven’t, but the sweets and treats I enjoy now are way different than they were before. Most of the treats I indulge in now are made at home where I focus on using real food ingredients and natural sweeteners, like the pure maple syrup used in these Paleo lime bars. I also try to add in gut healing ingredients like gelatin or collagen to my treats. So, the treats I make now, like these lime bars, are way healthier and way more beneficial for your body as a whole. These bars are Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and also Refined Sugar-Free!
Gelatin vs. Collagen
Gelatin and collagen great supplements to add to your daily life! They are both great for healing your gut and for having healthy hair, skin and nails – among other benefits. The difference between gelatin and collagen is that collagen is water soluble. That means that it blends right into whatever you mix it with and you really won’t even know it’s in the finished product. Gelatin is what gives Jell-O it’s jiggly texture, somewhere between free-flowing and solid. We used gelatin in these lime bars and played with the amount to create a semi-solid/semi-creamy lime filling for the bars. It starts out totally liquid and then firms up a bit in the fridge. You can adjust the amount of gelatin you use until the texture is just right for you, too!
Give These Paleo Lime Bars A Try!
Ready for some fun, yet healthy summer treats? Go ahead and make these Paleo lime bars! Let us know how it goes by leaving a comment below. Also, take a photo and tag us on Instagram @realsimplegood and @40aprons, so we can check it out! Give us a follow on Instagram as well if you don’t already!
Paleo Lime Bars (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free + Refined Sugar-Free)
Ingredients
For the crust/crumble:
- 2 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1/4 cup coconut oil room temperature
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
For the lime filling:
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk
- 5 limes juice of
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup more or less to taste
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 tsp gelatin
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit and line a 8×8″ square baking dish with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine all of the crust/crumble ingredients. Mix with a spoon until the coconut oil is pretty well mixed in, but the mixture remains crumbly.
- Place 3/4 of the mixture in the parchment lined baking dish and spread out and into the bottom of the pan to form the crust. Place in the oven and bake for 12 or so minutes. The edges will start to get a little golden brown.
- While the crust is baking, make the lime filling. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine all of the filling ingredients except for the water and gelatin.
- In a small bowl, mix warm water and gelatin and then pour into saucepan with the rest of the filling ingredients. Whisk to combine everything and remove from heat.
- Once the crust is done, remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes.
- Pour the lime filling over the crust and sprinkle the rest of the crust/crumble over the top. It will end up sinking in a bit and create a sort of marbled look to bars once they’re done.
- Transfer pan to the fridge or freezer until set. Once set, cut into 9 bars and serve! Enjoy! You can sprinkle some lime zest and/or add lime rounds on top!
Nutrition Information
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
Sorry to have to give this such a poor rating, but I wasted a lot of money time and ingredients on a recipe that does not work. Someone else commented that the amount of lime juice in a lime could vary…true, and this was acknowledged in the comment response, but the quantity was not changed on the recipe. The directions for making the filling are also very incomplete. How long is it supposed to cook? Is it supposed to get thicker? Not sure what the purpose of cooking it is? I used even more gelatin than called for and mine is still like soup. Please either adjust this recipe and have people test it first or take it off of the internet. You will continue to have some very disappointed cooks if this isn’t corrected.
I’m so sorry, Kate. I don’t blame you one bit for being frustrated. We’re going to retest and rework this recipe in the next few weeks and get the post updated ASAP!
This was a flop. My mixture did not set up (after 2 hours in the refrigerator) and after tasting it, realized that it had too much lime juice. I add a bit more gelatin/water mixture and more maple syrup. The limes I juiced seemed to have more juice than the average lime. Hindsight, I should have reduced the limes to 4. I think it would be helpful to have a measurement instead of the number of limes to be used. I froze it to be on the safe side since this was going to a ladies gathering the next evening. Since the almond flour is expensive, I just couldn’t throw it out. My girlfriends graciously tolerated it, but I won’t repeat this recipe.
We are so sorry for not including that measurement, Tammy. You are right! Lime sizes vary. We hope you will try it again!
So you don’t bake the top layer of crust?
Correct, we cook the remainder of the crust ingredients on the stovetop. 🙂
The directions for this recipe are incomplete. How long do I cook the filling over the heat? Should it cool at all before pouring into crust?
These look so good! Just ordered some Gelatin from Perfect Supplements- I will HAVE to make these-thanks!