How To Make The Best Lemon Bars

There's just something about lemon bars that makes them almost sentimental. It's comforting and nostalgic with its buttery shortbread base and its tart and silky custard. Honestly, making lemon bars is a great way to tell someone I love you or thank you or I'm here for you and we've worked for weeks testing everything you can imagine to create the best most balanced lemon bars you'll ever eat. A lemon bar is only as good as its base and that all starts with butter. Our secret is to use brown butter and cold butter. Brown butter is going to give a more caramelized nutty and complex flavor while the cold butter is going to help the shortbread crust keep its crisp structure preventing it from being an overly dense and greasy dough. To brown the butter, place unsalted butter in a pan over medium heat. Let this cook for four to six minutes until golden brown. Using a light colored pan is going to help you keep an eye on your butter and prevent it from burning because brown butter is delicious but burnt butter is terrible. Once it's a beautiful nutty brown color, refrigerate until solid but still soft. Now, let's talk sugars. We've tested granulated, powdered, and brown sugar. Ultimately, we liked a mixture of granulated and powdered sugar. The powdered sugar creates that melt-in-your-mouth texture and tenderness while the granulated sugar makes the shortbread light and crisp. To make our crust, we'll combine our sugars with flour, salt, and we like to use some lemon zest here. This gives it that extra punchy flavor that balances the richness of the butter. Then, add the brown butter and half cup cold butter. Pulse this just until the mixture resembles coarse sand. If it becomes a large mass, it's gone too far and you'll end up with greasy dense dough. We tested a lot of crust to curd ratios and we think thicker shortbreads pair best with the tart punchy curd. About a quarter of an inch thick is what we're going for. Once it's evenly pressed into your baking dish, place it in the fridge for 20 minutes. Then, bake at 325 for 20 to 25 minutes just until it's ever so slightly golden. Then, take a fork and poke holes all over this crust. This is called docking. This prevents the crust from bubbling up on the second bake and ensures an even flat surface that helps the lemon curd adhere properly to the base. We tested a lot of curd variations and found making the curd on the stove top before you bake it gives you the best most silky texture. To make a great curd, it all comes down to the eggs. Using only whole eggs can make your curd thin and liquidy. Just yolks and it can end up being too thick and just tasting too eggy. So, we landed on a mixture of both but for this curd, we are doing a mix of cold whole eggs and room temperature egg yolks. Cold whole eggs will prevent our mixture from heating up too fast giving us more time to mix and room temp yolks will ensure our mixture blends fully without separating. In a saucepan over low heat, combine sugar, salt, cornstarch, lemon zest, your whole eggs and egg yolks. Whisk this continuously until no sugar granules are left. This will take about three minutes. Then, add some fresh lemon juice. It's got to be fresh. Bring the heat up to medium low and whisk until the mixture has started to thicken and it reaches 170 degrees. This is going to take another three to five minutes. If it coats the back of a spoon, you're there. Then, remove from the heat and pour through a fine mesh sieve. This just makes sure your curd is silky smooth. This next part is our secret to a beautiful glossy curd. Use both butter and olive oil. The butter adds a rich and creamy mouthfeel while the olive oil balances the bright acidity of the lemon, preventing the curd from being overly sweet. First, add in cold chunks of butter and stir until they are fully incorporated. Then, slowly pour in the olive oil, whisking constantly as you do. It's done when your mixture is smooth and glossy. Look how gorgeous that is! We are so close now. We'll pour this over the cooled crust and bake it for 10 to 15 minutes. You'll know it's done when the edges are set, but there is a slight jiggle in the middle. Let this rest for one hour at room temperature and then cover and place in the fridge for four hours. If you skip this step, you'll have lemon bar soup on your hands. Now, it's time for finishing touches. Using a hot, clean knife, cut them into even slices. Then, dust with powdered sugar. Pair this with some black tea or, if you're celebrating, some prosecco. You can find this recipe and many more on tasty.co. And just remember, when life gives you lemons, make lemon bars.