Better Lemon Bars

TinyArtist

Better Lemon Bars
These lemon bars are rich, chewy, and bursting with lemon flavor, making this dessert a great addition to a picnic or end-of-summer party. Although there are two separate baking steps, the actual preparation of ingredients is very simple and yields incredible results.

Prep: 20 min Chill: 4 hours Cook: 40 min Total: 5 hours Yields 24 bars

Better Lemon Bars


    Crust
    2 tablespoons butter
    Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with butter. Line with parchment paper, allowing paper to hang over two edges of the pan to allow for easier removal after baking.
    1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
    96g / ½ cup sugar
    1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
    1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt

    In a large bowl, stir melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and sea salt together until combined.
    248g / 2 cups all-purpose flour
    Add flour and stir until just combined.

    Pour dough mixture into prepared baking dish. Using a large spatula, press dough out to fill bottom of the pan.
    Bake at 350°F until golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes. While crust is baking, prepare filling.

    Filling
    432g / 2 ¼ cup sugar
    47g / 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
    In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar and flour until combined.
    6 large eggs
    1 cup fresh lemon juice, from 8 to 10 lemons
    1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

    Add eggs to bowl. Juice lemons and add juice and zest to bowl. Whisk together until completely combined and filling mixture is smooth. Set aside.
    Remove crust from oven when ready and place on a wire rack. Gently pour prepared lemon filling over top. It should naturally spread out into an even layer.
    Reduce oven heat to 300°F and bake until filling has set and no longer jiggles in the center when pan is gently shaken, about 20 to 25 additional minutes.
    Remove from oven and let cool at room temperature, about 1 hour. Chill entire dish in the fridge until cold, about 3 hours.

    16g / 2 tablespoons confectioner's sugar, optional
    Dust confectioner's sugar over top of bars. Cut into 24 pieces. Serve chilled. Bars will keep for 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.