Ina Garten's Lemon Bars - Something Swanky Dessert Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Do lemon bars need to be refrigerated after baking? ›

Lemon bars should be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated in order to prevent bacterial growth or foodborne illness. The filling in lemon bars is made with eggs and can become a breeding ground for bacteria if it's kept in the danger zone (between 41 and 153 degrees F).

These are by far my favorite lemon bars. The thick layer of lemon curd really sets them apart! Its almost like a mini lemon meringue pie without the meringue and a crispy and sweet crust topped with powdered sugar. We like to add a liberal dusting of powdered sugar to ours prior to freezing them.

The crust forms when the sugar in the lemon bar mixture caramelizes and browns during baking, creating a slightly firm, crispy layer over the bars. The top crust isn't always visible, as we all enjoy sprinkling powdered sugar on top of the bars before serving.

Ingredients. Recipes vary slightly, but lemon bar recipes call for lemon juice, and many suggest fresh squeezed. Other ingredients include butter, white sugar, flour, eggs, and salt.

Here's what you can do: Return them to the oven: Preheat your oven to the same temperature as the original baking temperature (usually 350°F). Place the undercooked lemon bars back in the oven and bake them until the custard sets. Keep an eye on them and rotate the pan every 5 minutes to ensure even baking [1].

Seeing a thin whitish foamy layer of air bubbles on top of your baked lemon bars is completely normal. It is the air bubbles created from whisking the eggs rising to the surface during baking. Lemon bars taste the same with or without that layer and a dusting of icing sugar covers it right up!

Yes, lemon bars freeze beautifully—they are even good frozen! To freeze the bars, let them cool completely and freeze the batch whole, covered tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, for up to three months. (The cut bars can also be frozen in a single layer.)

Underbaking: This is the most common reason for gooey lemon bars. The filling needs enough time to set, which can be tricky since oven temperatures can vary and the visual cues for doneness are subtle. Solution: Bake the bars until the filling is just set and no longer wobbles when you gently shake the pan.

On average, there are 3 tablespoons of juice in one lemon. So, for a cup of fresh lemon juice, you would need 5 and a quarter lemons. But, because some lemons are less juicy than others, it's safe to say you'd need 5 and a half lemons for a cup of lemon juice.

If your lemon bars have a strong eggy taste/smell, it's likely due to the lemon curd being overbaked. Be sure to take the lemon bars out of the oven as soon as they're done. Your oven may also be running a little hot.

What is the brown dot on my lemon? ›

Brown spots vary in appearance and can indicate a range of problems. Uniform spots with clear boundaries often point to fungal issues, while irregular blotches could signal bacterial infections. Spots with a yellow halo might be citrus canker, and those that look like tiny scabs could be a sign of lemon scab disease.

I have found that a hot, wet, very sharp knife helps quite a bit. Also, make sure the bars are completely chilled before cutting.

Do lemon bars need to be refrigerated? Yes, it's best to store lemon bars in the refrigerator. To store them, simply cover them with plastic wrap and pop them in the fridge. Stored this way, your lemon bars should keep for about 1 week.

Cracks - Cracks happen a lot when either when the lemon mixture if beaten a lot or you bake your bars at too high of a temperature and take them out of the oven. The dramatic change in temperature will sometimes create these cracks. They do not affect the taste, and you can cover it with powdered sugar.

To Keep Powdered Sugar from Melting, Add Cornstarch

So go slow and be conservative with the amount of cornstarch you add. A good rule of thumb is 1 teaspoon of cornstarch for every 1/4 cup of powdered sugar used.

You can safely store lemons at room temperature, but like any fruit, they will start to go bad quicker. On average, you have about a week to use lemons stored at room temperature before they start to dry out, go soft, or worse, begin to mold.

In a covered, airtight container for up to one week. It doesn't really freeze well. Lemon curd does contain eggs and dairy (butter), so I'd be ok leaving it out for the day if I plan on serving it, but anything overnight definitely would need to be refrigerated.

Let your lemon bars cool completely. You can eat these while they are still a bit warm, but I like them best cold from the fridge. That's where you want to store them, too. They will stay fresh for a few days if they last that long.

Some of our products that contain cream cheese must be refrigerated, like our Strawberry cake or Lemon cake. Others do not have to be refrigerated, like cakes that are covered in fondant or buttercream.