These are my favorite lemon bars because they are really tart, the crust is crisp and the ratio of crust to lemon is just right. Not too much crust and a whole lotta lemon. If you aren’t a fan of really tart lemon bars, there is a less tart option, but this is how I like them.
The one drawback of this recipe is that they can be a little tricky to cut. The top may crack some as you pull them out of the pan. Luckily, a heavy shower of powdered sugar at the end hides imperfections, yummm.
Extra Tart Lemon Bars
Adapted from Lemon Squares recipe in “Stars Desserts” by Emily Luchetti
CRUST
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
FILLING
- 6 large eggs
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (See Note)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup powdered sugar for dusting
NOTE: If you don’t like your bars quite so tart, you could cut the lemon juice by 1/3 or even 1/2. If you do, I recommend adding the zest of one lemon to increase the lemon flavor without quite so much lemon tartness.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. If you can, line the bottom and sides of a 9 X 13-inch pan with a contiguous piece of aluminum foil that comes up about 2 inches over the long edges of the pan. (I’m a big fan of heavy duty aluminum foil that comes in larger sheets). You will use this extra later to lift the cool bars out of the pan. If you can’t line the pan in this way, you may want to just skip lining the pan.
LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE: You may notice that I lined my pan with parchment in my photos. I had an “issue” where it kept curling back onto my crust during baking and I had to add aluminum around the outside of the pan to hold it up. Also, because I only lined two sides of the pan, some of the lemon filling snuck under the parchment making things messy later. Avoid my mistake and line the pan, the bottom and all four sides with one very large contiguous piece of aluminum foil.
Combine the flour and the powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, add the butter and mix on low speed until the mixture is the dough comes together and is the size of small peas. It goes from being kind of a sandy dry mixture to this pea stage pretty quickly (quickly followed by being one big ball of dough, which is too much mixing).
Press the crust into the bottom of a 9 X 13-inch pan. The crust is very thin, which is what makes it good. Don’t worry, there is enough to cover the bottom.
Bake the crust for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Don’t undercook here, you want the crust to be crisp so that it can hold the filling later.
To make the filling, degrease the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. Whisk together the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk in the lemon juice and then the flour. Pour the lemon filling on top of the baked crust.
Bake the lemon bars for about 40 minutes or until the lemon filling is set.
Allow the bars to cool completely before slicing into bars. Dust with powdered sugar. Store extra bars in the fridge.
Although this can be picked up and eaten, I think it is best served with a fork. And I would never make it for a bake sale because the finished bars are very delicate, super delicious, but delicate.
I love lemon desserts, especially tart ones. Can’t wait to try these.
I love Emily’s book…these look wonderful. Agree with you on the cutting….thank goodness for the shower of powdered sugar! Cheers.
You are right. These are much too good for a bake sale! I’ve had the same trouble with parchment paper falling over into the product. I’ve used metal clips in the past to hold it up. Then I started using non-stick foil. Works even better.
When I made these the lemon had a pale foam like layer on top. Is this normal?
Very normal and yummy. — Heather
Thanks! I made these for Thxgiving and I thought I did something wrong (I never bake).
We all loved these bars here in MO. Very tart and delicious. I will make them soon again.
I have been in search of a rrreally good lemon bar recipe, with great crust and SUPER lemon tart/sweet taste and man this recipe is THE best. The bars are messy, but my family couldn’t get enough of them. Thank you for this recipe……will definitely be a repeat dessert! Just awesome.
I loved the tartness but mine had a disgustingly thick (1/3-1/2 in.) and gummy baked egg layer on top, probably from mixing the egg mixture too quickly, which made them really hard to eat and kind of ruined the whole batch. I was planning on serving them at a party so I’m debating whether it would be better to just peel the whole top layer off and leave them with the custard on top…
They’re called supertart (not tried as yet..) but I notice that TV network site has a lemon bar recipe w/ 1 cup of juice and only 2 cups of sugar. Would those be ridiculously, way too tart, if these are extra-tart with far more sugar?
I would think that to be a very tart bar indeed. I find the ratio of 1 cup lemon juice to 3 cups sugar to be very tart, but everyone has different tastebuds. If you try either recipe or both, let me know what you think.
My husband loves lemon bars but only very tart ones and I could not find a lemony enough version for him! These bars are the ticket. I have been making them for Fathers Day and other occasions for him for a few years now…he loves them. Easy and oh so lemony.
Googled “Tart lemon bar recipe”, as mine wasn’t tart enough, and this came up. Everyone loved them. The top is almost crusty over a middle that is gel-like, and then the shortbread bottom for the perfect lemon bar pucker experience. I think I got a little carried away with the powdered sugar, though. Inhaling powdered sugar is never fun!