Old-fashioned lemon bars are a timeless treat, and with one tweak (nuts), they can be even more delightful.
Classic Lemon Bars
I inherited all of my grandmother’s handwritten recipes – good old-fashioned lemon bars among them. Later, I came across a lemon bar recipe from a major recipe publisher, and lo and behold, the ingredients and ratios were exactly the same! Recently, I came across another published lemon bar recipe from a different source, and it’s exactly the same, too!
I’m not sure where this classic lemon bar recipe originated, but it seems to be the agreed-upon standard perfect lemon bar in the United States.
Old-Fashioned Lemon Bars + Pecans = Perfect Lemon Bars
As much as I love classic lemon bars, I usually find them to be too sweet.
Decreasing the sugar isn’t an option because it serves an important structural purpose.
Enhancing the Crust
Recently I had a lemon bar with nuts, and it was divine. The rich toasted nuts balanced the sweetness of the filling. This made me wonder about incorporating nuts into the typical shortbread crust and leaving the classic filling as is.
I am happy to report that adding nuts to the crust is the ultimate upgrade to the old-fashioned lemon bar – it’s kind of like a pecan sandy. Feel free to substitute walnuts for the pecans if you like.
Perfecting the Filling
Lemon bar filling is a classic for a reason. If that’s what you want, stick with the original filling recipe.
But! Lemon is just one type of citrus. You could replace the lemon juice for an equal amount of lime, grapefruit, or orange juice for the perfect twist on a classic.
Ingredients
CRUST
- All Purpose Flour
- Powdered Sugar
- Kosher salt
- Unsalted Butter
- Pecans
FILLING
- Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Lemon Zest
- Lemon Juice
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
Instructions
Crust
- Mix the dry ingredients.
- Work in the butter.
- Mix in the pecans.
- Press into a pan and bake.
Filling
- Whisk together all of the ingredients.
- Pour the filling onto the hot custard.
- Bake and cool.
Garnish
- Dust with powdered sugar.
- Cut into squares and serve.
Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoy this simple upgrade to the traditional lemon bar!
Pecan Lemon Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 Cup All Purpose Flour
- .25 Cup Powdered Sugar
- .25 tsp Kosher salt
- .5 Cup Unsalted Butter Cut into small cubes
- .25 Cup Pecans Toasted and chopped
Filling
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- 4 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
- 2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
- .5 tsp Baking Powder
Garnish
- Powdered Sugar For garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. Leave an overhang so that you can remove the lemon bars once cooled.
- Combine flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add butter and beat until incorporated. (Alternatively, you can use a food processor.)
- Stir in the toasted, chopped pecans.
- Press the shortbread mixture into the bottom of the 8-inch pan, and bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
- While the crust is baking, whisk together the granulated sugar, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, flour, and baking powder.
- Pour the filling onto the baked crust, and bake for another 20 minutes.
- Let the lemon bars cool completely.
- Use the parchment overhang to remove the lemon bars from the pan, and dust with powdered sugar.
- Cut into 2-inch squares.
