Lemon Meringue Bars

These lemon meringue bar recipe will  the crust is a crumbly, lemon scented buttery shortbread with poppyseeds added for extra flavor and crisp. The filling a smooth, thick and sharp lemon curd (based on this lemon curd recipe) and the topping a creamy, fluffy, vanilla meringue. Toasted – for a wonderful marshmallow topping.

Before you get to the recipe, I need to warn you: you will require *ten* eggs for this. I can’t emphasize to you enough how hard I took that. The broke college girl inside of me is still cringing…. but if you follow the steps closely you’ll have the most perfect lemon bars ever. 

Why these are the best lemon meringue bars

1. The Crust: we love a buttery, crumbly shortbread crust whether it’s on cheesecake bars, Blueberry bars, and even my brownies have gotten a softly sweet shortbread bottom. I was not about to graham cracker this meticulously crafted recipe.

2. The Filling: this is LEMONY and sharp. This isn’t the first time you’ve seen this lemon curd, it was on a cheesecake here, in a baklava pie here, in a ganache here and most recently stuffed into these cookies. It’s so LUSH and smooth. I used to think I’d never make a better lemon curd than Ina’s one but then I made the filling from this pie and have been tweaking it over the past year. Doing away with just using yolks helped mute the egginess, and allow the lemon to shine.

3. The Topping: I love a meringue and will find literally any excuse to make one. I have a few methods that ensure my meringues turn out and for this one I doubled down on the vanilla. Often, just a bean or just the extract doesn’t give me as much sweet vanilla flavor as I like, so here we’ll use both. The swiss method ensures all the sugar will dissolve and ensure we have a super silky texture. 

Recipe Ingredients

Eggs: Large eggs. Straight from the fridge is fine. For the meringue, if you can remember – separate the eggs when cold and then leave them at room temperature until you begin making it.

Lemons: Size matters a lot here, mine were medium sized I’d say but if yours were small you’ll probably need 10-12. And if they are large, 5 whole lemons might be enough to squeeze out enough fresh lemon juice. 

Butter: unsalted butter. Fat percentage doesn’t matter a huge amount here so use whatever you have on hand. It can be cold or at room temperature for both the crust and the curd. In both cases mixing will just take longer if it’s cold.

Flour: For the crust, any all purpose flour is good. If you want this to be gluten-free use a 1 to 1 substitute flour and that should work well.

Salt: fine sea salt. Table salt is much saltier so it’s a poor substitute. Salt enhances the flavor of the curd and dims the sweetness of the meringue. I add it with the eggs because it helps break down the whites when whisked.

Vanilla: Use a good quality vanilla for the meringue because it’s the dominate taste. If you don’t have or don’t want to purchase vanilla beans, use more extract, about 2 tsps in the meringue.

Sugar: cannot be reduced or substituted for in the meringue as it is what stabilizes the whipped egg whites. Use a fine granulated sugar as it will dissolve more quickly in the curd and meringue.

Poppy seeds: I buy mine in bulk from a local middle eastern grocery store where they are cheaper. Avoid buying them in the little spice jars, they’re overpriced!

How to make Lemon Meringue Bars

Start with the filling

Because it can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container, we’ll make the lemon curd first and poured over the crust when it’s time to make the bars.

To get started, set a bowl with the butter (sliced) and a sieve over it.

Then into a saucepan add the sugar and zest the lemons over it. Rub the sugar and lemon zest together, this helps release the oils so you get more of that sweet lemon flavor. 

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the salt, really really well to help break up the white bits.

Then add the lemon juice to the saucepean and stir. Pour in the eggs and whisk, whisk whisk. Set it over medium low heat.

Now switch to a rubber spatula. Stir the curd as it heats, cooks and thickens. Once it covers the back of the spatula, it’s done cooking. Stay close-by, watching it so it doesn’t overcook.

Pour it through the mesh sieve, this is to strain out the zest but also any white bits of egg. Scrape the bottom of the sieve so you can catch all the curd possible. Then use a clean spoon to stir until the butter is fully melted and incorporated. At this stage you can transfer it to a jar and refrigerate for up to a week (or freeze for a month) if you aren’t ready to make the bars.

The Crust

Preheat the oven to 350 F. We’re going to pre-bake the crust so it isn’t doughy after baking it with the filling. Prepare a square pan with parchment paper (grease it first so the paper sticks to the pan). 

In a medium sized bowl add the dry ingredients for the crust and whisk. 

Now add the softened butter and beat until the mix is in little bits, when you squeeze it together it should hold shape. 

Pour the crust into the prepared pan and press it into one even layer. Use the back of a measuring cup to pack it in. 

Bake the crust for 20-25 minutes, until golden on the sides. 

Bake the lemon filling 

I tend to add 2 teaspoons of tapioca starch or cornstarch to my filling to ensure it stays thick. Just whisk it in well. 

Once the crust is baked, pour the curd in and then use a toothpick to pop some of the bubbles.

Return it to the oven and bake until mostly set (the middle might be slightly jiggly), it will thicken and set more as it cools. 

Refrigerate this for at least a few hours, or even overnight before you make the meringue.

The Meringue Topping

Meringues don’t last long once they go on wet fillings so only start this step on the day of serving.

First bring a pot filled 1/3 of the way with water to a soft simmer. Find a heatproof bowl that can fit over the pan without touching the water (but don’t put it in the heat yet) and pour in the sugar, then the eggs and quickly whisk them. Put the bowl over the pot and whisk.

Check it by pinching the mix with your fingers; can you detect sugar granules? If so keep warming it. Once you can’t detect any and the mixture is smooth, it’s ready to be taken off the heat.

Pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Turn the mixer to medium speed and let it whip; it can take up to 10 minutes to get to stiff peaks; ie when you can turn the whisk upside down and the mixture doesn’t droop. While it’s whisking you’ll add the vanillas & salt.

Once the meringue is ready spread it over the cold lemon curd in an even layer (but don’t be shy of making some nice swoops with the back of a spoon). Put the pan back in the fridge so meringue can set.

When it’s time to serve, use a kitchen torch to torch the top of the meringue but avoid the parchment paper.

If you are broiling these in the oven, lift the bars out of the pan and then remove the pieces of parchment paper then broil. 

Use a clean, sharp knife to slice into the bars. (You can heat the knife by placing it under hot water, but dry it before slicing).

Troubleshooting the Recipe

The curd didn’t thicken in the pan, or didn’t set once baked 

The curd thickens when brought to 170 F. You may need to cook it longer. Some bakers make theirs in a double boiler so that they don’t have to worry about burning it, and if you are doing this note that it will take longer.

Also remember to stir it often while it’s cooking. Since the heat is at the bottom it will thicken there first, you want it to cook evenly so to distribute the heat all over you need to keep stirring.

There were white bits in the curd 

White bits are from the egg, they were cooked before they got mixed with the rest of the ingredients. Avoid this by whisking the eggs really well. I almost always have a few of these, they will be sieved out once the curd is cooked.

The meringue didn’t reach stiff peaks 

By hand or by mixer it’s almost impossible and very difficult to get a perfectly whipped meringue. So first, make sure you’re using the right tools.

If this happens it could be that something got into the mix that’s stopping the proteins from holding; a little bit of egg yolk, some oil, or even a dirty bowl. It could be that the meringue was whisked past stiff peaks, after it reaches it begins to break down. I’ve heard that you can add an egg white to bring it back to stiff peaks but it’s never worked for me. You’ll likely have to start over.

Lastly, if your kitchen is very humid you’ll have a tough time getting those peaks.

The meringue has bumps in it 

This is undissolved sugar and means that the egg/sugar mixture wasn’t heated long enough.

FAQ

What should I do with the leftover four yolks? 

Make cookies =) A double batch of these peanut butter cookies, or use 3 to make these chocolate chunk cookies.

Can I turn this recipe into a pie? 

You sure can, just make a traditional pie crust and once it’s fully baked pour in the curd, bake it and then chill it. Then top with the meringue.

Recipe for Lemon Meringue Bars

 

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