Whole Lemon Bars
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 16
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup all purpose flour (or 1 cup gluten free flour mix for your GF friends)
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 1 small to medium sized lemon
  • 1⅓ cups sugar
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • ¼ teaspoon table salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle of the oven. Use parchment paper to cover an 8 inch square pan. Deb's idea is to make a "sling" out of parchment paper so that you can retrieve the bars easy when finished. It works best to cut out two 12-inch lengths of parchment and then trim to fit the bottom of the pan. Place one sheet in the pan and then place the second perpendicular to the first sheet. Lightly butter or spray to coat the exposed part of the sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Make the crust: Blend the flour, sugar and salt in the work bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is powdery but if firmly pinched will hold the pinched shape. Turn the dough crumbs into the prepared pans and press the dough across the bottom and about ½ inch up the sides of the pan. Prick the dough all over with the fork and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. If any part bubbles up, prick with a fork. Leave the oven on.
  3. Make the filling: Cut your lemon in half. Examine your lemon. If the white part is thicker than ¼ inch you need to remove some of the pith so the bitterness doesn't overwhelm the bars. Remove the skin and pith from half of the lemon in downward cuts and discard the pith and skin. You will need to use both halves of the lemon. The one half with skin and pith removed and the second half in its entirety.
  4. Cut your lemon halves into thin rings and discard any of the seeds. Toss the lemon rounds, lemon flesh and peel in the bowl of your food processor. Add the sugar and run the machine until the lemon is thoroughly pureed, about two minutes. Add the butter and again run the machine until the mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula. Make sure the butter and eggs are at room temperature so that the mixture doesn't curdle. Add the eggs, salt, cornstarch and salt and pulse in short bursts until the mixture is evenly combined.
  5. Pour the lemon mixture over the crust and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the filling is set and just beginning to brown on the top. Bump the pan a little and the filling should just jiggle slightly. Error on the side of under - baking, that is what I did and they turned out wonderfully.
  6. Let the pan cool completely and then remove the bars using the parchment paper. Dust with powdered sugar if desired and then cut into 16 squares.
Recipe by Culinary Mamas at https://culinarymamas.com/whole-lemon-bars/