The weather has been so nice here in California and I have been soaking up as much of the beautiful, sunny weather as I can. I love March because it always signals the beginning of Spring. I’ve been getting into gardening and I planted seeds last week and this week I’m seeing the first little seedlings sprout up. They're a wonderful reminder that Spring is right around the corner! But I digress; you came here to read about lemon bars.
These lemon bars are sweet, tangy and have the perfect hint of Spring! These zesty bars are the perfect addition to your next barbecue and an excellent way to use the last of your lemons before they’re out of season.
Like so many of my recipes lately, this one is also a family favorite. My mom has a Peanuts cookbook from her childhood that she would cook with all the time. We actually have two copies at our house because my dad had the exact same cookbook. But her favorite recipe was Lucy’s Lemon Squares from that Peanuts recipe book. Growing up, my mom made these for us all the time and we loved them. Over the years I have been adjusting the recipe and now I’m sharing this recipe with you.
Chloe was a big fan of this recipe! She was a very happy cat while eating these lemon bars which surprised me considering crossing cats and lemons usually makes a sour puss. (I know you missed my jokes, don’t pretend like you didn’t.) Chloe gives this recipe an 8/10!
Lemon Bars
Yield: 6 lemon bars
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients for the Crust
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup powdered sugar
½ cup butter, frozen and cubed*
Ingredients for the Lemon Topping
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 ½ Tbsp lemon juice
Zest of one lemon
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
Directions for Crust
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8” x 8” pan.
In a food processor, combine the all purpose flour, powdered sugar and butter. Pulse the ingredients together until the butter is pea sized and well incorporated.
Tightly pack the dough into the bottom of your greased pan and bake it in the oven for 15 minutes.
Directions for the Lemon Topping
While the crust bakes, whisk the sugar, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, baking powder and salt together until the mixture is well incorporated.
Once the crust has finished baking, pour the lemon mixture on top, return the pan to the oven, and continue baking for 20-25 minutes.
Allow the lemon bars to cool before slicing and serving.
Optionally, dust the lemon bars with more powdered sugar before serving.
Enjoy!
*Freeze the butter no less than 30 minutes before baking to ensure the butter is very cold.
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