lemon bars, originally uploaded by super eggplant.
Who doesn’t love a good lemon bar? I have tried many a lemon bar recipe, and most of them have been just fine. Yesterday I was browsing through my copy of Emily Luchetti’s Classic Stars Desserts
I confess I had my doubts, only because the recipe has just a few ingredients, and I could not understand what would make these superior to other lemon bar recipes. Well, I am now a believer. These lemon bars are tangy and tart with a thin crunchy top layer and a melt-in-your-mouth crumbly crust.
LEMON SQUARES by Emily Luchetti
CRUST:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
12 tablespoons (1.5 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into little chunks
FILLING:
6 large eggs
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 5 lemons. I only bought 2 lemons, so I had to supplement my juice with Realemon)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 325F.
Combine the flour & powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low speed until blended. Add the butter chunks and mix until the butter is the size of small peas, about 30 seconds. It will be a very dry mixture. (My chunks didn’t get quite pea-sized, so I rubbed the butter in a bit with my fingers until I got the consistency I wanted). Dump the mixture into a 9×13 pan and gently press onto the bottom. Bake about 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Remove and let cool to room temp. REDUCE THE OVEN TEMP TO 300F.
For the filling, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in the lemon juice. Add the flour. Pour the filling on top of the crust. Bake until lemon filling is set, about 40 minutes (I baked mine for about 44 minutes, and the filling was still underbaked. So, the end result of mine was super gooey, messy lemon bars, but they still taste good, and I figure it’s better than overbaked lemon filling). Remove and let cool to room temp. You can put them in the fridge for an hour after cooling, or you can just keep it at room temp for another couple of hours. Cut into squares and EAT. Keep leftovers in the fridge.
what if I make these ONLY using reallemon and no actual lemons? would that be crazy? i keep buying lemons and having them go bad before i have time to make this but i ALWAYS have reallemon in the house!
Well, I now have a dessert to make later in the week, though I’m tempted to just make lemon curd instead. I love lemon curd!
I have always failed at my own lemon bar experiments… so it’s one item I’m usually willing to buy in pastry stores. This does look doable though!
It looks so delicious. really its very perfect posting and nice details shared. amazing your idea and i just try make this food at my home . easy make tips shared so thanks
Nice article, thanks for the information.
Oooh my friend has a Meyer Lemon tree bursting with fruit. This would be a great way to help relieve her of some of that burden. muahahahaha Thanks!
I just wanted to send you this link. The tuxedos are in my future:
http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2011/04/14/marshamallow-peeps-4-fun-recipes/
lucy’s lemon bars…look no further… best ever….
I agree with jan in nagasaki- it doesn’t get any better than Lucy’s Lemon Squares, from the Peanuts cookbook.
You might also like Southern Lemon Chess Pie:
http://www.food.com/recipe/southern-lemon-chess-pie-54346
It’s like Lemon Squares, but more so. In a pie.
I have just made these and have found the same problem with the filling not appearing to set properly. Have you worked with the recipe at all and found success? I love the that fact you get that crisp top – which is what I was looking for.