We are blessed with a plethora of citrus fruit at the end of winter here in California. I am always looking for ways to use up lemons before they go bad. This recipe is a wonderful way to use up lemons. It has a lovely refreshing lemony flavor that is sure to please.
Sometimes the classics are truly are the best. This Betty Crocker recipe has been around for decades, and for good reason. It makes the loveliest, perfectly sweetened, tart, lemon squares you will ever bake up. The ratio between the buttery crust and the tangy filling is utter perfection!
Start by zesting a lemon and extracting the juice.
Line an 8X8 inch or 9X9 inch baking pan with foil wrapping excess foil up over the edges of the pan.
In a mixing bowl combine, flour, softened butter and powdered sugar.
Use a pastry cutter to the butter into the dry ingredients. Use your hands to finish combining dough and form it into a ball.
Use your fingers to press the dough into the bottom of foil lined 8 or 9 inch baking dish. Press dough about a ½ an inch up the sides of the pan.
Bake the crust at 350°F for 20 minutes. Crust will be a very light golden brown.
While crust is baking prepare the lemon filling.
In the bowl of a stand mixer bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt on high speed for about 3 minutes until light and frothy.
Remove crust from the oven once it has baked for 20 minutes and pour the lemon filling into hot crust.
Return tart to the oven and bake for another 30-45 minutes.
Test for doneness by lightly pressing the center of the tart with your finger. Tart is done when no indentation remains when touched lightly in the center.
Cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack for about 1 hour. Sprinkle tart liberally with powdered sugar.
Carefully lift lemon tart out of the pan using the overhanging foil to assist. Then remove foil lining from underneath the tart.
Cut into squares to serve.
EXPERT TIPS from the Betty Crocker website:
- Line your baking pan with heavy-duty foil for easy removal and cutting. Turn the pan over and form the foil over it, then turn the pan upright and drop the foil in, gently pressing it into the corners. Fold the foil overhang over the top edges of the pan.
- One medium lemon should give you just enough zest and juice to make these refreshing bar cookies. For extra lemony goodness use a larger lemon and double the amount of zest and juice.
- The bar crust is considered “short” because of the ratio of flour, butter, and sugar—making it extraordinarily tender and crumbly.
- Grate just the yellow part of the lemon skin—the zest, which contains the essential flavor oils of the fruit. The underlying white part, called the pith, is bitter. Use a microplane grater to remove just that very top layer of the lemon skin.
These are sooooooo good!!! A little bit of sunshine in every tangy bite!
Refreshingly Tart Lemon Squares
Equipment
- 8X8 inch or 9X9 inch baking pan.
- aluminum foil
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- powdered sugar, to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Line baking pan with foil, wrapping excess foil up and over the edges of the pan.
- In a mixing bowl combine flour, softened butter and powdered sugar until a stiff dough forms.
- Use your fingers to press dough into the bottom of foil lined 8 or 9 inch baking dish. Press dough ½ an inch up the sides of the pan.
- Bake crust for 20 minutes.
- While crust is baking prepare the lemon filling.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt on high speed for about 3 minutes until light and frothy.
- Remove crust once it has baked for 20 minutes.
- Pour filling into hot crust and return tart to the oven.
- Bake for another 30-45 minutes.
- Test for doneness by lightly pressing the center of the tart with your finger. Tart is done when no indentation remains when touched lightly in the center.
- Cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack for about 1 hour.
- Carefully lift lemon tart out of the pan using the overhanging foil to assist. Then remove foil lining from underneath the tart.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Cut into squares to serve.
Did You Make This?
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