To surprise and delight this holiday season, serve up this unexpected but delicious combination of chocolate and lemon. These brilliant bars boast a chocolate shortbread crust topped with lemon curd and the most decadent chocolate ganache.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 7 hr 30 min |
| Active: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 12 to 16 bars |
Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray, for the baking dish
- Two 5.3-ounce boxes shortbread cookies
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups sugar
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest (from about 1 lemon) plus 1 cup lemon juice (from about 8 lemons)
- 4 large eggs plus 2 yolks
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips (about 3/4 cup)
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- For the chocolate crust: Place a rimmed baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and preheat the oven and baking sheet to 350 degrees F. Spray the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on each side.
- Pulse the shortbread cookies in a food processor until finely ground and resembling sand. Add the cocoa powder, sugar and kosher salt and pulse just to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the dough comes together when squeezed and resembles wet sand.
- Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish and bake until the crust looks set and almost dry, about 15 minutes.
- While the crust is baking, make the lemon curd. (The curd needs to be poured into the hot crust before it cools.)
- For the lemon curd: Whisk together the sugar, flour, lemon zest, whole eggs and yolks in a medium bowl. Add the lemon juice and whisk until combined.
- When the crust is baked, gently pour the curd on top of the hot crust; it’s okay if a few crumbs float up. Carefully place the dish on the hot baking sheet and bake until the filling is set around the edges but still slightly jiggly in the middle, 30 to 35 minutes.
- Let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill and set completely, at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
- For the chocolate ganache: Heat the heavy cream and kosher salt in a small saucepan over medium heat until boiling. Add the chocolate chips to a medium heatproof bowl, pour over the heavy cream mixture and let sit for 5 minutes. Whisk together until smooth.
- Pour the ganache over the lemon curd, spread to smooth and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
- Use the parchment overhang to remove the bars from the pan. Cut into squares before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 14 servings |
| Calories | 437 |
| Total Fat | 21 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Carbohydrates | 61 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 44 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Cholesterol | 81 mg |
| Sodium | 292 mg |
Reviews
Cannot wait to try these! Can they be frozen?