Although I’ve brought cookies for more friends far more often, my lemon bars have been consistently the most requested to be brought back, with many people asking me for my recipe. While I can’t say that lemon is always my number one favorite flavor in baked goods, the way that they are incorporated in these bars creates the perfect level of sour and sweetness, and are sure to get you in the mood for summer vacation as school nears its end. Whether you’re making these for your friends, family, or just yourself, these lemon bars are sure to impress anyone, and will help gain you the baking recognition you deserve!
Total baking and chilling time: ~4 hours
Servings: ~16-20 bars (or however you cut the pan)
Ingredients:
▢ 3 cups flour
▢ ⅔ cups powdered sugar
▢ ½ tsp salt
▢ 12 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)
▢ 3 tbsp lemon zest (around the zest of three lemons)
▢ 3 cups sugar
▢ 8 eggs
▢ 1 cup lemon juice
Instructions:
1. Heat the oven to 350°F and line a 9 by 13 inch tray with parchment paper, making sure the parchment covers all sides.
2. Whisk together 2 ½ cups of flour with the powdered sugar and salt, and then pour in the melted butter. The dough should be somewhat crumbly. You can also add a bit of vanilla (around ½ teaspoon) at this step if you’d like a stronger flavor.
3. Spread the dough into the pan and press it down into an even layer before baking for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
4. During this time add the sugar and the zest of 3 lemons to a food processor and pulse until incorporated or a light yellow color. If you don’t have a food processor (or forgot you had one, like me) you can use a zester for the lemons and mix it with the sugar in a bowl.
5. In a large bowl, add the lemony sugar and leftover ½ cup of flour and mix. Pour in the lemon juice and eggs and mix until fully combined.
6. After the crust is taken out of the oven, pour the filling delicately onto the warm crust and bake for around 25 minutes. Halfway through baking, turn the pan to ensure a more consistent bake. After being removed from the oven, cool the bars for around an hour, and then chill them in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
7. Finally, sprinkle powdered sugar on top and cut the bars into the desired size.
My advice:
-If you’d like to make your lemon bars in advance, cut them individually and then freeze the bars, where they can be stored for up to 3 months.
-Make sure that your parchment paper covers the whole bottom and all sides of the pan, as otherwise the custard will go underneath the paper and create a mess (speaking from experience)!
-Cutting the lemon bars can be difficult, but by consistently heating up the knife and keeping it damp you can prevent the bars from getting too messy or disorganized.
-Even if you have extra custard, don’t fill up the pan past a few millimeters below the top, because the pan can easily overflow when being put into the oven.
-While you should try to make the crust as flat as possible, you don’t need to worry much because the custard will make everything look even.
-Lastly, make sure to chill your lemon bars for at least an hour, as otherwise the custard will not set and have an uneven texture.
If you liked this recipe I highly recommend looking at the baking blog “Preppy Kitchen”, where my recipe was adapted from! The author has great recipes, and you can never go wrong with anything they put out, so you should check it out.
I hope you like them 😀