Buttery Lemon Bars Recipes

LEMON BARS RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9x9 or an 8x8 pan with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
• Make the crust by creaming the butter with a hand or a stand mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment) until smooth. Add powdered sugar, flour, and salt and mix slowly until the mixture is crumbly but sticks together when you press it between your fingers. Press the crust into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for about 13 minutes, or until it just starts to get a light golden brown around the edges.
• While the crust is baking, whisk the eggs until beaten. Whisk in the sugar, lemon zest, salt, and lemon juice. Pour over hot crust, then continue to bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the mixture is no longer liquid in the center and it's lightly golden brown on top.
• Cool completely before removing from pan. Remove foil, then dust with powdered sugar. Slice and serve, dusting with more powdered sugar as desired.

BUTTERY LEMON SQUARES

Steps:

• In a bowl, with an electric mixer at medium speed, beat butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar until smooth. Beat in 2 cups flour until dough is no longer crumbly. Pat into a ball.
• Press dough evenly into a buttered and floured 9- by 13-inch baking pan. Bake in a 350° oven until golden, about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a food processor, or in a bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, whirl or beat granulated sugar, remaining 1/3 cup flour, baking powder, grated lemon peel, lemon juice, and eggs to blend. Pour onto hot crust.
• Bake until lemon mixture is no longer runny in the center (cut to test), 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and dust with remaining 2 tablespoons powdered sugar.
• Let cool completely in pan, then cut into 24 bars.
• Note: Nutritional analysis is per bar. The lemon squares can be chilled airtight for up to 2 days.

THE BEST LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
• Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.

EASY LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Combine all crust ingredients in large bowl. Beat at low speed until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press mixture evenly onto bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch baking pan. Bake 20-22 minutes or until light brown; remove from oven.
• Combine all filling ingredients in bowl. Beat at medium speed until well mixed. Pour lemon mixture evenly over hot, partially baked crust.
• Continue baking 15-20 minutes or until filling is set and bars are light brown around edges. Cool completely.
• Sprinkle bars with powdered sugar. Cut into bars.

SNOW DUSTED LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Combine all crust ingredients in bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press onto bottom of ungreased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake 15-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
• Combine all filling ingredients in bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Pour filling over hot, partially baked crust. Continue baking 18-20 minutes or until filling is set. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cool completely. Cut into bars. Garnish with grated lemon zest, if desired.

EASY LEMON BARS WITH BUTTERY CRUST

Steps:

• Line a straight-sided 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. (This will help when it comes to removing the cooled bars from the pan). Lightly coat the sides of the foil, but not the bottom, with non-stick cooking spray or extra melted butter to prevent the lemon topping from sticking.
• In a medium bowl, use a spatula to stir and press the sugar, salt, lemon zest, and the vanilla extract together until it looks moist and is fragrant. Stir in the flour and melted butter until a crumbly, stiff dough forms.
• Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan (it may not look like enough dough at first, but it will cover the bottom nicely). Prick the dough with a fork all over to prevent air bubbles while baking. Freeze dough for 5 minutes, or until firm (or refrigerate for 30 minutes).
• Position an oven rack near the center of the oven and heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Bake the crust until lightly golden brown and set, 25 to 30 minutes.
• While the crust bakes, stir the sugar, flour, salt and lemon zest together. Whisk in the eggs until smooth then whisk in the lemon juice.
• Once the crust has baked, pour the lemon topping over the hot crust. Return the pan to the oven and increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake until the topping is set in the center and it no longer wiggles when the pan is moved, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool until the lemon bars are firm and the bottom of the pan is no longer warm, about 1 hour. (You can speed this up a little by placing the bars into the refrigerator once the pan is no longer hot).
• Once cooled, use the overhang of foil to carefully lift the bars from the pan and place on a cutting board. Peel away the foil then cut into 16 bars or 32 small bars. Sift the powdered sugar over the bars.

PERFECT LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of an 8'' pan with parchment paper, or grease with cooking spray and set aside
• For the crust: In a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and powdered sugar. Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed, just until combined.
• Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared dish. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
• While the crust cools, make the lemon filling. Mix the lemon zest and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, flour, baking powder, and eggs. Mix until well combined and the sugar is dissolved. Pour mixture over crust.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 more minutes, or until the filling has set. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar before cutting and serving. Store lemon bars in the refrigerator.

EASY LEMON BARS RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line the bottom and sides of a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper that sticks up above the sides of the pan, so that you can remove the bars later for easy cutting. Set pan aside.
• To make the crust, combine the flour, powdered sugar and salt in a medium bowl.
• Add the melted butter and vanilla extract and stir to combine completely.
• Crumble and distribute over the bottom of the pan and press evenly into the bottom so that it's even.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are just getting lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside.
• To make the filling, combine the sugar and flour. Add the eggs, lemon juice and salt and whisk together to combine. Don't over mix.
• Pour the filling on top of the crust and bake for 18-22 minutes or until relatively set. Remove from the oven and cool for 15-20 minutes on the counter, then refrigerate until cold and firm.
• Remove bars from pan and dust with powdered sugar, then cut into squares. Bars are best when stored well covered, and they'll last for 5-6 days.

THE ULTIMATE LEMON BUTTER BAR

Steps:

• EQUIPMENT:
• 8-inch by 8-inch by 2-inch baking pan, preferably metal (if using a glass pan, lower the oven temperature 25°F.), bottom and 2 sides lined with an 8-inch by 16-inch strip of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
• SHORTBREAD BASE
• Food Processor Method
• Cut the butter into 1-inch cubes, wrap it, and refrigerate.
• In a food processor with the metal blade, process the sugars for 1 minute or so, until the sugar is very fine. Add the butter and pulse in until the sugar disappears. Add the flour and pulse in until there are a lot of little moist crumbly pieces and no dry flour particles remain.
• Dump the mixture into a plastic bag and press it together. Remove the dough from the plastic bag and knead it lightly, until it holds together.
• Electric Mixer Method or by Hand
• In Scotland, it is said that the best shortbread is mixed with the fingers and that each woman's fingers lend something distinctive and special to the finished cookie. I find that the texture is more delicate when the dough is mixed with the fingers rather than in a machine. For either method, use superfine sugar for the best texture and be sure to soften the butter.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugars. In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy. With your fingers or with the electric mixer, mix in the flour until incorporated. If using the mixer, add the flour in 2 parts.
• For Both Methods
• Place 1 oven rack in the middle of the oven.
• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Pat the dough into the prepared pan. Use a fork to prick the dough all over.
• Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and the top is pale golden (do not brown).
• While the shortbread is baking, prepare the Lemon Curd Topping.
• LEMON CURD TOPPING
• Have a strainer, suspended over a bowl, ready near the range.
• In a heavy noncorrodible saucepan, beat the egg yolks and sugar with a wooden spoon until well blended. Stir in the lemon juice, butter, and salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 6 minutes, until thickened and resembling hollandaise sauce, which thickly coats a wooden spoon but is still liquid enough to pour. (A candy thermometer will read 196°F.) The mixture will change from translucent to opaque and begin to take on a yellow color on the back of a wooden spoon. It must not be allowed to boil or it will curdle. (It will steam above 140°F. Whenever steaming occurs, remove the pan briefly from the heat, stirring constantly to prevent boiling.)
• When the curd has thickened, pour it at once into the strainer. Press it with the back of a spoon until only the coarse residue remains. Discard the residue. Stir in the lemon zest.
• When the shortbread is baked, remove it from the oven, lower the temperature to 300°F., pour the lemon curd on top of the shortbread, and return it to the oven for 10 minutes.
• Cool the lemon curd-topped shortbread completely in the pan on a wire rack. Refrigerate the pan for 30 minutes to set the lemon curd completely before cutting into bars. Place the powdered sugar in a strainer and tap the strainer with a spoon to sprinkle a thick, even coating, entirely covering the lemon.
• Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the pastry on the 2 sides without the aluminum foil. Use the foil to lift out the lemon curd-covered shortbread onto a cutting surface. Use a long, sharp knife to cut the shortbread first in thirds, then in half the other way, and then each half in thirds. Wipe the blade after each cut.
• The powdered sugar will start to be absorbed into the lemon curd after several hours, but it can be reapplied before serving.
• Store:
• In an airtight container at room temperature, or in the refrigerator or freezer.
• Keeps:
• 3 days at room temperature, 3 weeks refrigerated (individually wrapped in plastic wrap to prevent drying), or 3 months frozen.
• Smart Cookie
• • Cooking the topping before pouring it into the shortbread ensures crispness as opposed to the usual pastiness of the pastry.
• • Returning the curd to the oven, where it will be exposed to heat without stirring, causes the yolk to rebond, making it firm enough to cut after cooling.
• • If each lemon is heated about 10 seconds in a microwave oven on high power and rolled around while pressing on it lightly, it will release a significantly greater quantity of juice.
• • An aluminum pan should not be used to prepare the lemon curd because it will react with the egg yolks, turning them chartreuse.
• • Sugar raises the coagulation point of the egg yolk. It also protects it from premature coagulation during the addition of the lemon juice. If the juice were added directly to the unprotected yolk, the yolk would partially coagulate and, when strained, a large percentage of it would be left behind in the strainer. Be sure to mix the sugar well with the egg yolks before adding the juice.