There’s nothing quite like lemon to brighten the day! Full of tart and sweet, these little squares pack gorgeous flavors with a silky lemon topping that sits on a tender pastry crust woven with more lemon zest!
Cook Time 55 minutesmins
Course Dessert
Servings 24to 30 lemon squares
Equipment
Pastry knife
13" x 9" baking pan
Ingredients
For the pastry:
1cupbutter, softened for about 1 hour
2cupsflour
½teaspoonkosher salt
½cuppowdered sugar
1tablespoonlemon zest, about 4 lemons
For the lemon topping:
4extra-large eggs
2cupssugar
1tablespoonlemon zest, about 4 lemons
6tablespoonsfreshly squeezed lemon juice, about 2-½ lemons
1teaspoonpure vanilla extract
1tablespoonplus 1 teaspoon flour
Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 325-degrees - a lower temperature than many recipes.
To make the pastry:
Let the butter soften at room temperature for about 1 hour or until it’s soft enough to easily cut with a pastry knife.
Add the flour along with the kosher salt, powdered sugar and the lemon zest. Using a pastry knife cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it’s in small pieces and blended together. (You can also combine using a hand mixer.)
Turn the flour and butter mixture out into an ungreased 13” x 9” baking pan. Gently press the pastry into the bottom of the pan. Bake the pastry in a 325-degree oven for 15 minutes. While the pastry cooks make the lemon topping.
To make the lemon topping:
Place the eggs in a mixing bowl and whisk until light, about 20 to 30 seconds.
Add the sugar, whisking to blend.
Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, plus the vanilla and lemon extracts. Blend in the flour, whisking until smooth, about 30 seconds.
As soon as the pastry is done, pour the lemon mixture over the top of the hot pastry. Bake at 325-degrees for an additional 40 minutes.
While the lemon squares are still warm dust the top with powdered sugar.
Let them cool completely to set up before cutting. For a cleaner cut, chill before cutting the squares.
Notes
*Lemon extract can be found in specialty food stores or online.