As summer comes to an end I realized that I cannot fully move on to fall without posting a lemon recipe, as lemons are the embodiment of summer to me. I struggled for years to find a lemon bar recipe that tasted how I imagined them to taste, and so I combined a bunch of different tips and techniques I learned along the way to make these little guys. This is a small batch recipe so if you need a full pan, just double the recipe. Also, this recipe works with any other citrus fruit so feel free to substitute the lemons for orange, grapefruit, etc.!
warning: these need about ~4 hours to set so plan accordingly!
what you need:
Crust:
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp almond extract
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon almond flour If you do not have any almond flour, feel free to just do all-purpose here but it will take away from the sweet almond flavor
Filling:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 cup lemon juice fresh juice is the best here, I used about 4 large lemons
what you need to do:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease and line a 9×9 GLASS dish so that the sides hang over for easy release from the pan. Using glass for these is a must as the metal pans always seem to leave a weird metal taste to me. Ceramic would work as well, but I have only ever used glass.
- Prepare crust: In a medium bowl, mix together sugar, salt, and both flours. Add in the butter and the extracts and stir to combine. It will be a thick dough like texture.
- Press the crust into the bottom of the pan, making sure to make it very even. I use the bottom of a measuring cup to press it in and then use an offset spatula to even out the edges.
- Bake the crust for 15 minutes, or until it is LIGHTLY golden on top.
- When you remove the crust from the oven, use a fork to GENTLY prick the top all over, making sure to NOT go through to the bottom of the pan. Just lightly prick the top of the crust. This will help the filling to stick to the crust.
- Prepare filling: In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, and lemon zest. Add in the eggs and whisk until completely combined, and then add in the lemon juice. Whisk and whisk and whisk until it is a completely cohesive mixture.
- Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the middle is not jiggly.
- Remove from oven and set to cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.
- Place in fridge to cool for an additional 2 – 3 hours.
- Cut and serve with a sprinkling of powdered sugar!