The Best Lemon Bars

Piper and my love affair with baking took flight during Thanksgiving weekend 2018. She was about six when the family gathered at my Los Angeles home that year, and I wanted time alone with her, away from the hubbub. While searching for an activity that could be ours alone—something that did not require her parents but that her little brother could spy on—the answer became clear. A secret dessert! One we made behind closed doors and revealed with élan at the end of the meal. Lemon bars were the obvious choice.

If you haven’t made these beloved treats before, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Even the most delicious lemon bar requires no more than an hour in the kitchen. The technique is pure child’s play—no special equipment needed, ingredients that are sitting in most pantries, and entirely made by hand. This version hits the perfect balance of pillowy lemon cushion on top of melt-in-your-mouth crumbly crust. After our year of baking together, this is the recipe Piper submitted to her scout leader as her favorite for her troop’s cookbook project. Can we all take a collective sigh?

The Thanksgiving that she got hooked on baking, Piper brought these lemon bars to the table on a pretty platter and presented them to the appreciative crowd after an imaginary drum roll. For the rest of that long holiday weekend, she offered them to drop-ins—all of whom were delighted to take a bite and ogle her adorableness on that indulgent weekend. Once she experienced the pleasure of doling out small bites of perfect pleasure, how could she go back to just being an eater, I reasoned? Miraculously, she became a baker, like her granny!

At this point, she knows these lemon bars so well that she recently told me, “I’ve been making them every year since I was born.” Like her grandma, she may exaggerate for the sake of a good story.

To mark the end of a tough year for all of us, especially Texans who lost power for four days and then were without water, it was time to make the “best lemon bars” one more time. To put a little twist on it and keep her interest, I asked Piper to lead our session, since Kate told me she’s baking independently now. A couple of weeks ago she surprised her parents on their tenth anniversary with a homemade chocolate cake! (See Almost Flourless Chocolate Cake, on an earlier blog post.)

Our pastry session was stress free. All I had to do was follow along… and marvel at how much good can happen even in a very bad year.

RECIPE

The Best Lemon Bars

Crust

1 cup flour
¼ cup confectioner’s sugar
1 stick butter, softened
½ teaspoon grated lemon zest

Topping

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine flour and sugar in a mixing bowl and stir together with a fork. Cut butter into tablespoon-sized pieces and add to bowl, along with zest. Lightly pinch together with fingers or pastry blender until a dough is formed. Transfer to an uncoated 8-inch square cake pan and press evenly over the bottom. Bake 18 minutes, until edges are golden and the center is done. Remove from oven and cool on rack 5 minutes. Reduce the oven to 325F.

To make the topping: lightly whisk the eggs in a medium bowl. Whisk in sugar, lemon juice, and zest. Stir in flour and baking powder. Don’t worry about lumps or white foam, they will disappear in the oven. Pour over baked crust and return to the oven. Bake 25 minutes until top is set when presses in the center.

Let cool on rack, dust with confectioner’s sugar, cut into squares, and remove from pan with an offset spatula or butter knife. Store in the refrigerator. Makes about 20 bars.