Description
These zesty Lemon Bars have a crisp, buttery shortbread crust and an extra-lemony filling. Tart, bright, and just sweet enough, they’re perfect for lemon lovers!
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 1 cup butter, softened - I prefer unsalted
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1/4 cup rice flour (optional, for a crispy crust; you can use more AP flour, see notes)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
Lemon Curd Filling
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest, chopped fine
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 6 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice (4-6 lemons depending on size)
Garnish: confectioners' sugar for sprinkling (powdered sugar)
Instructions
Shortbread Crust
- Mix the crust. Add softened butter, sugar, flour, rice flour, salt, and lemon zest to the food processor or combine by hand. Mix the dough just until it comes together.
- Press the crust into the pan. Line a 9×13 glass or ceramic baking pan with parchment paper, leaving it to hang over the edges. Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan, going up slightly around the edges to create a raised edge. Use a flat-bottomed, round container, like a measuring cup or glass, to press flat and evenly.
- Chill. Prick the crust all over with a fork; this helps prevent air bubbles and keeps the crust more even. Chill for 20 minutes while the oven heats up. Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Bake crust. Place in the oven, straight from the fridge, for 25-30 minutes. It should be golden and lightly browned on the edges. Let cool on a wire rack for 10- 20 minutes, no longer (otherwise it will shrink).
Lemon Curd Filling
- Infuse the sugar. Place sugar and lemon zest in a bowl. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers. (Optional- but makes a difference!) *See notes.
- Make the filling. In a small bowl, whisk the flour into the sugar-zest mixture. In another large bowl, gently whisk the eggs one at a time (don’t beat or overmix-*see notes). Add lemon juice and the flour-sugar mixture; mix until combined. Pour onto the crust and slide carefully into the oven.
- Bake. 18-2o minutes. Bake until the center has a slight wobble. Trust me, it goes from liquid to overset fast. If it needs to set more, check at 1-minute intervals.
- Cool and cut. Set the baking dish on a wire rack on the counter and cool for 1 hour. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2-3 hours or overnight for best results. To cut lemon bars, have a cutting board ready. Run a knife around the edges to loosen; cut in the pan, or if your parchment is strong, you can carefully lift the parchment and transfer the crust to the board (two sets of hands help prevent it from breaking). Cut with a large, sharp knife, wiping it clean with a warm, damp cloth between cuts for neat, clean pieces.
- Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar if desired.
Notes
Store lemon bars in a sealed, airtight container in the fridge for 4 days. Freeze up to 3 months.
Rubbing lemon zest into sugar releases the zest’s aromatic oils, creating a more intense, fragrant lemon flavor. It also distributes the lemon flavor evenly throughout the recipe for a deeper, more balanced taste. A food processor will work, but not as well as your fingers.
Rice flour contributes to a crisp shortbread crust that gives a sandy, light texture. Replacing it with AP flour will make the shortbread a little more tender and less crisp, but the crust will still work well.
Chill the crust before baking to help prevent it from shrinking, spreading, or becoming greasy in the oven. It also gives the flour time to hydrate, which helps the crust bake up crisp and more cohesive rather than crumbly.
How to tell when it’s done? Remove from the oven while the center still has a slight jiggle. This ensures a better texture and helps prevent cracks from overbaking.
Avoid overmixing the eggs, as incorporating too much air can cause the filling to puff in the oven and then crack or collapse as it cools.
Softened butter creams evenly into the flour, creating a tender, cohesive crust with a finer crumb, while melted butter tends to make shortbread denser, greasier, and more prone to crumbling.
Enhancements: Add 1-2 tablespoons of full-fat sour cream or crème fraîche to the filling before baking for a creamier texture.
Cutting: For 24 even lemon bars, first cut the pan in half lengthwise and crosswise to create four equal sections. Then divide the short side into 4 equal rows and the long side into 6 equal columns. This will give you 24 bars, each roughly 2 inches square.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Approximately 2 ⅛ x 2 ⅛ inch square
- Calories: 196
- Sugar: 15.6 g
- Sodium: 45.1 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.4 g
- Fiber: 0.4 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 66.8 mg
