Lime Cinnamon Cookie Bars with Strawberry Hibiscus Buttercream

Be it with Mother’s Day or a Springy brunch or Cinco de may, make these Lime Cinnamon Cookie Bars with Strawberry Hibiscus Buttercream and Tequila Drizzle.

What is Cinco de Mayo?

Cinco de Mayo Celebration is this week. There are lots of celebrations here in the US and Mexico. Parades, folklore, parties, food, and lots of drinks! Cinco de Mayo is celebrated on May 5th every year, marking the day of Mexican Independence, to celebrate Mexico’s victory over the second French empire in 1862 at the Battle of Puebla. 

How did I come up with the Lime Cinnamon Cookie Bars with Strawberry Hibiscus Buttercream?

Thinking of the essence of Mexico, the food words that popped into my mind are lime, cinnamon aka horchata, hibiscus that are seen everywhere, and ofcourse tequila for the final tequila drizzle on the cookie. All these flavors made sense together.

I am a huge fan of hibiscus flavor in my baked goods. Hibiscus and strawberry is a fantastic combination together, and plain buttercream is fanci-fied by using freeze dried strawberry powder, and hibiscus powder and added on top of these lime cinnamon cookie bars.

Ingredients in the Lime Cinnamon Cookie Bars

The ingredients in the Lime Cinnamon Cookie Bars are:

• All purpose flour
• Almond flour : I have been adding almond flour to baked goods for as long as I can remember. It adds a lovely texture and flavor to the final baked good. I do use Bob’s Red Mill Super Fine Almond Flour as my go-to.
• Baking powder and baking soda : You need just a bit of leavening agents for the cookie bars to rise and not be as dense.
• Cinnamon : Use your favorite cinnamon powder, I use it from the Indian store.
• Unsalted butter : the butter should be room temperature and softened so that it creams well with the sugar.
• Granulated sugar and brown sugar : brown sugar adds that caramely flavor to the cookie bar.
• Egg
• Lime juice and lime zest : I zest the limes with a zester as linked here. 
• Vanilla extract

Make the Lime Cinnamon Cookie Bars

The process to make the lime cinnamon cookie bars is fairly simple.  I use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment to make the cookie bars.

Start with creaming the butter and sugars in the mixer until light and fluffy. Next we add the egg, and combine. Add the lime juice and zest, along with vanilla extract to the mixture and mix until well combined.

Next we add all the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. The cookie dough is placed in a 9×13 baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray and lined with a parchment paper. Lining with parchment paper allows for easier lift once the cookie bar is baked in the oven.

My favorite 9×13 baking pan

My favorite 9×13 baking pan is linked here. I have had it since 2017 and I have used it numerous times with no issue. It has served me well! The price is so worth it.

Ingredients in the Strawberry Hibiscus Buttercream

The ingredients in the Strawberry Hibiscus Buttercream are:

• Unsalted butter
• Powdered sugar
• Salt : American buttercream is on the sweeter side. To balance out the sweetness, an appropriate amount of salt is required.
• Dried hibiscus
• Warm water: the hibiscus is submerged in warm water to extract the flavor. The dried hibiscus has the prettiest dark pink color, when immersed in water.
• Freeze dried strawberry powder : I generally get the Trader Joe’s freeze dried strawberries since they are the most economical and I grind them in my high speed blender or the Nutribullet for best results. You can strain the powder to remove all the seeds.
• Heavy cream
• Vanilla extract

Make the Strawberry Hibiscus Buttercream

The strawberry hibiscus buttercream starts off with extracting the flavor and color of the dried hibiscus in warm water for 10 minutes. The hibiscus is squeezed to extract all the flavor and color, and the water is used in the buttercream.

Apart from the hibiscus water, freeze dried strawberry powder is added, along with heavy cream, salt, vanilla extract to unsalted butter and powdered sugar. All of these ingredients are added to a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment to get a smooth and creamy buttercream. You will see that the color is a natural pretty pink color.

One more element – the Tequila Drizzle! (totally optional or not!)

It is afterall a Mexican inspired dessert, so a tequila drizzle is recommended but totally optional! Add good quality tequila to powdered sugar to create a thick consistency icing that is added to a pastry bag. Seal the top of the bag and snip about 1 mm of the tip of the bag. Test the icing drizzle on a plate or cutting board first so that you can practice and gather a steady hand prior to piping onto the cookie bars.

Decoration

Decoration is totally optional. I wanted to make the cookie bars a bit fancy, so I dusted strawberry powder onto half of the cookie bar, diagonally to make it visually appealing. The other half gets tequila drizzle lines across the diagonal and a quarter lime slice.

These bars are a breath of fresh air, and a reminder that summer is around the corner! They are a burst of flavor in the mouth and would be perfect to take to a party. Be sure to cut them into smaller bite size squares.

What is used for dusting the strawberry powder onto the cookie bars?

For dusting the strawberry powder I used a snap ball tea strainer but you can simply use a fine sieve, one that is used for straining loose leaf tea.

Where can I find hibiscus?

I use dried hibiscus flowers or herbal tea that I get from Amazon. The one that I have is not available now but I have a similar one linked here.

Where can I find freeze dried strawberry powder?

You can freeze dried strawberries from Trader Joe’s, and pulverize it in a high speed blender for the powder form for a cheaper option, since the freeze dried strawberries are about 3-4$ at TJs. OR you can purchase the powder from Amazon, linked here.

What cutter do you use to get even cookie bar slices?

The cutter that I use is a 5-wheel professional pastry cutter, especially if I want to get neat and uniform slices from my baked goods. I have had this one linked here for more than 8 years and I love it. I have gotten a lot of use out of it. 

How long do the Lime Cinnamon Cookie Bars with Strawberry Hibiscus Buttercream last? How do I store them?

Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for upto 3 weeks.

Other Mexican recipe inspiration on my blog are:

• Chipotle Roasted Squash with Chipotle Sage-Oil Yogurt
• Ancho Chile Quesadillas with Summer Corn, Zucchini Ribbons and Squash Blossoms

Other Hibiscus recipe inspiration on my blog are:

• Chocolate Cookie Sandwich with Strawberry-Hibiscus Marshmallow
• Strawberry Hibiscus Cardamom Handpie
• Lemon Jasmine Tea Cake with Hibiscus Meringue Frosting

If you do make this recipe, please tag #thejamlab on Instagram and/or leave a comment on this blog post.

XO
Amisha

Lime Cinnamon Cookie Bars with Strawberry Hibiscus Buttercream

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

• Amisha Gurbani

Make these flavor packed Lime Cinnamon Cookie Bars with a Strawberry Hibiscus Buttercream for your Spring or Summer party needs! The cookie bar is flavored with cinnamon and tons of lime zest and juice. The buttercream is fruity and floral with notes of freeze dried strawberry and dried hibiscus. Decoration is totally optional but if you fancy, a tequila drizzle takes them up a notch.

 

Makes 15 cookie bars

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

Lime Cinnamon Cookie Bars

• 2 ¼ cups (300 grams) all purpose flour
• ½ cup (56 grams) almond flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (226 grams) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (213 grams) brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons lime zest
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Strawberry Hibiscus Buttercream

• 1 ¾ sticks (195 grams) unsalted butter, softened
• 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons warm water
• 2 tablespoons dried hibiscus
• 2 tablespoons freeze dried strawberry powder
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Tequila Drizzle (optional)

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons tequila

Garnish

• Dusting of strawberry powder
• Tequila drizzle
• Thinly sliced lime slices, cut into quarters

Get Recipe Ingredients

Method

Lime Cinnamon Cookie Bars

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  
2. Spray a 9×13 inch baking pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper with an overhang and spray again. 
3. In a medium mixing bowl, add the all purpose flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and whisk to combine. 
4. In a large bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until well combined. Using a rubber spatula clean the sides of the bowl. Add lime juice, lime zest, vanilla extract and mix for a few seconds until well combined.
5. Press the cookie dough evenly into it with the palm of your hand and tips of your fingers and even it out smoothly. 
6. Bake for 25 minutes or until slightly golden in color. The cookie bar will have cracks and would have puffed up as well.
7. Remove the pan from the oven. Use a large spatula to flatten and smoothen out the cookie from the top. Cool completely.

Strawberry Hibiscus Buttercream

1. In a small bowl, add the hibiscus in the warm water and let sit for 10 minutes. Squeeze out the juice of the hibiscus, you will get dark pink water. 
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, add all frosting ingredients including the dark pink water and strawberry powder and mix on low for 1 minute. Turn the mixer on high and beat until smooth and creamy. 
3. Spread the frosting over cooled bars and smoothen out with a large spatula.
4. Set the bars in the freezer for an hour.
5. Remove the entire cookie bar using the parchment paper overhang onto a cutting board.
6. Using a sharp knife and a ruler to measure, cut into equal sized squares or rectangles.

Tequila Drizzle (optional)

1. In a small mixing bowl, add the powdered sugar and tequila. Mix well to form a smooth thick consistency. Put it in a pastry bag, tighten the top of the bag by sealing with a rubber band. Cut off the tip ever so slightly and set it aside.

Decoration

1. Decorate first with a dusting of the strawberry powder on half the bar, by placing a small piece of parchment paper diagonally on the square to cover half the bar. I use a fine sieve for the dusting. Remove the parchment paper. 
2. Use the tequila drizzle to “draw” lines diagonally across the other half. Garnish with a lime slice on each bar.
3. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for upto 3 weeks.

Notes

What is used for dusting the strawberry powder onto the cookie bars?

• For dusting the strawberry powder I used a snap ball tea strainer but you can simply use a fine sieve, one that is used for straining loose leaf tea.

Where can I find hibiscus?

• I use dried hibiscus flowers or herbal tea that I get from Amazon. The one that I have is not available now but I have a similar one linked here.

Where can I find freeze dried strawberry powder?

• You can freeze dried strawberries from Trader Joe’s, and pulverize it in a high speed blender for the powder form for a cheaper option, since the freeze dried strawberries are about 3-4$ at TJs. OR you can purchase the powder from Amazon, linked here.

What cutter do you use to get even cookie bar slices?

• The cutter that I use is a 5-wheel professional pastry cutter, especially if I want to get neat and uniform slices from my baked goods. I have had this one linked here for more than 8 years and I love it. I have gotten a lot of use out of it. 

How long do the Lime Cinnamon Cookie Bars with Strawberry Hibiscus Buttercream last? How do I store them?

• Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for upto 3 weeks.