When I first got my trusty Hawaii’s Best Local Desserts cookbook years ago, I’ve always had this recipe on my mind. I don’t remember lemon bars as much as other local favorites, but it seems to pop up a lot in most of my local cookbooks. So being curious and having beautiful Meyer lemons, which I knew would make it that much sweeter, I finally decided to make these bars.
I am not good with making any type of crust–not pie, not bars, not anything. I guess I should try to practice more, but who needs to when I have the Pie King! He graciously helped me make the crust for these bars while I prepared the filling. It really is a simple easy dessert to make with few ingredients. Back to basic is the best. These bars came out great! I decided to use some flower cookie cutters I bought recently instead of cutting them into squares. The crust was nice and flaky, but I think this is more attributed to my Pie King and his “two knives method”. The Meyer lemons added a nice sweetness that may have been too sour for my taste with regular lemons.
Here is the recipe adapted from Hawaii’s Best Local Desserts, which I used Meyer lemons and decreased the amount of sugar in the filling by 1/4 of a cup.
Meyer Lemon Bars (adapted from Hawaii’s Best Local Desserts)
Ingredients:
Crust
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c powdered sugar
3/4 c cold butter
Filling
4 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/4 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 c fresh Meyer lemon juice
Directions:
To make the crust:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13 pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and powdered sugar.
- Using two butter knives cut the cold butter into the flour and powdered sugar until it resembles a crumbly consistency.
- Press into pan and bake for 15 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
To make the filling:
- Combine all ingredients into a stand mixer and mix well.
- Pour filling mixture over baked crust–no need to let the crust cool.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown or filling is set.
- Cut into squares or use a cookie cutter.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar and store in airtight container in the refrigerator.
With the few Meyer lemons I had left, I squeezed every last drop of that precious juice for yet another creation (stay tuned). But . . . I am excited that I may be seeing more yellow in my near future and in my own backyard!
Tagged: lemon, lemon bars, local hawaii dessert, meyer lemon, meyer lemon bars
OH those lemon flowers look gorgeous! I hope you and your family enjoy them!
Thanks Jackie! Actually made these a week ago–only found some time over the weekend to blog about it. It did taste good : )
Hi! this is funny, I just posted a recipe for a lemon bar cake with almost the same title… that’s how I got here and I think I’m staying. Very beautiful recipe.
Hi Giovanna! Thank you for stopping by my site. That is very funny–great minds think alike : )
I just subscribed to your site and already I see something I want to try–Alfajores! Ai love dulce de leche. This will be on my list of things to make. Looking forward to following your blog!
[...] I am sad to think that I used the last of those beautiful Meyer lemons (see my previous posts on Meyer Lemon Bars and Chambord-Limoncello Macarons) for these Madeleines. However, my little tree is still showing [...]
Lemon bars tend to be my own preferred dessert due to the fact they will taste so tasty plus you may simply cook all of them at home if you desire to.