In times of abundance and in times of scarcity, there is always at least one lemon in my refrigerator. I now buy them one or two at a time as there had been a few occasions when I allowed a few bags of lemons go to waste (something I promised myself would never happen again). But this past week bags of lemons were on sale at one of the grocery stores I frequent. To buy or not to buy was the question I was asking myself. After giving it some thought (and trying not to be impulsive), the answer was 'buy', but only on the condition I would make either Lemon Bars or Lemon Curd. Having a plan with options in place, the bag of big beautiful lemons went into the shopping cart.
Arriving home, I decided to use the lemons to make Lemon Curd, however, that meant finding a book I had read almost twenty years ago, one having a recipe for a most amazing Lemon Curd in it. Only I couldn't remember the name of the book and wasn't exactly sure where this book was. I was pretty confident I would remember it, if I could only see it. After searching through most of the places where books are displayed or stored here, this needle in the haystack book was miraculously found (Bean Blossom Dreams: A City Family's Search for a Simple Country Life). Yet, after all of the time spent searching, I ended up deciding to save making the Lemon Curd for when I was going to make a Pavlova (a foreshadowing of a future blog posting). Not all was lost. Lemons Bars on Brown Butter Shortbread wasn't such a bad second option use for the bag of lemons.
There are many Lemon Bar recipes out there. They generally fall into two camps: bars having a thick lemony filling on top of a shortbread crust and bars having more of a 1:1 lemony filling to crust ratio. My preference and this recipe falls into the second camp. What separates these Lemon Bars from some of the other recipes out there is the brown butter shortbread crust and the use of sea salt in both the filling and the crust. The browned butter adds the right amount of nuttiness to the crust while the sea salt compliments both the crust and filling perfectly.
Browning the butter adds a step to making the shortbread crust, but the time it takes is pale in comparison to the flavor it creates. Browned butter, sometimes called beurre noisette (translation: hazelnut butter), smells like hazelnuts, has a nutty, toasted flavor, and helps make almost any sauce or baked good taste richer. In this recipe the butter is browned, cooled, refrigerated and then allowed to soften slightly. If you have never made brown butter before, America's Test Kitchen put together a great (less than two minutes) YouTube video on how to make it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-eLe2zuTyQ. If you are a visual learner like I am, it is worth watching.
The dough for this crust is made in a standing mixer with a paddle attachment. Once made it is pressed into a 9x13 inch baking pan lined with parchment paper and chilled for 30 minutes. In a preheated 350 degree oven, the crust is baked for 20-25 minutes or until it is lightly browned.
During the last ten minutes of the crust's baking time, the filling is assembled as it needs to be ready to be poured over the hot crust as soon as it comes out of the oven. Depending on the size of your lemons you will need at least four, maybe five. Room temperature lemons are always much easier to juice than ones taken right out of the refrigerator. The eggs, milk and sea salt are whisked together in a large bowl. In another bowl the sugar and flour are whisked together before the lemon juice and zest are added. After whisking until the sugar has dissolved, the eggs are added and the entire mixture is whisked until well combined. The entire mixture is poured over the just out of the oven hot crust.
Reducing the oven temperature to 325 degrees, the lemon bars are baked for 20-25 minutes or until the center is set (my baking time was 25 minutes). Once the lemon bars have cooled completely, cover and place in the refrigerator to chill. The chilling makes the bars much easier to remove from the pan and cut.
You can dust the lemon bars with sifted confectionary sugar either before or after you cut them (with a sharp knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry). After cutting them into bars or squares, place on either pieces of parchment paper or in paper baking cups before putting on a platter or packing up.
How do I love these Lemon Bars on Brown Butter Shortbread? Oh, let me count the ways. They hold their shape, they have the perfect crust to filling ratio, the filling is creamy and lemony without being overly tart or sugary sweet, and the richness and nuttiness of the brown butter shortbread crust makes them addictive.
Lemon Bars on Brown Butter Shortbread (crust recipe inspired by Martha Stewart and lemon filling recipe inspired by Cook's Illustrated)
Ingredients
Crust
12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, browned, chilled and brought back to room temperature
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectionary sugar
pinch of sea salt
Lemon Filling
4 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons)
2 teaspoons lemon zest
3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1/3 cup whole milk
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Confectionary sugar for dusting
Directions
Crust
1. Make browned butter using 12 Tablespoons of unsalted butter. Cool slightly, place in refrigerator to chill, then remove from refrigerator to slightly soften.
2. Sift flour, confectionary sugar and sea salt in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter until smooth.
4. Mix in flour mixture on low speed until combined and a dough forms (be patient here, it comes together).
5. Press dough into a parchment paper lined 9x13 inch baking pan. Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes or until firm. Note: Dough should come up at least 1/2 inch up sides of pan as you don't want your filling sliding under your crust. Overall thickness of pressed dough will be about 1/4 inch.
6. In a preheated 350 degree oven, bake crust until lightly golden (approximately 20-25 minutes).
Important Note: Prepare filling before crust is finished baking.
Lemon Filling
1. Whisk eggs, milk and salt together. Set aside.
2. Whisk together flour and sugar. Add lemon juice and zest whisking until sugar has dissolved.
3. Blend egg mixture into lemon/sugar mixture, whisking until combined.
4. Pour mixture over hot crust.
5. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake for 20-25 minutes or until filling is set in the center.
6. Cool to room temperature, cover and chill in the refrigerator.
7. Remove chilled bars from baking pan.
8. Sprinkle with sifted confectionary sugar.
9. Dip a long, sharp knife (not serrated) into hot water, wipe clean, then cut into squares or bars.
10. Place cut lemon bars/squares on pieces of parchment paper or place in baking cups. Serve immediately. Store bars covered in the refrigerator.
