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sea salt olive oil lemon bars

Lemon Bars with Olive Oil and Flaky Sea Salt


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  • Author: Jess Bunn
  • Total Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes
  • Yield: 24 Lemon Bars
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Description

Lemon bars – who doesn’t adore these sunshine yellow morsels of happiness? This is our take on Melissa Clark of NYT Cooking’s classic lemon bar recipe.


Ingredients

Units

Crust

  • 1 1/4 cups/155g all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup/50g granulated sugar
  • 3 Tbsp/25g icing sugar
  • 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
  • 10 Tbsp/142g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Lemon Curd

  • 4 to 6 lemons
  • 1 1/2 cups/300g sugar
  • 2 large eggs, plus 3 yolks
  • 1 1/2 tsp/5g cornstarch
  • a pinch of fine sea salt
  • 4 Tbsp/57g butter
  • 1/4 cup/60ml fruity extra-virgin olive oil
  • icing sugar and flaky sea salt, to sprinkle

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 160 degrees C and line a 23cm square baking pan with enough baking paper to hang over two of the sides (to be used as handles later to lift the bars out of the pan).
  2. To make the shortbread base, pulse together the flour, granulated sugar, icing sugar, lemon zest and salt in a food processor, or whisk together in a large bowl. Add the butter and pulse (or use two knives or your fingers) to cut the butter into the flour until a crumbly dough forms. Press the dough into the prepared pan and bake until the shortbread is pale golden, 30 to 35 minutes.
  3. While the shortbread is baking, prepare the lemon curd: Grate 1/2 tablespoons of zest from the lemons and set it aside. Squeeze the lemons and set aside 3/4 cup of juice.
  4. In a small pot, whisk together the lemon juice, sugar, eggs and yolks, cornstarch and fine sea salt over medium heat until boiling and thickened, 2 to 5 minutes. Ensure the mixture comes to a boil and stays there for 30 seconds or so; it should thicken before removing from the heat.  Once the curd boils do not cook for longer than 1 minute or you risk the curd thinning out again. Remove the curd from the heat and strain it into a bowl. Whisk in the butter, olive oil and lemon zest.
  5. When the shortbread is ready, remove it from the oven and carefully pour the lemon curd onto the shortbread base; then return the pan to the oven. Bake until the curd is just set, 10 to 15 minutes more. Allow it to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold before cutting into bars. Sprinkle with icing sugar and flaky sea salt right before serving.

Enjoy!

  • Prep Time: 30 Minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 Hour
  • Category: Baked Goods
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1
  • Calories: 180.29kcal
  • Sugar: 16.38g
  • Sodium: 58mg
  • Fat: 10.03g
  • Saturated Fat: 4.84g
  • Unsaturated Fat: 4.76g
  • Trans Fat: 0g
  • Carbohydrates: 22.01g
  • Fiber: 0.35g
  • Protein: 1.62g
  • Cholesterol: 53.67mg

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