Easy Lemon Bars Recipe – Gemma’s Bigger Bolder Baking

Hi Bold Bakers! Since the beginning of Bigger Bolder Baking, hands down one of the most requested videos has been for lemon bars Finally I'm happy to tell you that your wait is over, I have a fantastic recipe for you

The written recipe can be found on my website, BiggerBolderBakingcom with hundreds of other recipes so make sure you go over there and check them out So into a nice large bowl, we’re going to add in some flour, powdered sugar, and regular sugar So this is a shortbread that we’re making so a really important ingredient is yummy butter Now for this recipe the butter doesn't want to be really cold, have it at around room temperature, it'll make it so much easier to blend into the flour

So then with nice clean hands go in there and rub the butter into the flour Until you get a nice soft dough that will form your shortbread So the reason we add in two separate sugars is for different texture The sugar makes it a little bit granular and then the powdered sugar makes it what we call ‘short’ which is really dry and crumbly So once the shortbread kinda clumps together in big clumps you can feel it get kind of wetter, it is ready

So, here I have my little tin, this is an 8×8” and it’s been buttered and lined, now I'm just gonna take my shortbread and press into the base of your tin And then with your hand just push it out into the base and make sure that it’s nice and level Well, as level as you can Okay, lovely That's our shortbread, now what you want to do before we put it in the oven is we’re going to prick it with a fork, just to make sure that it doesn't rise up

So just a few times on top, let the steam out So now here's the thing with this recipe, you want to bake your shortbread off in advance before we add on the filling because you want to make sure that it is fully cooked So right now we’re gonna pop this into the oven You a bake the shortbread off at 325ºF/160ºC for roughly 25 minutes or until a very light golden color So while our base is in the oven, let's make our filling

Now technically what this is, is somewhat of a lemon curd, it’s really zesty and just delicious So our first ingredient, ‘cause it’s a custard, is egg yolks Now if you don't eat eggs, unfortunately there is no substitute for this recipe because it’s a really key ingredient Next we’re gonna add in some sugar for sweetness, it’s also going to counterbalance that lovely lemon juice, then our lemon juice, lots of lovely lemon juice Then some lemon zest

I absolutely adore lemon zest It’s one of my favorites Then here I have some butter, it’s room temperature, it’s really soft, you just want it to be soft enough so it can mix into the rest of the ingredients And then lastly I am gonna add a touch of vanilla, ‘cause I love a little vanilla in all my baking Then we’re just gonna whisk all of the ingredients together

This is a super easy recipe and great for feeding a crowd, so if you've got friends coming over, or a party, this is always without a doubt a fan favorite So now you can probably see the reason your butter has to be really soft, because it has to just blend in with all of the other ingredients So leave it out a room temperature for a few hours and it’ll be grand Okay, lovely, I'm gonna set this aside and let's check on our shortbread Okay lovely, this is perfect, now come here to me, I want you to see what it looks like when it’s done

You just want it to be a very light golden brown color, you don't need it dark at all, just fully cooked through So this is perfect Now, we have our base, we have our filling, and all you want to do is just pour this straight on top For that lovely lemon layer Perfect

You can already see we made these in no time and then once you taste them, I mean they're out of this world So now these guys are ready to be baked off So bake your lemon bars off 325ºF/160ºC for roughly 40 minutes or until a light brown on top So here we have our lovely looking lemon bars, now as you can see they are lightly golden brown on top, because they don't need a whole lot of baking, and then you see the sides bubbled up, that's all our lovely lemon filling, these are gonna be absolutely gorgeous, right now I'm just gonna set them over to the side, let them cool down, and then we’re gonna get them out of the tin and cut them So once your lemon bars have cooled down slightly, just go ahead and lift them carefully out of the tin, once they're cooled down they're so much easier to cut

And then what we’re going to do is because I like to be generous, I'm going to cut these into 9 squares So across, and across I can already feel how thick these are, I'm excited to see them So now traditionally lemon bars are always finished with a little bit of powdered sugar on top and it just makes them look really pretty So I'm gonna generously dust them with the sugar, all over

Now if you want to cut these a little bit smaller you totally can, that's up to you Gorgeous Now let’s lift one out and have a look As you can see I like to do nice big slices Okay! So, full disclosure, this is my first time making lemon bars, and I've never even eaten one before

I’ve never had a lemon bar but all the requests that have come in, I've never eaten one and I have to say without a doubt, this might be my favorite lemon dessert that I've made The filling is so thick and you've got that lovely shortbread on the bottom, it’s sweet and tangy at the same time, without a doubt I'm gonna be making these again So you know my rule, if you make this recipe then rate it on my website I hope you enjoyed this episode, hand on my heart, I really did because they were absolutely delicious, I’ll see you back here really soon for more Bigger Bolder Baking

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