- Attention, lemon lovers, this is the dessert for you.
These are my double lemon lemon bars.
Hey, everyone, this is Erin from wellplated.com,
and I believe in healthy recipes
that are easy, budget-friendly,
and that your family will love.
Lemon bars are a classic dessert, and in my family,
we discovered two tricks to make them even better.
These bars are so easy and so delicious,
my sister's been making them since she was 12 years old.
Let's get started.
Let's start with the crust.
Butter, baby.
We are going to melt it.
Now this is a little unusual.
A lot of lemon bar recipes
call for you to cut the butter into the flour,
but it's kind of a pain.
Melting is way easier, and you get great results.
To measure your flour,
be sure to fluff it into the measuring cup,
like I'm doing here.
That will make sure
that your flour doesn't get packed in too tightly
and that you don't end up with a dry crust.
I like to use all-purpose flour
and whole wheat flour for a little nutritional benefit.
Powdered sugar.
This crust really melts in your mouth,
just like a shortbread cookie.
And a little bit of salt.
Salt is critical in both sweet and savory recipes
to bring out the flavor.
Now the good stuff goes in,
and we simply stir it all together.
How am I gonna do that?
Oh, yeah, all you need is a whisk.
No biggie at all.
It will look a little dry at first,
but then the mixture will all come together,
and it looks and tastes just like sugar cookie.
Next, grab an 8 x 8-inch pan.
Yes, it does need to be 8 x 8 inches.
If it's 9 x 9, your bars will be thin and burn.
And line it with a piece of parchment.
To hold the sides of the parchment in place,
use binder clips.
This is one of my favorite tips.
This way, when I put the crust into the pan,
it will stay in place,
and the parchment paper won't slide all over the place.
That drives me nuts.
Use your fingers and squish it,
that's a technical term, into a nice even layer.
We are going to remove the binder clips,
and then pre-bake our crust for 15 to 20 minutes.
This will make sure it is perfectly set
underneath our creamy, dreamy lemon curd topping.
While the crust bakes, let's make the filling.
This is such a snap.
Start out with a cup of granulated sugar.
Gotta keep the bars sweet.
One of my favorite tricks whenever I am baking with citrus
is to zest the lemon directly over the sugar.
This makes sure that you don't lose
any of those flavorful oils.
Then use your fingers to rub it together.
It will feel a little moist,
and, mmm, it smells so fresh and delicious.
Salt. Once again, critical in baking.
And then a little bit of baking powder
to help our bars rise.
Add in two eggs.
This filling has such a burst of lemon flavor,
and the eggs make it a little bit custardy,
kind of like lemon curd.
Here is my secret to excessive lemon,
and that is that we are going to double the amount of lemon
that the classic Betty Crocker recipe calls for.
My sister gets credit for this tip.
It makes the bars tastes like pure sunshine.
If you thought the lemon bars aren't lemony enough,
this trick is going to be a total game-changer for you.
It's the only way that my family makes it now.
Grab a hand mixer, and then really let this mix have it.
You want it to be pale and really nicely blended
so that the filling of your bars is smooth and creamy.
Let's check on our crust.
Perfect.
As soon as it's barely light golden,
you are ready to add the filling.
If the parchment paper flops over on the side,
just use that trusty binder clip again,
and pour in your filling.
You don't even need to wait for the crust to cool first.
That is how quick and easy this lemon dessert is.
Make sure you get every morsel,
and then it goes back into the oven at 350 degrees
for about 20 to 30 minutes until the top is crackly
and the inside is creamy and set.
The bars have cooled, and my kitchen smells like sunshine,
so now we just need to gussy them up
with that dusting of powdered sugar.
These bars are so perfect for a picnic or potluck
because you can always carry them with you easily.
And they just brighten up everybody's day.
So we're going to use
our little parchment paper handles to lift these out.
And if your crust is all sticky,
mine is coming right out, thanks to the butter,
you can just run a knife along the sides to loosen it.
Look at our beautiful bars.
I just love the way that custard bakes
on top of that shortbread.
And now you can slice them into bars of any size.
If you wanted, you could wrap these individually
or put them together in a big container and freeze them.
Going for a piece with a lot of powdered sugar here.
Just look at that buttery crust
and that bright custard on top.
Mmm.
This just melt in your mouth, and they are so lemony.
Now that is well-plated.