Lemon Bars

When life gives you lemons, you make lemon bars. Surprisingly simple to make, with the perfect amount of shortbread crust to lemon filling ratio.

I played with this recipe until it turned out exactly how I wanted it to. The buttery shortbread biscuit base is so good, it has the right amount of sweetness to offset the tart lemon filling.

As well as lemon juice in this recipe, I use zest to give it a real zingy tang. If you love lemons you are going to love this dessert, if on the other hand you want a milder lemon taste it’s easy to just reduce or omit the zest.

Check out my flavour twists for this dessert in the variation section.

If you like the sound of these delicious lemon bars, you might also like my moreish lemon biscuits or my lemon crinkle cookies.

If you decide to give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment below and rate it – it’s really helpful to me and the other readers. And don’t forget to take a picture and tag it #thegourmetlarder on Instagram. I love seeing what you come up with! 🙂

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RECIPE HIGHLIGHTS

• EASE: super simple.
• GREAT FOR: an everyday dessert or for friends and family visiting.
• TASTE: tart lemon filling with the perfect balance of sweetness on a buttery biscuit base.
• TEXTURE: silky smooth filling on a shortbread biscuit crust.
• SERVING: perfect on their own or with a cup of tea.

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INGREDIENTS

For this lemon bar recipe all you need are these ingredients:

• Butter – adds structure and a rich butter flavour to this biscuit base. I use a good quality salted butter for most of my baking as it intensifies the flavours, but feel free to use unsalted if you prefer, keeping in mind that good quality makes all the difference in taste.

• Caster or granulated sugar – adds structure, moisture and sweetness to the bars. Getting the right balance of sweetness to tartness is a personal preference. It may be tempting to reduce the sugar, but it also adds structure and moisture.

• Medium eggs – add structure and creaminess to the filling.

• Pure vanilla extract or paste – adds flavour to the biscuit base and enhances the other ingredients in the recipe.

– Vanilla recommendations: pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste or vanilla pods.

• Plain or all-purpose flour – adds that perfect crumb to the biscuit base and structure to both the base and the filling.

• Lemons – are our star ingredient in this recipe, I prefer to use fresh organic lemons when I am using the zest in a recipe.

• Icing sugar (powdered sugar) – is perfect for dusting the tops of our luscious tangy lemon bars.

TIP:

I highly recommend adding a good pinch of salt to your desserts. Salt helps balance out the sweetness and richness. It also elevates the other ingredients, bring out the best characteristics of any recipe. In a seemingly absurd or contradictory way, salt intensifies the mouths ability to taste sweetness. It is the sodium that sends signals to move glucose into the sweet taste receptor cells in our tongue. The result is that salt not only alerts our ‘salt sensitivity’, but also our ‘sweet sensitive’ taste buds. I recommend Maldon Sea salt flakes or Cornish sea salt.

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SUBSTITUTIONS

While I am making recommendations for alternative ingredients, I haven’t necessarily tried them. If you try making any adaptions, I would love to know how you get on and share it with the other readers.

SUGAR-FREE AND LOW-CALORIE OPTIONS

• Sugar-free or calorie reduced options: try alternatives such as coconut sugar, honey, natural erythritol, xylitol, stevia or fructooligosaccharide powder instead. There are also sweetener mixes available, that are 70% calorie reduced and low in carb.

• Brown sugar suggestions: Pure Via Baker’s soft brown sugar or Sukrin Gold’s natural brown sugar alternative.

• Icing sugar suggestions: try alternatives such as Pure Via Baker’s icing sugar or Canderel Bake! sugar free icing sugar.

GLUTEN-FREE OPTION

• Flour: replace the gluten flour with a 1:1 alternative gluten free flour, such as Doves Farm Free plain gluten free flour. If possible, choose a flour which contains xanthan gum or alternatively, add 1 tsp to your batter for stability. You can also try Doves Farm gluten free self-raising flour.

VEGAN OPTIONS

• Butter: I recommend Naturli vegan block or Flora plant-based block butter alternative.

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WHAT VARIATIONS CAN I MAKE?

Try some of these flavour twists.

• Lavender – adds an aromatic mild floral fragrance and taste to this classic. Prior to making the filling blend one third of the sugar with 1 tablespoon of lavender in a food processor for 15-20 seconds. Then add this back to the rest of the sugar and follow the recipe.

• Almond essence – add a few drops of almond essence while beating the butter and sugar together in the biscuit base.

• Summer fruits – make the filling as per the recipe. Place 60g (1/2 cup) of raspberries or blueberries into a small bowl and coat in a little flour to help reduce any moisture. Then add them to the finished filling mix and pour on to the biscuit base once pre-baked.

• Citrus fruit – try orange or pink grapefruit bars. They are exactly like lemon bars, only not as tart or acidic. Simply replace the lemon juice and zest with either grapefruit or oranges.

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NUTRITION

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STORAGE AND FREEZING

These lemon bars are great for making ahead of time. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Freezing: It is best to cut them into individual size portions and then wrap each bar with cling film (do not dust with icing sugar), store them for up to 3 months. To defrost, either place the bars in the fridge overnight or leave on the counter to come to room temperature. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

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TOOLS YOU’LL NEED

Here is a list of some kitchen equipment that I use and recommend for this recipe.

• Lemon Squeezer – Heavy Duty – Juice Extractor Single Press Hand Lime Citrus Fruit Juicer

Easy to use – simply slice the lemon in half and then place it inside the dome with the cut-side facing down- Bring the two handles together to start juicing- The juicer will turn the lemon inside-out to get every last drop.

• Pyrex Measuring Jug 500ml | Capacity 568ml / 20 ounce 
• Pyrex Glass Measuring Jug, 1L

I think I have said it before that I am not a big fan of plastic, so I like this type of glass measuring jug for calculating my liquids.

• Loose Base Square Cake Tin, Professional Gauge Carbon Steel with Eclipse Non-Stick Coating, 20 cm x 20 cm / 8″ x 8″ Cake Pan; Cake Pan, Ideal for bakes and celebration cakes

A great size and good quality non-stick pan for all your traybakes, bars etc…

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TIP: I highly recommend using metric measurements and a digital kitchen scale, rather than cup measurements. If you have ever ended up with dry, dense or crumbly baked goods, it might be because of inaccurate volume measurements, not all measuring cups are made equally. All my recipes on this blog are carefully developed so that you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success, using metric measurements. It is also a lot easier, less messy and you will get far better, consistent results. 🙂
If you are interested in understanding conversions, here you will find the best conversion chart.

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RECIPE TIPS

Line your baking pan or silicone mould with baking parchment. It makes it so much easier to remove your finished dessert in one piece once baked and cooled.

Use good quality butter for this recipe, it makes all the difference to the finish result.

I highly recommend using only fresh lemon juice and, where possible, organic lemons because we use the zest.

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