These lemon-flavored, not-too-sweet bars are an easy dessert to prepare at any time. The bars have the tiniest hint of a crumb topping, which, in my opinion, gives a wonderful touch of texture. However, you are welcome to omit it totally and use the full recipe for the bottom crust instead. They are delicious at room temperature, but they are even better cold! Place in the fridge to store.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Additional Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Servings: | 9 |
| Yield: | 9 bars |
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt, divided
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 6 ounces fresh raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a 9-inch square pan with enough parchment paper to have overhang on all sides.
- Mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, powdered sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl until combined. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Measure out 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture and set aside to use for the topping. Press remaining crumb mixture firmly and evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Bake crust in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
- While crust bakes, prepare filling: Mix together white sugar, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, 2 tablespoons flour, baking powder, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl until well combined.
- Remove crust from oven and scatter raspberries evenly over top. Pour filling evenly over the raspberries, then sprinkle reserved 1/2 cup crumb mixture randomly over top.
- Place pan back into the oven and bake until bars are set, 20 to 25 minutes. Allow bars to cool completely in the pan, 30 to 45 minutes. Use the parchment overhang to remove from the pan and cut into 9 bars.
- For a slightly sweeter bar, you can add up to 1 1/2 cups sugar to the filling, if desired.
- To skip the sparse crumb topping, simply do not reserve 1/2 cup of the crumb mixture, and instead press the entire amount of dough into the bottom of the pan. It will be a slightly thicker crust, but not by much.
- For best results, I recommend refrigerating the bars until completely chilled before slicing and serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 349 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 47 g |
| Cholesterol | 82 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 161 mg |
| Sugars | 28 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
These bars are super yummy! I would say to use a larger pan or increase the cooking time. After 25 minutes the bars were not set. I end up cooking them with foil an additional 30 minutes. I used 2 tsp. of lemon peel instead of zest. They are well worth the time involved and my kids loved them!!