Eggless Lemon Bars Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What to do when lemon bars won't set? ›

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.

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.

Why do my lemon bars taste eggy? 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.

To ensure even and clean cuts, it's helpful to score the lemon bars before cutting them fully. This means lightly marking the desired shapes with your knife or spatula without applying too much pressure. This step acts as a guide and prevents the crust from crumbling or the filling from oozing out when cutting.

I usually cool them for about 2 hours at room temperature, then stick in the refrigerator for 1-2 more hours until pretty chilled. I recommend serving chilled. Once cool, lift the parchment paper out of the pan using the overhang on the sides. Dust with confectioners' sugar and cut into squares before serving.

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).

Why are my lemon bars brown on top? Check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer periodically to make sure the settings are correct. If you find that your desserts brown too quickly on the top, bake on a lower rack in your oven to prevent this from happening.

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!

Set a timer for 5 minutes after pulling the crust from the oven to ensure it doesn't cool too much—if the shortbread is allowed to reach room temperature, the uncooked lemon curd will slip off the top and pool in the bottom of the dish, turning your lemon bars upside down (sounds bananas until it happens to you!).

Keep an eye on them; rotate every five minutes or so. Once the lemon has set up (doesn't jiggle) they should be done.

Why do lemon bars taste metallic? ›

Don't bake in aluminum foil or directly in an aluminum pan. Aluminum will react with the acidic lemon juice and give the bars a metallic taste and can even affect the color.

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.

First and foremost – line the pan with parchment paper! You can also use foil. Be sure that enough of the parchment paper sticks out of the sides so that you can use it as a handle to lift the lemon bars out of the pan. I also found that making sure the crust was properly baked made it less likely to stick.

The overall recipe calls for a pan size of 9" x 13", which is a total area of 117 square inches. Remember, to find the area of a rectangular shape, you simply multiply the length by the width. If we want to cut 1" x 1" bars from this, we will get a total of 117 bars, since each bar is 1 square inch.

I am going out on a limb against popular opinions by saying, YES, it's okay to place your under baked or underdone cookies back into the oven for a second bake.

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.)

If they used much more lemon juice, they'd: have to bake their bars for a long time to set them up, end up with a soggy crust, and. probably have curdled edges, where the hot pan would overcook the edges while waiting for the center to firm up.