Rosemary Lemon Bars
These Rosemary Lemon Bars are a bright and buttery spring dessert with a sweet-tart lemon filling and a subtle hint of fresh rosemary in the crust. Perfect for Easter, brunch, or afternoon tea! Makes 20 – 24 bars
Servings: 24
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar plus more for dusting bars
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes
- 2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Filling Ingredients:
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 - cups sugar
- 2/3 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1/3 cup flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 13-inch pan with parchment paper or lightly grease pan with butter or nonstick spray.
For the crust:
- Mix dry ingredients together then add in cold butter using pastry cutter to blend until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (Alternatively, use a food processor to pulse all ingredients together until combined and crumbly.)
- Sprinkle mixture into prepared pan and press firmly with fingers into even layer over entire pan bottom and about 1/2-inch up sides.
- Bake crust until edges turn lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes.
- While crust is baking, mix filling so it’s ready to pour on hot crust.
For the filling:
- In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Add the filling remaining ingredients and whisk until combined.
- When the crust is done, stir to re-blend filling if necessary and pour onto hot crust.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. Bake until filling feels firm when touched lightly, about 20-25 minutes.
- Transfer pan to wire rack; cool completely.
- For easier cutting chill bars in refrigerator a couple of hours.
- Dust with powdered sugar before cutting and serving. Garnish with small piece of rosemary if desired.
- Store any leftover bars in airtight container in refrigerator.
Notes
When zesting any citrus, only use the colored part of the peel, not the white pith underneath which is bitter.