Meyer Lemon Raspberry Bars
Homemade Meyer lemon raspberry bars are great twist on classic lemon bars! Start with a simple flaky and buttery shortbread crust and then top that with a thick and rich layer of lemon and raspberry curd. Tart, amazing, and a beautiful reddish-orange color.
Servings 16 bars
Calories 175kcal
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 1 cup (5 oz) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (2 oz) confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 2 tsp Meyer lemon zest
- 8 tbsp (4 oz, 1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
Lemon Raspberry Curd
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 2 tsp Meyer lemon zest
- 1 tbsp cream of tartar, optional
- 3 large eggs
- 8 egg yolks
- 1 cup Meyer lemon juice
- 1/2 cup packed raspberries
To Serve
- 16 fresh raspberries
- confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Instructions
Shortbread Crust
- Move the oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x9 nonstick baking pan with a long piece of either parchment paper or heavy duty aluminum foil so that the liner hangs over the side of the pan.
- Add the flour, confectioners' sugar, salt, and lemon zest to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Scatter the butter over the top of the flour and pulse the food processor until your dough is like coarse cornmeal and you have no visible chunks of butter.
- Pour the dough into the prepared pan, spread it out so it's even then press the dough done into a smooth layer. Bake crust until it's a medium brown, 20-25 minutes.
Lemon Raspberry Curd
- While your crust is baking, whisk together the granulated sugar, salt, lemon zest, and cream of tartar (if using). Add the whole eggs and yolks and whisk them in until the filling is smooth and uniform. Then pour in the lemon juice and whisk well. Finally, add the raspberries and mix in.
- Pour the filling into a medium saucepan and begin heating the curd over medium low heat, stirring frequently. Continue stirring and heating until your curd has become quite thick, is steaming hot, and has reached 165-170F. This should take about 8 minutes. If your curd is not starting to thick after about 5 minutes, carefully notch the heat up a little bit.
- Strain the thickened curd through a fine mesh strainer onto the browned crust. Bake the bars for 8-12 minutes, or until the filling is set and firm.
- Cool the bars completely to room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours, then chill them in the refrigerator for another hour. (This makes them easier to cut cleanly.)
To Serve
- Take the bars out of the refrigerator, gently run a knife along the two edges of the pan which aren't lined, and pull them out of the baking pan onto a cutting board.
- Run a sharp knife under hot water and cut into squares, wiping down the knife after each cut. (And under hot water again as needed.)
- Just before serving, using a fine mesh strainer, dust the bars with confectioners' sugar and top each bar with a fresh raspberry.
- Bars can be stored for up to 4 days in a sealed container. Do not top with raspberry until you are ready to serve them.
Notes
- If your filling is done, you can use the crust right out of the oven, or set it aside while you finish up.
- Squish the raspberries into the measuring cup so you have packed half cup and not a half cup of mostly air.
- Either fresh or frozen raspberries work in the filling.
- The cream of tartar is used to increase the tartness of the lemon filling.
- The filling on these bars is very moist, meaning that confectioners' sugar melts into them quite quickly. Dust them with the sugar just before serving.
- This recipe was inspired by Sunny Lemon Bars by Serious Eats and Lemoniest Lemon Bars by Cook's Illustrated.
Nutrition
Calories: 175kcal