This dessert is my absolute favorite to make! It's a staple, and I dont make it enough! Lemon is one of my favorite fruits, and there aren't enough desserts that incorporate lemons. I promise over time, you'll see many more lemon recipes on this site!
I've made lemon bars many times, and I've certainly made mistakes along the way. The first one is, adding too much lemon juice! 1 cup, even 1 1/2 cups is doable, but nothing more. I second-guessed myself or wasn't paying attention when I added the lemon juice, but by the end, it was as if I bit into a sour patch. Second, use anything smaller than an 11x17 dish. My recent debacle included making the crust of the bars in 9x9, but lo and behold, the crust rose so far that it left little room to add the liquid mixture. The crust needs to be evened out and thin, and when it rises, it reaches a perfect ratio of crust to filling.
One thing I love doing is adding lemon zest to the lemon filling. I add a decent amount, about 1 to 2 lemons of zest right into the filling. It gives it an extra kick :)
Last thing to note, generally both the crust and bars are baked for around 20-25 mins. As one who lives at a higher altitude (5280 to be exact) cooking time varies. For this recipe, I set the oven to 325 degrees, and cook the crust for at least 25 mins in order to achieve a light brown crust. Once you've topped the crust with the filling, I bake it for close to 30 mins. I first pulled the lemon bars at around 25 mins, and the center was definitely not baked and still was very liquid. I added about 5 mins each just to test how long it would take, and I ended up adding about 10 mins more to cook time. Now I say this with caution, I would suggest starting at 30 mins, and if it still is more liquid and does not jiggle, starts with 5-minute increments. So the rule of thumb: 325 degrees, non-altitude folks, cook the crust for 20-22 mins and the filling for 21-25 mins. For folks in a higher altitude, 325 degrees, 25 mins for the crust and 30 mins for filling (if you want to be more careful, start at 25 mins and just add 5 min increments based on whether the center jiggles).
Learning from my mistakes, the lemon bars turn out absolutely divine and I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Lemon Bar Recipe
Cook time: 50 mins Yield: 20-24 bars Prep time: 1 hour, including gathering ingredients
Ingredients:
Shortbread Crust
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
Lemon Filling
2 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
6 eggs
1 cup lemon juice/ freshly squeezed lemons are preferred
lemon zest from 2 lemons
confectioners sugar for dusting
Steps:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Either line the bottom of an 11x17 dish with parchment paper, or you can use cooking spray and spray all sides.
Crust: start by combining melted butter, vanilla extract, and sugar together on medium speed (if using a stand mixer or hand-held mixer). Mix in the flour using a paddle attachment (again if using a stand mixer) until the dough is thick. Press down the dough into the dish, making sure it's nice and even, and relatively flat. Bake the crust for 20-25 mins, until it is lightly brown. Once out of the oven, be sure to poke a few holes through the crust. This allows some of the filling to be absorbed by the crust, which allows it to be a bit more soft at the end.
Filling: add sugar and flour together and whisk well. Add two eggs at a time and mix well. Slowly add the lemon juice and mix well, it should be a nice liquid consistency, not too watery. Last, but not least, add in the extra tang with the lemon zest.
Add the filling to the crust, and bake for 25-30 mins (if at higher altitude) or for 20-25 mins. The lemon bars once done should be stiff a bit in the middle, which you can test by slightly moving the dish. If it is still moving quite more than a jiggle, bake for an additional 5 mins, and continue 5 min increments if need be.
Once fully baked and the center is stiff, keep out at room temperature for up to 2 hours, once the dish is fully cooled. Then place in the fridge for a few hours to overnight. Once cooled, add confectioners sugar by dusting over the lemon bars and cut the bars as large or small as you'd like!
Bon Appetite!
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