Raspberry Lemon Bars

I just want to make lemon things forever. Especially with lemon curd. And at some point I thought, what if I added raspberries to make raspberry lemon bars? But you know what, a lot of people (namely my children tbh) do not like cooked bits of fruit in their bakes so instead I thought, what if I puree them and mix it all together and it’ll be kind of like a pink lemonade bar? 

I did lime bars earlier this year and they were delightfully tart (and green!) so this seems like the flipside of that coin. 

Somebody is going to ask me if they can do this with strawberries and my answer is going to be yes. Just use really really flavorful berries (local/farm picked) otherwise the bars will be pink but you won’t taste any strawberry.  

Recipe Origins 

My blueprint for this recipe was my lemon meringue bars (sans meringue here though – who am I?!). I skipped the poppy seeds in the crust but otherwise kept it the same. The filling is where I had to get crafty and balance the juice from the lemon with the raspberry puree to get the right texture, while keeping one from overpowering the other in terms of flavor. 

Folks, I think we got there quite nicely. There’s a smooth creaminess to the filling and while lemon takes about 60% of the flavor, we still have a solid 40% of raspberry not to be ignored. 

Recipe Ingredients 

Lemon: we’ll use the zest and the juice. If the lemon’s aren’t organic, rinse and rub them to remove the outer wax layer. Always zest before juicing !

Sugar: fine granulated sugar. If you have it, swap ¼ cup of the sugar in the crust for powdered sugar. It gives the crust a more tender and shortbread like texture. 

Salt: fine sea salt. If using table salt, halve the amount. 

Butter: unsalted butter, softened for the crust and cold or softened for the filling. Any butterfat percentage is fine. 

Flour: all purpose flour. If you want to make these gluten-free, use a 1:1 gluten free flour substitute. 

Raspberries: the more flavorful your raspberries the more their flavor will come through in the filling. If you wanted to use frozen raspberries, I’d thaw them first (in the bag) then remove the excess water and puree just the berries. This way you aren’t diluting the flavor with the ice that usually surrounds the berries. 

Eggs: whole large eggs. We don’t do split eggs in our curds here =) 

Starch: tapioca or cornstarch. 

How to make Raspberry Lemon Bars 

First the crust

Preheat the oven and line the pan: use two pieces of parchment paper crossed over each other so all sides are covered. 

Zest and rub: 

Cream the butter & sugar until light and fluffy: 

Then add the flour:

Press into the pan and bake: 

Dock, then bake again: 

Then the filling 

Puree the berries then sieve: 

Zest and rub into the sugar: 

Juice the lemons, whisk the juice with the sugar and eggs, then add the puree and whisk: 

Cook until thickened:

Pour through a sieve and stir in the butter: 

Pour onto baked crust, bake to set: 

Topping options 

Powdered sugar: Sift it over the bars after slicing and right before serving (it’ll melt into the filling after about ten minutes). Or use a non-melting powdered sugar. 

Whipped Cream: 1-2 cups heavy whipping cream depending on how thick you want the whipped cream topping to be, 2-4 tablespoons sugar, a pinch of salt and a dash of vanilla: throw them all in the food processor and run it on high until the cream is thick. If you wanted to add some fresh raspberry I’d do the whipped cream from this lemon raspberry pie. 

Meringue: turn these into raspberry lemon meringue bars! Use the vanilla swiss meringue recipe from these lemon meringue bars, or the raspberry meringue recipe from these raspberry meringue bars. 

Make ahead and storage notes

Depending on the topping these will keep well as leftovers: powdered sugar will melt into the filling, whipped cream will eventually turn gummy and a meringue will weep. Ideally these are best kept without a filling. 

The bars will need to chill for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight so this is an ideal make ahead dessert. If you are making them more than a day in advance (you can go up to 2 days in advance), don’t slice them. Save the slicing and topping for the day of serving. 

Raspberry Lemon Bars Recipe 

Raspberry Lemon Bars

Lemon bars, but add raspberries: Buttery shortbread crust with a naturally pink lemon & raspberry curd.

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 30 minutes mins

Chill: 4 hours hrs

Yields: 16 bars

5 from 1 vote

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Ingredients

Crust

• Zest of 2-3 lemons
• 100g or ½ cup fine granulated sugar
• Pinch fine sea salt
• 113g or ½ cup unsalted butter softened
• 145g or 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Filling

• 240g g fresh raspberries about 1 ½ cups
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 100g or ½ cup fine granulated sugar
• 80g or ⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 4 large eggs
• 76g or 6 tablespoons butter unsalted
• 1 teaspoon tapioca starch

Method

Make the crust

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease then line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper.
• Add the sugar to a bowl and zest the lemons over it. Rub the zest into the sugar using your fingers and thumbs. Add in the salt and the butter.
• Use a hand mixer to beat the mixture until light and airy. Add the flour and beat until the mix is in tiny pebbles but when you squeeze it, it holds together.
• Press the crust into the bottom of the prepared pan. Use a floured measuring cup to pack it in, into an even layer.
• Bake the crust for 20 minutes then remove it and dock it with a fork. Bake for another 15 minutes. While it’s baking..

Make the filling

• Blend or process the raspberries into a puree. Press the puree through a fine mesh sieve to discard the seeds. You should have 120g or ½ cup raspberry puree.
• Set the sugar in the bottom of a non-reactive pot, I use an enamel coated pot. Zest the lemons over it and rub the zest into the sugar using your fingers until it resembles wet sand.
• Add the eggs and lemon juice and whisk immediately. Add the raspberry puree and whisk.
• Set the pot over medium low heat and cook, stirring frequently, as the curd thickens. It will thicken first on the bottom, keep stirring until it is thick all over - using an instant read thermometer it should register 155-165 F. Remove from heat.
• Set the butter in a glass bowl and a sieve over it. Pour the curd through the sieve then press it through, discarding the zest, egg white bits and raspberry seeds.
• Stir the curd until the butter melts and you have a smooth filling then whisk in the starch. Let cool while the crust finishes baking.
• Once the crust is golden all over, pour the filling over it. Bake (keeping the temperature at 350 F) for about 10 minutes, until only the center jiggles a bit.
• Let cool on the counter until it’s at room temperature then set in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.

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