Your lemon meringue pie just got squared — into bars, that is. Skip rolling out pie dough with this easy-to-make press-in version, and spread on the meringue and toast it under your broiler.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr |
| Active: | 1 hr 15 min |
| Yield: | 24 bars |
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus 1 tablespoon for buttering the pan
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted (see Cook’s Note)
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 4 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 6 lemons)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Pinch fine salt
- 4 large egg whites
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with foil leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Grease the foil and dish with 1 tablespoon butter.
- For the lemon bar crust: Pulse 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/3 cup sugar, butter, cornstarch and salt together in a food processor until a dough forms, about 1 minute. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake until the crust is golden at the edges and pale golden in the center, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
- For the lemon bar filling: Whisk together the eggs and egg yolks with the remaining 1 2/3 cups sugar and the remaining 1/2 cup flour in a bowl until smooth. Whisk in the lemon juice.
- Pour the filling over the warm crust and return to the oven. Bake until the filling is just set, about 30 minutes. Cool the bars, completely, on a wire rack, about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, for the meringue: Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a large saucepan. Whisk together the sugar, cream of tartar, salt and egg whites in a large bowl that sits comfortable in the saucepan without touching the water. Set the bowl above the boiling water and continue whisking until the mixture is hot to the touch (135 degrees F) and the sugar dissolves, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat on medium-high speed with an electric mixer until the whites hold soft peaks. Increase the speed to high and continue to beat until the meringue holds stiff, but spreadable peaks. Spread and swirl the meringue on top of the cooled lemon bars.
- Preheat the broiler to high. Set the lemon bars under the broiler until the meringue is evenly toasted and golden brown, about 30 seconds. (Alternatively, brown the meringue with a hand torch.) Cut into 24 squares and serve or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 24 servings |
| Calories | 194 |
| Total Fat | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 30 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Sugar | 21 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Cholesterol | 62 mg |
| Sodium | 53 mg |
Reviews
I love this recipe and so did my family i also reduced the sugar. And it was purrfeft as my cat would say
Great recipe! I somehow thought they would be different than regular lemon squares but with meringue on top. I will probably stick to my usual recipe and add the meringue. I did reduce the sugar. It was great! The meringue layer was super thick (2″).
I made this for our 4th of July gathering and it was a huge hit!
I’ve never made anything with meringue before but following the cooking directions exactly and using my stand mixer, the meringue set up beautifully. User error though, I looked away from the meringue under the broiler for too long and had some spots that were slightly more toasted than I would have liked.
I followed others advice and added the zest of one lemon and cut the sugar in the filling down to 1 1/2 cups and cut back the sugar in the meringue to 1/3 cup. It was still sweet but tasted well balanced with the tart filling. I will definitely make this again.
I’ve never made anything with meringue before but following the cooking directions exactly and using my stand mixer, the meringue set up beautifully. User error though, I looked away from the meringue under the broiler for too long and had some spots that were slightly more toasted than I would have liked.
I followed others advice and added the zest of one lemon and cut the sugar in the filling down to 1 1/2 cups and cut back the sugar in the meringue to 1/3 cup. It was still sweet but tasted well balanced with the tart filling. I will definitely make this again.
Made per the recipe. I made it the day before without the meringue and stuck it in the refrigerator overnight. Made the meringue in the morning. It was perfect. My hands were a sticky mess. Yummy!!!
These were amazing. I decreased the sugar a bit in the filling and added zest from one whole MEYER lemon. I also used a slightly smaller pyrex glass dish,so everthing would be a little thicker….more like a pie instead of a bar. just had to add about 10 extra min to the baking, but they were definitely a hit and looked beautiful. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
I made this both dairy and gluten-free by swapping out the butter for coconut oil and the all-purpose flour for gluten-free flour (Cup4cup). It was amazing! My adult daughter who doesn’t eat dessert said this is a keeper!
Agree with reviewer Andrea C: excessively sweet. Made them for Easter for a group of 20 and everyone agreed: the cookie base is just waaaaay too sugary. I will try making again because the potential for “awesome” is there. Next time will decrease sugar content of base by 1/2 cup, will decrease the filling sweetness by 1/3 cup while I’m at it because I do like to know I’m eating lemons when I squeeze so many fresh ones, and I will increase the amount of meringue which was perfectly adequate, but I would prefer a more decadent ocean-wave result for the meringue.
These just came out if the oven. I have an abundance of Blood Oranges ripening on the tree, so used those for a change of pace. Quite easy and delicious!
Amazing!!! These bars were soooooo delicious!!!
Made this yesterday as a special birthday gift for my daughter in law whose favorite dessert is lemon meringue pie We all loved it! I did not however, make the meringue as you posted. I just whipped the whites with 2 T of sugar per white and it was so easy and turned out perfect. As suggested by another review, I also added the zest of one lemon to the filling, I will make this dessert again and again! bookmarked!