Happy Cinco de Mayo! I hope you guys are all having a great Thursday! I wanted to pop in and share a festive recipe with you guys today inspired by one of my Cinco de Mayo favorites… Margaritas!
Whenever I think of margaritas, my mind immediately takes me back to my college days when $1 margaritas at a local restaurant – Amigo’s for my fellow UCF students – were all the rage. The ridiculously cheap price for a margarita drew us in and every Wednesday the restaurant was packed with students who wanted to take advantage of one heck of a stellar drink special. Amigo’s wasn’t cheap with their special either… Chips and salsa were FREE, too! It was basically a college student’s dream. And if we were feeling fancy, we’d spring for the queso and really be livin’ large.
Side note for anyone in the Orlando area whose mouth started watering at the thought of $1 margaritas: I have no idea if Amigo’s is still running this promotion but when I was in college ten years ago (<—WHAT!?), it was the jam.
A lot of people veered off and ordered different flavored margaritas at Amigo’s. I got suckered into a strawberry margarita a time or two but always came back to the classic. Something about a frosty margarita with the perfect amount of tequila and tangy lime flavor is hard to beat for me!
Today’s recipe is inspired by my love for margaritas but since the likelihood of you making these bars today on Cinco de Mayo is in the zero-to-none range, we’ll call them No Bake Key Lime Pie Bites because there isn’t actually any tequila in these bites (unless you choose to add it, you party animal, you) and the lime flavor in the bites reminds me a lot of a subtly sweet slice of key lime pie.
I kept the ingredients nice and simple so it’s a sweet treat you can feel good about diving into when you’re looking for a burst of energy or craving something sweet after lunch or dinner.
These no bake key lime pie bites work well as a pre-workout snack and are easy to throw into a baggie and take with you on the go so you have a tasty and tangy snack ready for you when the hunger beast strikes.
No Bake Key Lime Pie Bites
Makes 20 bites
Ingredients
- 2 cups pitted dates
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 3/4 cup raw unsalted cashews
- 3/4 cup raw unsalted walnuts
- 9 graham cracker sheets
- zest of one lime
Directions
- Place 4 sheets of graham crackers and the zest of one lime in a food processor and blend until smooth. Remove graham cracker crumbs and set aside.
- Place remaining ingredients in food processor and blend until a thick, sticky dough forms. (It’s okay if it’s still a bit chunky but you want it to be smooth enough that you can roll it to form into balls. The dough will be quite sticky!)
- Roll the dough into balls and then roll through lime graham cracker crumb mixture, making sure the surface of each ball is coated in crumbs. Top with additional lime zest if desired.
- Enjoy immediately and store any leftovers in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Enjoy!
More No Bake Recipes
- Easy No Bake Recipes (A roundup of some of my favorites!)
- No Bake (Customizable) Granola Bars
- No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
- No Bake Breakfast Cookies
- No Bake Oatmeal Nut Butter Balls (One of the most popular recipes I’ve shared on PBF! No food processor needed!)
- No Bake Tropical Energy Bars
- Healthy No Bake Chocolate Truffles (Vegan and gluten-free!)
- Coconut Power Balls
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These sound so good! Every so often I like a mango or jalapeño margarita but always go back to the classic as well. I need to try these!
There’s a restaurant close to us that serves WATERMELON margaritas in the summer! Though the classic margarita is my favorite, I’m psyched for those, too!!
We must have been at UCF around the same time because I definitely had my fair share of those $1 margaritas too! Waterford was like the new downtown, haha.
YES! Haha!!
These bites sound delicious. I love how easy and simple they are.
No-bake treats are the best! I love the tartness and fresh flavor of key limes! Thank you for sharing Julie 🙂
There’s a place near me that sells watermelon and strawberry margaritas in the summer and theyre so good! I also love blood orange margaritas!
These look awesome! How long do you think they’d keep in the fridge?
Amigos is gone! 🙁 They tore down that whole plaza to build new dorms. UCF has changed a lot since we left!
-Castillo
these look great, and remind me of Larabars in ball/bite form, rolled in graham crackers. yum.
These look delish! Also, that is a crazy good deal, how did they make any money that way in a college town? Hahahaha
Those look amazing! If someone who lived so many years in FL says the key lime pie bites are good, I’m going to listen!! Can’t wait to try these.
By the way, in Texas, free chips and salsa are the standard at Mexican food restaurants. If they’re not, that restaurant doesn’t last long! lol
Man I should have gone to college in Florida! Haha! And actually, commenting on the person above me, chips and salsa are free at Mexican restaurants in California too…it’s not normal for them to be free?
Oh it’s normal for them to be free but I’ve seen restaurants require the purchase of food to get the chips/salsa for free which I guess I assumed Amigo’s would do since so many people came JUST for the $1 margaritas!
These sound SO GOOD! Going to need to make these asap 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!!!
Mmm these sound delicious! And a nice flavour change from most energy style bites.
Julie, your graphics look awesome lately! What programs are you using now? I know you used to be a big fan of picmonkey, but I’m thinking you’re utilizing other programs now? 🙂
Thank you!! I’ve been using Canva a lot more! It’s also totally free. 🙂 I still use PicMonkey regularly but I like the font and layout selection better in Canva.
These sound amazing Julie! And I actually have all of these ingredients at home! I love key lime pie and can’t wait to celebrate cinco de mayo with a margarita 🙂 How many bites does this make?
These look awesome! I love love the idea of key lime pie into these little monster bites!
THESE ARE CALLING TO ME! I seriously need these bites of goodness in my life. Pinning!
Definitely wouldn’t have thought of starting with a date – but hey, I feel you with the margaritas! Strangely enough, living in Denver, I ALWAYS need to have a post-skiing margarita. (Random?) It started because at the base of the mountain in Vail Village, there’s a great little patio at a restaurant called Tres Amigos looking directly at the mountain. They’ not $1, but they hit the spot! We big kids can find our margaritas, too, ha!
Always love your no-bake recipes and I’m looking forward to trying this one out, too. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
XO, Jessica
http://www.semisweettooth.com
I’ve been on a serious key lime kick lately once I discovered some at a new health food store by me. I forgot how amazing it is 🙂
Loovvvvve key lime pie bites! Pinning pronto!
Happy Cinco de Mayo! I love no bake treats especially now that the weather is getting warmer. Baking just heats the kitchen up too much on hot days. Great recipe. Key lime is the best.
What food processor do you have? Is it necessary to have a “fancy” one?
I have a Cuisinart food processor (we got it as a wedding gift) — And I don’t think you need anything fancy! Just one with enough power to blend the nuts!
Oh my goodness those look good!!! Thanks so much for sharing these.
Amigo’s is gone now and so’s Friendly Confines! I was both sad and relieved to see the homes of so, so many of my poor choices in grad school gone the last time I was back.
Yummy! I love both no bake and citrus anything, so I’m sure these are great.
WE did the same in college, but our local restaurant was called Sabor A Mexico. It’s still open. 🙂
My favorite margarita was a pineapple cilantro version at a place in New Orleans. SO GOOD!
These look soooo good! Perfect for this summer!
I didn’t know key lime was a common flavor in Cinco de Mayo! These sound amazing and are so creative!
key lime is my favorite! will def be trying these out
These look so yummy! Can I sub another nut for the walnuts?
Margaritas in ball form? I’m in!! 🙂
Pinned this before I even got down to the comment section here–ha! These unique key lime pie bites look oh, so lish! Simply can’t wait to try them. Thanks, my dear! –Ginger
http://gingerwroot.com
I know I’m late here, but I just tried this and I absolutely love it! Thank you for much sharing!