Easy Lemon Bars
"The ingredients are probably what you already have in your pantry. These lemon bars are pretty healthy - minimal on the flour and butter (except for the crust). It has a sweet cookie-like crust and the lemon on top seperates into two sweet, chewy layers. :] The top is kind of chewy and the bottom is like a sweet cookie so it reminds me of an ersatz cheesecake ;D"
photo by Fatneko
- Ready In:
- 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 10
- Yields:
-
25 squares
- Serves:
- 25
ingredients
-
Crust
- 1 cup flour
- 1⁄8 teaspoon salt (optional)
- 1⁄2 cup sugar or 1/2 cup Splenda granular
- 1⁄4 - 1⁄3 cup butter, the recipe book says 1/3 but I reduced it and it still comes out great
-
Topping
- 3 medium eggs or 2 large eggs
- 1⁄2 cup sugar or 1/2 cup Splenda sugar substitute, see butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 1⁄4 teaspoons grated lemon rind (optional)
- 1⁄3 cup fresh lemon juice, make sure there aren't any seeds
- confectioners' sugar (optional)
directions
- Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 9x9 pan with nonstick spray and lightly flour.
- Mix flour, salt, and sugar together. Add butter and mix (or 'cut') until it clumps. I just squish it with my hands until the butter is evenly distributed and looks like breadcrumbs. Pat this baby evenly on the pan and bake about 15 minutes until the top appears dry and the edges are lightly brown. Cool on wire rack and reduce heat to 350.
- While you're waiting for crust, mix all the topping ingredients together (except the confectioner's sugar) and food processor/mix until well blended (it will be very liquid-like). Pour mixture on top of the prebaked crust and bake for about 15 - 17 minutes or until the top appears dry (it's normal if the center puffs up a bit). DON'T OVERCOOK, POR FAVOR!
- Cool for an hour. Sprinkle with a bit of confectioner's sugar if you wish. Cut into 25 squares. MAKE SURE YOU SHARE! :].
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
Very nice lemon bars, and definitely super-easy. I used the food processor to do the bottom crust: I put in almost-frozen SmartBalance margarine with the dry ingredients, and just pulsed it a few times until it was the texture of crumbs. I added a tiny bit of lemon zest to the crust, a trick I've learned for lemon desserts. A tiny bit of almond extract would be nice, perhaps, for flavour contrast. The top part was SOooo easy and delicious: again, I just threw everything into the Cuisinart (didn't even wash it in between). The top layer was a bit thin after baking; I would probably double the topping layer ingredients to give it a bit more heft - the crust is about the right size, so I wouldn't double that. I didn't have confectioners' sugar (here in Canada, it's called icing sugar), so I just left it off. My 15-year-old daughter called it the best lemon bars I have made - and I've tried quite a few! p.s. after years of using bottled lemon juice, I STRONGLY recommend fresh lemon juice in all lemon desserts. There's a huge difference!
-
First of all I just want to say that it's very refreshing to see a "teenage" chef and one who is concerned about his health. I really wanted this recipe to work for me but it just didn't. Sorry =(<br/>The crust didn't have much flavor. I'm not sure what I did wrong but the egg whites in the filling actually cooked a little bit. But beside that I didn't think it had the flavor combinations that I was looking for. I'm willing to add a little more fat to boost the flavor so I'll have to find another recipe. I'm glad to see that some have really enjoyed this recipe though. Thanks for posting and giving me an opportunity to try it. -
I can't believe how easy and delicious these turned out to be! It was the perfect amount of lemon and I did already have all of these ingredients on hand. I will be making these again (and again!)! -
This was a very nice recipe. More tart than sweet, but still a wonderful dessert. I will definately make it again. Thanks! -
This was a big hit at a get together last night. I used tint bit less sugar and more zest (1tbs). <br/>Like somebody else said, I would double the lemon curd recipe next time. It was pretty thin even thou I used a smaller pan. <br/>I love the fact this recipe is fairly low fat for lemon bars, yet nobody seemed to mind. <br/><br/>But I will be making gluten free one next time. I will also replace sugar with maple sugar and see how it turn out since I am trying to avoid refined sugar.
see 5 more reviews
Tweaks
-
This was a big hit at a get together last night. I used tint bit less sugar and more zest (1tbs). <br/>Like somebody else said, I would double the lemon curd recipe next time. It was pretty thin even thou I used a smaller pan. <br/>I love the fact this recipe is fairly low fat for lemon bars, yet nobody seemed to mind. <br/><br/>But I will be making gluten free one next time. I will also replace sugar with maple sugar and see how it turn out since I am trying to avoid refined sugar.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I'm in high school. I am ridiculously smart and therefore, I make food with my spare time. My recipes are easy to make and as a health freak, MOST of them are healthy. I am also Filipino, but since most Filipino food aren't healthy, I'll only post the ones that are delicious or reasonably healthy.
I AM AN AVID HARRY POTTER SUPPORTER. i can also run a mile in 8:00. I hate it when people do not cap the toothpaste tube.
