One of my most loved recipes is for lemon squares. They are intensely tart and fresh tasting, with a thin, buttery crust and a soft, jelly like curd. I’ve become quite the snob about it and barely order them at any bakery, even though they’re one of my favorite treats, because I think these are the best! Every time I bring them to a gathering people ask me for the recipe. Here’s the secret… you’ve probably had it under your roof for ages!

The lemon curd bar recipe from the Joy of Cooking is where it’s at! The use of lemon zest along with over a cup of lemon juice makes the yellow citrus the star of the bar. The worst thing is biting into an overly sweet or only slightly lemon-y lemon square. It should knock you out of your chair and leave you shining from the inside out! The big, bold flavor is perfect any time of the year, and these are the #1 asked for birthday treat by most of my friends (unless they’re craving some chocolate Funeral Cake).

Like I said, you can find the recipe in the Joy of Cooking cookbook under lemon curd, but I’ve also included the recipe with pictures to give you the full instructional experience.

Lemon Squares

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks of Butter
1/4 cup Powdered Sugar
1 1/2 cups Flour
A pinch of Salt
6 Eggs
3 cups Sugar
1 cup + 2 Tbs. Lemon Juice (about 5-6 lemons)
Zest from 1 Lemon
1/2 cup Flour

1. Preheat the oven to 325 deg F. Mix together the powdered sugar, 1 1/2 cups of flour, and salt in a bowl. Cut up the butter into small pieces and put them into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Use a pastry blender, or your hands, to break up the butter into even small pieces while incorporating it fully into the dry ingredients. This will make a crumbly mixture that sticks together slightly when pressed down.

Take this mixture and pour it into a 13″ x 9″ pan. Use your fingers to press it down into the bottom of the pan and up the sides about a 1/2″. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Once it has baked, place on a cooling rack until you are done with the lemon curd. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 deg F.

2. In a new bowl, mix together the eggs and the sugar until fully combined. Add in the lemon zest. Juice up the zested lemon and about 5 others to get the 1 cup + 2 Tbs. of lemon juice and add this into the bowl. Make sure not to get any seeds in the mixture. (NOTE: You may also use lemon juice from a bottle.) Mix this all up. Lastly, slowly add the 1/2 cup of flour to the mixture to thicken it slightly.

Once the crust has come out of the oven, pour the lemon curd into the pan and carefully place it back into the oven at 300 deg F. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the middle of the pan does not giggle anymore when moved around.

Cool the lemon lemon squares on a cooling rack for at least an hour. This will allow the lemon curd to set so it does not ooze everywhere when you cut them. Cut the lemon squares into, well, squares, and place on a tray. Sprinkle them with powdered sugar and serve!

Tips: These bars can be saved on the counter for up to a week. Placing the squares into the fridge to cool or keep will cause the lemon curd to congeal into the crust and it will no longer be flaky and delicious. Some people don’t mind this, but I prefer my crust to taste more like a shortbread cookie and less like a pie crust.