I am a fan of Deb Perelman of the Smitten Kitchen blog. My husband bought me her cookbook for Christmas and I have loved sampling her recipes. I was most intrigued by her Whole Lemon bars recipe but wanted to wait until I had lemons worthy of the task before attempting to make them.
In early March, we had a dinner party with a friend from California and she brought me the best hostess present I have ever received, a dozen or so fresh-from-the-tree lemons from the East Bay in California. With fresh lemons I was convinced to try the idea of using an entire lemon to make a lemon bar. The lazy cook in me was pleased that I didn’t have to zest a lemon and then juice it, I just sliced the lemon in a few pieces and then tossed it in a food processor. The result was luxurious. These are not just lemon bars, but a mini-lemon pie that you can eat with your fingers. The top half is thick and rich and the bottom the perfect crispness to balance out the sweetness of the bar.
You can double this recipe and use a 9X13 pan, but these little morsels are rich.
I made a gluten free version just substituting a gluten free flour mix for the flour called for in the recipe. It was a hit with the gluten-free husband. It’s especially nice that the filling uses cornstarch so the filling is naturally gluten-free.
Crust:
1 cup all purpose flour (or 1 cup gluten free flour mix for your GF friends)
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks, plus more for greasing the pan
Filling:
1 small to medium sized lemon
1 1/3 cups sugar
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon table salt
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle of the oven. Use parchment paper to cover an 8 inch square pan. Deb’s idea is to make a “sling” out of parchment paper so that you can retrieve the bars easy when finished. It works best to cut out two 12-inch lengths of parchment and then trim to fit the bottom of the pan. Place one sheet in the pan and then place the second perpendicular to the first sheet. Lightly butter or spray to coat the exposed part of the sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
Make the crust: Blend the flour, sugar and salt in the work bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is powdery but if firmly pinched will hold the pinched shape. Turn the dough crumbs into the prepared pans and press the dough across the bottom and about 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan. Prick the dough all over with the fork and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. If any part bubbles up, prick with a fork. Leave the oven on.
Make the filling: Cut your lemon in half. Examine your lemon. If the white part is thicker than 1/4 inch you need to remove some of the pith so the bitterness doesn’t overwhelm the bars. Remove the skin and pith from half of the lemon in downward cuts and discard the pith and skin. You will need to use both halves of the lemon. The one half with skin and pith removed and the second half in its entirety.
Cut your lemon halves into thin rings and discard any of the seeds. Toss the lemon rounds, lemon flesh and peel in the bowl of your food processor. Add the sugar and run the machine until the lemon is thoroughly pureed, about two minutes. Add the butter and again run the machine until the mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula. Make sure the butter and eggs are at room temperature so that the mixture doesn’t curdle. Add the eggs, salt, cornstarch and salt and pulse in short bursts until the mixture is evenly combined.
Pour the lemon mixture over the crust and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the filling is set and just beginning to brown on the top. Bump the pan a little and the filling should just jiggle slightly. Error on the side of under – baking, that is what I did and they turned out wonderfully.
Let the pan cool completely and then remove the bars using the parchment paper. Dust with powdered sugar if desired and then cut into 16 squares.
Whole Lemon Bars
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: Deb Perelman, Smitten Kitchen
Recipe type: Dessert
Serves: 16
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour (or 1 cup gluten free flour mix for your GF friends)
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks, plus more for greasing the pan
- 1 small to medium sized lemon
- 1⅓ cups sugar
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the middle of the oven. Use parchment paper to cover an 8 inch square pan. Deb's idea is to make a "sling" out of parchment paper so that you can retrieve the bars easy when finished. It works best to cut out two 12-inch lengths of parchment and then trim to fit the bottom of the pan. Place one sheet in the pan and then place the second perpendicular to the first sheet. Lightly butter or spray to coat the exposed part of the sheet with nonstick cooking spray.
- Make the crust: Blend the flour, sugar and salt in the work bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is powdery but if firmly pinched will hold the pinched shape. Turn the dough crumbs into the prepared pans and press the dough across the bottom and about ½ inch up the sides of the pan. Prick the dough all over with the fork and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. If any part bubbles up, prick with a fork. Leave the oven on.
- Make the filling: Cut your lemon in half. Examine your lemon. If the white part is thicker than ¼ inch you need to remove some of the pith so the bitterness doesn't overwhelm the bars. Remove the skin and pith from half of the lemon in downward cuts and discard the pith and skin. You will need to use both halves of the lemon. The one half with skin and pith removed and the second half in its entirety.
- Cut your lemon halves into thin rings and discard any of the seeds. Toss the lemon rounds, lemon flesh and peel in the bowl of your food processor. Add the sugar and run the machine until the lemon is thoroughly pureed, about two minutes. Add the butter and again run the machine until the mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula. Make sure the butter and eggs are at room temperature so that the mixture doesn't curdle. Add the eggs, salt, cornstarch and salt and pulse in short bursts until the mixture is evenly combined.
- Pour the lemon mixture over the crust and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the filling is set and just beginning to brown on the top. Bump the pan a little and the filling should just jiggle slightly. Error on the side of under - baking, that is what I did and they turned out wonderfully.
- Let the pan cool completely and then remove the bars using the parchment paper. Dust with powdered sugar if desired and then cut into 16 squares.
