Tart, creamy and delicious- these Lemon Bars are the perfect dessert when you want a little something sweet-but not too much! You can use fresh lemon juice, fresh lime juice or even Meyer Lemons to make these Lemon Bars. The key is fresh. Bottled juice will not give you the fresh flavor you want. Whichever juice you choose, I recommend using only the zest from lemons. I’ve tried the lime zest and it just doesn’t make a great visual.
For another recipe with lemon flavor, try Kadayif with Mozzarella and Lemon
FYI: Notice that the first five ingredients are for the crust. The remaining ingredients are for the filling. Save time by preparing the filling as the crust is baking.
Prep time: 30 minutes
Lemon Bars
By Published: February 27, 2015
Yield:
- 24 squares
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2/3 cup Confectioner's Sugar
- 12 tablespoons unsalted non-dairy margarine
- 4 large lemons
- 4 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 1/3 cup water/soymilk/coconut milk
- pinch salt
Equipment
- 13x9x2 glass baking dish lined with baking parchement large enough to hang over the sides
- electric food processor steel knife inserted
- medium mixing bowl
- microplane/grater
- juicer
- cooling rack
Directions
- Crust: Preheat oven to 350° F. Pour flour, cornstarch, salt and confectioners sugar into bowl of processor. Pulse three or four seconds. Cut margarine into pieces and add to processor. Pulse ten to twelve seconds or until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Scrape mixture into lined baking dish and press down firmly with your fingers to form an even layer of dough that rises about one-half inch around the sides of the pan. Refrigerate 30 minutes and then bake crust about 20 minutes or until it begins to look golden brown. Remove from oven. Reduce oven temp to 325° F.
- Filling: Grate two lemons into a mixing bowl. Juice these two lemons. Strain. Juice remaining lemons until you have 2/3 cup strained juice. Set juice aside. Add eggs, sugar, and flour to lemon zest in mixing bowl. Whisk until all the ingredients are smooth. Add lemon juice, salt and water/soy milk/coconut milk and mix thoroughly. (I use the coconut milk)
- Pour filling on to warm crust. Bake about 20 minutes or until filling feels set when touched lightly with your finger tip. Don't worry- you won't burn yourself! Don't over cook the filling or it will taste gummy. Cool Lemon Bars on rack for 30-45 minutes.
- Grip the sides of the parchment and lift Lemon Bars onto a cutting board. Gently, fold the parchment down from all four sides of the crust. Cut into one inch squares with a clean, sharp, smooth knife-not serrated. You may have to clean the knife between cuts to keep your squares looking crisp. Cover Lemon Bars with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Serve for dessert with a platter of fruit and sorbet.
