Lemon bars with salt and olive oil
This fabulous and unusual lemon bar recipe by Melissa Clark of the New York Times is truly delicious. Who would have thought olive oil and sea salt would make a better lemon bar? Make them with Meyer lemons for the best lemon bars ever.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 16 bars 1x
- Category: 30 minutes or less preparation, Baked goodies, fruit, Kid friendly, Make ahead, Requires chilling time, Sweets
- Cuisine: New American
Ingredients
Scale
To make the crust
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 T powdered sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1/4 t fine sea salt
- 10 T unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1 T pieces
To make the lemon curd
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (preferably Meyer lemons)
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 whole eggs
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 t cornstarch
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- 4 T cold butter, cut into 8 pieces
- 1/4 cup good fruity extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 T powdered sugar
- Maldon sea salt
Instructions
To make the crust
- Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9″ x 9″ baking pan with a piece of parchment, leaving a good size paper handle on each side of the pan (See photo). These paper “handles” will be used to pull the bars out of the pan.
- Put the first five ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the chunks of cold butter and continue pulsing until the dough looks like crumbly cornmeal.
- Transfer the dough to the lined baking pan and use your fingers to compress the dough into the bottom of the pan to form a uniform layer. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
Prepare the lemon curd while the shortbread is baking.
- In a small saucepan whisk together lemon juice, sugar, whole eggs, egg yolks, cornstarch and sea salt to combine. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Once the curd comes to a boil cook it one more minute. Do not overcook or the curd will thin out. Remove from the stove and strain into a bowl, pushing the curd through the strainer with a wooden spoon. Whisk in lemon zest, cold butter and olive oil.
- When the shortbread is done, pour the curd into the hot crust and put it back in the oven. Bake until the curd is set, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for two hours, or until ready to serve.
- When you are ready to serve, take the pan out of the oven and using the parchment handles gently lift the pastry out of the pan. Sift the remaining powdered sugar over the top and sprinkle with Maldon salt. Cut into bars and serve.
Notes
Lemon bars need to be refrigerated for at least an hour before serving. These lemon bars are very tender and should be kept in the refrigerator until ready to serve.