These lemon bars were terrific. Not your more commonly found lemon squares in bazaars and malls, these are little squares of solid shortbread with an intense lemon curd on top and 
a nice dusting of confectioners sugar to temper the zing of lemon. First, make a shortbread base with the following ingredients 10 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cold; 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar and 1 and1/4 cup of all-purpose flour. Take out your food processor and blitz the two sugars for about a minute to make them nice and fine. Add the butter in little cubes cold and pulse until sugar is mixed in. Add the flour and pulse until there are moist chunks of dough. Put the dough in a plastic bag and press it together to form one piece.
Put the dough in a 8 by 8 inch pan and push the dough to the edges and ensure that the dough is relatively flat and well-spread out. Poke holes in the dough with the tines of a fork 
and bake for about 30 minutes in a 325 degree F oven until the edges are pale golden color. While the shortbread is baking, make the lemon curd in the recipe here. Once the shortbread is cooked, remove it from the oven and turn the temperature down to 300 degree F. Spread the lemon curd on top of the shortbread and spread evenly and cook in the oven for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, cool on a wire rack and store in the refrigerator for several hours before cutting the bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving. These were really good. I thought they were excellent with tea but I bet they would go with just about anything… The recipe here is Ms. Berenbaum’s from her book “Rose’s Christmas Cookies,†a superb addition to any serious baker’s library.
15 Responses
Yum!! Lemon curd and shortbread –two of my favorite things! and these bars look fab!
One of my favorite lemon-y desserts is Bizu’s lemon tart. Yum!
I’d love to make this one but where’s the curd recipe? I re read your instructions for the dough, but couldn’t find the lemon curd. Please let me have it?…
Please forget my previous message, I finally found the famous recipe in your archives. I should be doing more looking up and reading your archives. I need a lot of catching up since I moved back to Montreal. Tres interessant, comme d’habitude. Merci.
Did you line your baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper? It amazes me it came out of the pan in one piece. Last time I did one it looks like it came from a war zone – the edges were like broken teeth even though I left it in the refrigerator overnight. I did not line my baking pan. The paper cup did great justice for layer of beautiful presentation another stamp of yours. Powdered sugar gives another dimension of taste and appeal.
Your lemon bars look amazing! I just talked my wife into baking some this weekend and I can not wait.
What variety of lemon do you use? Personally, I prefer Meyer lemons, which are sweeter and less acidic than those commonly found in local grocers.
The lemon bars looks yum! I’ll have to try this once the lemons in our backyard ripens, at the moment they are still green, around autumn, maybe… hope it will look (and taste) as good as those…
They look so good!! Can I have some?? Hehehehe..:)
Cheers! MarketMan, Mrs. MarketMan and the Kid.
Kung Hei Fat Choi!! :)
Hi MM,
I love lemon squares. And yours are so evenly cut, how do you do that?
Maria Clara, yes, you can line the pan with aluminum foil and let it overlap on TWO sides only so you can “pull up” the entire dessert in one go, after it has been chilled. Then transfer to a cutting board and use a long sharp knife to cut it. Kieran, I would love to have Meyer lemons for this dessert but they aren’t available in Manila, to my knowledge. I just use whatever fresh lemons I find…though I would agree quality sometimes varies. Queen B, what luxury to have your own fruiting lemon trees! Didi, the one pan didn’t last long! Ria, cut them cold, with a long sharp knife, clean off the knife after each cut (if anal retentive) and to get even sizes measure the edges with a ruler and plot toothpicks so that the squares turn out actually square… Also, I get to pick the best looking ones for the photos…not everything looked so perfect…heehee.
i luurrve shortbread! and i luurrve the flavor of lemon. how cool is that? thanks for sharing the recipe MM…
I love lemon bars/squares!
i just came from south west Greece and my friend’s country home was just surrounded by lemon trees. I was basically day dreaming what I would do with those lemons.
oooooohhh. these look so good. i love lemon pastries.
Thanks for the recipe MM, nakakapag laway ito. I can’t wait to try it.
Scrumptious!!