Once you have set out to prepare any dish using a single recipe, you might find yourself preparing other dishes using additional recipes. And this is very true if you have leftover ingredients that are unused. Lemon, as an ingredient, has more use than just making juices. You can use your unused lemons to make lemon bars.
But to make excellent and mouthwatering lemon bars, you will need tart, citrusy flavors, and thickeners. Also, you’re going to need America’s test kitchen lemon bars recipe to help you out. So, be sure to read on for more information.
When making your lemon bars, the first thing you want to do is to lay the foundation. Starting the lemon bars from the bottom makes sure that your lemon bars have a great texture and complement of flavors. But before we dive deeper into how to make lemon bars, let us look at the ingredients that you will need.
Lemon Bars Recipe America’s test Kitchen
Ingredients
When making the crust, you will need:
- 1¼ cups of unbleached, all-purpose flour.
- ½ cup of confectioners’ sugar, and extra for dusting.
- ½ teaspoon of salt.
- 1 stick of unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces. Also, butter should be softened and cool.
When making the filling, you will need:
- 7 large egg yolks.
- 2 large eggs.
- 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar.
- 2/3 cup of fresh lemon juice (4-5 lemons).
- ¼ cup of grated lemon zest.
- ½ stick unsalted butter that is cut into 4 pieces.
- 3 tablespoons of heavy cream.
Directions of preparation
When making your lemon bars, you will need to start with the crust. While the typical crust is usually molded from a British shortbread cookie, you can diversify a bit for a tastier lemon bar. Be sure to use a more classic version of the crust.
And to do this, you can use a food processor to cut cold butter into flour, confectioner’s sugar, and salt mixture. Then, you will have to adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line an 8-inch square pan with Aluminum foil. You can as well use a 9-inch square pan for this part.
Either way, you should fold the Aluminum foil into two and line your square pan. You will need two folded Aluminum foils of the same size. Line the square pan with the first Aluminum sheet, making sure that you also line the corners and the sides of the pan. And line the square pan with the second Aluminum sheet in the same manner.
Once you are done, spray the Aluminum sheets with a nonstick cooking spray. Use a food processor to combine flour, confectioners’ sugar, salt, and cold butter until you have a perfect mixture. The good news is that combining all these ingredients takes only 10 seconds. And this makes sure that you are ready for the next step in a short time.
You should be having a pale-yellow mixture that looks like a coarse meal at this point. Sprinkle the mixture of all the ingredients into the square pan you just prepared and firmly press the mixture with your fingers. Make sure that you have firmly pressed the mixture into an even layer on the bottom of the square pan. Insert the square pan in the oven and bake the crust for 20 minutes. By the end of the baking process, your crust will have a golden-brown color.
Now, it is time to make the filling. Besides, you already have a good base for the tart lemon filling that will make the lemon bars tasteful! You should make the filling when the crust is still baking. Begin making the filling by whisking the yolk with whole eggs in a nonreactive saucepan. Then, add granulated sugar to the yolk and whole eggs in the saucepan and whist until everything properly combines.
Add the lemon juice, zest, and salt and then whisk for an excellent combination. The last thing to do is adding the butter pieces and cooking the mixture in the saucepan over medium-low heat while constantly stirring. Continue stirring the mixture until it slightly thickens and has a temperature of 170°F if you take the reading with an instant-read thermometer.
When you have a curd, you will have to pour it through a single-mesh strainer made of stainless-steel placed over a non-reactive bowl. Then, you will stir in the heavy cream and pour the curd over the warm crust immediately when it is from the oven.
Bake the crust and filling until the filling is shiny and opaque. Also, make sure to bake the filling until its center jiggles slightly when you shake the filling. Baking the filling until it reaches this point might take 10 to 15 minutes.
Let the baked food cool for about 2 hours on a wire rack before you can remove the bars from the pan. Afterward, you might need to use a knife to cut the bars into squares. The Aluminum foils will come in handy when removing the lemon bars from the square pan. Before serving the lemon bars, be sure to dust them with confectioners’ sugar. You can make 16 bars from the lemon bar on the square pan. And this means you can serve the food to 16 guests at a dinner party.
Conclusion
When making lemon bars, you will need a recipe to help you out. Fortunately, you have America’s test kitchen lemon bars recipe to help you make delicious food from leftover lemons. It’s amazing how useful your lemons might be.
What’s more, you can make delicious lemon bars from readily available ingredients. All these steps make the preparation of lemon bars a total breeze. This recipe details every step so you can comprehend the necessary steps to follow when baking the crust and filling for the lemon bars. As such, you can improve your cooking skills if you use this recipe. Now, what’s left is making mouthwatering and tasteful lemon bars!
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