Strawberry Lemon Bars
I have been very into the punchiness of freeze-dried strawberries lately. They strawberry-fy anything without really needing to alter the recipe much. Buttercream, shortbread, sugar cookie dough, granola- you name it. Freeze-dried fruit didn’t used to be so prolific in grocery stores but suddenly I see it everywhere on the snack aisle in tons of different varieties. It’s jam-packed with flavor and the crunchy texture is perfect for topping off baked goods that tend to be one-note.
In these bars, I used freeze-dried strawberries that had been ground into a fine powder in a food processor in the shortbread crust. You can omit that step entirely, or swap strawberry for any type of freeze-dried fruit that goes with lemon, if strawberry isn’t your thing. Fresh strawberries/berries will not work- they have far too much moisture to be incorporated into the recipe this way. The beauty of freeze-dried strawberries is that all of the water in strawberries that would normally be problematic has been removed and concentrated the flavor. Fresh berries would make a lovely garnish atop meringue or whipped cream to finish.
I make them in an 8“x8” metal pan because I have a firm belief that the thicker pie bars are, the better. If you’re looking for a more traditional lemon bar shape (and shorter bake time) use a 9”x13” pan. And a note on lemon juice…you can’t convince me that bottled lemon juice tastes the same as fresh juice. For this recipe, it takes 4-5 lemons depending on the size to get to the cup of juice needed. I use a hand-held juicer and strain it once for seeds- it’s really not that bad and worth it for the taste, I promise! Don’t skip the zest either.
Strawberry Lemon Bars
Ingredients
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2c granulated sugar
- 2c all-purpose flour
- 1/2tsp salt
- 1/4c freeze-dried strawberry powder
- 6 eggs
- 1c granulated sugar
- 2Tbsp lemon zest (about two lemons)
- 1c fresh lemon juice (4-5 large lemons)
- 1c all-purpose flour
- 1/2tsp salt
Instructions
- Pulse freeze-dried strawberries in a food processor until they are a fine powder. No need to sift if there are still a few larger pieces. You can omit this step entirely for regular lemon bars.
- Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add salt, flour and strawberry powder and stir just until combined.
- Press mixture into an 8"x8" pan lined with parchment paper for thick bars. For more traditional, thin/rectangular lemon bars, use a 9"x13" pan.
- Bake at 350*F for 12-15 minutes. Allow to completely cool. A larger pan will need less time in the oven- the crust should bake to be set but not browned.
- Using a whisk or a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, thoroughly mix eggs, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest until combined.
- Whisk flour and salt in a separate bowl to aerate and get rid of any lumps. Add flour to egg/lemon juice mixture and whisk to combine.
- Pour filling over completely cooled shortbread crust.
- Bake at 350*F for 30-40 minutes more, or until the center of your bars is firm when the pan is jiggled. If using a 9"x13" pan, baking time will be closer to 30 minutes. For an 8"x* pan, baking time will be closer to 40 minutes. Bars should be set in the center, but not browned around the edges. If browning starts before the center is set, cover the pan with a piece of foil to accelerate baking.
- Slice cooled bars into squares, rectangles or right triangles and dust with powdered sugar for serving.
