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lemon meringue bar on pie server

The best lemon meringue bars

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  • Author: Elizabeth Farr
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 9 large bars 1x

Description

Dreamy creamy lemon meringue bars with cloud-like meringue topping, and an impossibly smooth lemon filling on top a lemon spiked vanilla cookie crust.

Ingredients

Scale

Cooking spray for the pan

Crust

Lemon filling

  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup of granulated sugar (100 g)
  • 1/4 cup lemon sugar (50 g), see note
  • 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 2-3 lemons
  • 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (59 mL)

Meringue topping

  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar (66 grams)
  • Pinch of cream of tartar

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Spritz an 8 x 8 pan with a little cooking spray and then place a piece of parchment that covers the bottom and two of the sides.  Spray a little more on top of the parchment and then place a second piece of parchment that covers the other two sides.
  2. Using a paddle attachment on a stand mixer, mix the powdered sugar, butter and egg yolk until just combined. butter, powdered sugar, and egg yolk
  3. Add in the vanilla and the salt to the butter to combine. The mixture should be well-combined but not fluffy. butter mixed for butter cookies
  4. Pour in the flour, then pulse the mixer a few times before letting it run just long enough for the flour to disappear–about 10 seconds. Turn off the mixer, and use a baking spatula to squish in any flour that’s hanging out at the bottom of the bowl.
  5. Press the dough into the bottom of the pan into as even of a layer as you can get.  If you have one, place a piece of plastic over the dough and use a small double sided rolling pin to get into the corners.  Build up the edge of the crust just a little at the edges, and make sure that the entire bottom of the pan is covered. rolling dough into pan for crust
  6. Bake the crust for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, take the crust out of the oven and cover it loosely with a piece of foil.  Bake for 5 more minutes (25 minutes total) until the crust is set and lightly browned around the edges.
  7. While the crust is baking, prepare the filling.
  8. Juice enough lemons to get 6 Tablespoons of lemon juice.  Strain the juice through a fine mesh sieve to get out any seeds or pulp.
  9. Whisk the granulated sugar and lemon sugar with the flour in a small bowl.  Pour the sugar into a 1 qt pot with the lemon juice and the eggs and then whisk until everything is smooth.
  10. Cook the lemon mixture over medium heat, whisking continuously until it just starts to thicken.  It should not be thick enough to hold its shape in a spoon.  The lemon will just barely coat the back of a spoon.  To be more precise, the temperature of the lemon filling should be between 160 and 165 F. cooked lemon filling barely coating the back of a spoon
  11. Once the lemon filling is at that magic 160 F temperature, take it off the heat and press it through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any of the eggy bits and foam from the mixture.  strained lemon filling for lemon meringue barsIt is okay to spoon back in any of the lemon peel from the lemon sugar back into the strained lemon filling.  What you’re looking for is an ultra smooth lemon mixture with no visible sugar anywhere.
  12. Once the lemon is strained, stir in the whipping cream.
  13. Pull the finished crust out of the oven when the 20 minutes is up.  Pour the hot filling on the hot crust and place back in the oven for 8 minutes.  After that 8 minutes, the filling should be perfectly set.
  14. Set aside the lemon bars to cool while you prepare the meringue topping. baked lemon filling for lemon meringue bars
  15. Fill a small pot with 1” of water and bring it to a boil.  Once the water is at a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer.  Mix the egg whites with the sugar and a pinch of cream of tartar in the bottom of a mixing bowl.  Place the bowl inside the pot and then whisk continuously until the egg whites are about 140 degrees.  At this point, the sugar should be completely dissolved and the egg whites should start to gain some volume.  Whip the egg whites with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer using the whip attachment until they are thick, glossy, and hold their shape. whipped meringue on whip
  16. Spoon the meringue on top of the bars in swoops and swirls.  You can also pipe the meringue right on top. closeup of swirls of meringue on top of lemon bars
  17. Place the bars until a broiler until the meringue starts to get brown tips on the raised bits.  Alternatively, move your bars to a wire rack and peel back the parchment paper.  From there you can use a blowtorch to brown the top.  Obviously practice safety if you go the blowtorch route, making sure there are no kids or furry friends around that might get curious about fire. browned meringue on top of lemon meringue bars
  18. Serve the bars right away or chill them before cutting.  You can cut them into 16 small bars or 9 large pieces.  Bars are best eaten within 2 days, and chill anything you’re not serving right away. lemon meringue bar on plate

Notes

Lemon sugar: If you don’t have a batch of lemon sugar on hand, just sub in the amount of granulated sugar listed with added lemon zest.  So for the crust that would be: 1 tablespoon of sugar + 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest, and for the filling, use 3/4 cup sugar and 2 teaspoons of lemon zest.

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 35 minutes
  • Category: Bar cookies
  • Method: Stovetop, Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 bar
  • Calories: 335
  • Sugar: 32.4 g
  • Sodium: 69.8 mg
  • Fat: 15.3 g
  • Carbohydrates: 44.4 g
  • Protein: 5.9 g
  • Cholesterol: 134.1 mg

Find it online: https://bakingwithtradition.com/best-lemon-meringue-bars/