Hello friends! Happy New Year to you. Hope that you are feeling ready to face a new day in a new week in a new year! 2015 is a blank slate, and I’m excited to see what it brings. On the other hand, I know that this year is going to hold a few goodbyes for me. I have a few precious family members who are embarking on new adventures that will likely be taking them far away. So I’m soaking the good times up with them while I can. We never know exactly what the future holds, and I can count on the unexpected coming my way, both blessings and hardships. Looking forward to growth, change, learning as I go, laughter, tears, hellos, goodbyes, sorrows, and His tender mercies with me all the way.
I say the start of a fresh year calls for a fresh treat. The streets in our neighborhood are lined with lemon trees, and they are heavy with ripe lemons right now! I always love having a bowl of fresh lemons on the kitchen countertop, and whenever I have fresh lemons nearby, I can’t resist making a pan of lemon bars.
I also had a handful of fresh raspberries in the fridge, so I decided to try whisking them into the filling as well. I made this batch right before Christmas, and I loved the way they looked so festive with a touch of red and green.
Hope these sweet and tart treats put a smile on your face as you go about your day. To fresh starts and new beginnings!
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Raspberry Lemon Bars
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 9 large bars or 18 smaller bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
Fresh raspberries are whisked into a sweet and tart lemon filling – all on top of a thick, buttery shortbread crust!
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 12 tablespoons butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cups flour
For the Filling
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup crushed fresh raspberries
- powdered sugar for dusting
- lemon slices, whole raspberries, and mint leaves for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9 by 9 inch baking pan by spraying it with nonstick spray and lining it with parchment paper, leaving excess paper hanging over the sides for easy removal after baking.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar on medium low speed. Add flour and mix until a dough is formed. Press the dough into the bottom of the 9 by 9 inch baking pan. I use a small piece of parchment paper to press the dough so that it won’t stick to my fingers.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
- In the meantime, make the filling.
For the Filling
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisk eggs and sugar until smooth. Add flour and mix, then add lemon juice and raspberries. Make sure the raspberries are a little bit crushed up by the whisk so that they can be evenly distributed through the filling. When the crust comes out of the oven, pour the filling over the crust. Return to the oven, and bake for another 20 minutes.
- Cool completely and then dust with powdered sugar. Use the parchment paper handles to lift the bars out of the pan to make cutting easier.
- If garnishing with lemon slices, whole raspberries, and mint leaves, do this just before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Large Bar
- Calories: 376
- Sugar: 33g
- Sodium: 146mg
- Fat: 17g
- Saturated Fat: 10g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.6g
- Trans Fat: 0.6g
- Carbohydrates: 52g
- Fiber: 1.1g
- Protein: 4.8g
- Cholesterol: 103mg
Heidi Smith says
Julia, Can I replace the raspberries with strawberries just the same? Is there anything I would need to do to the strawberries? Thanks!
Julie says
Hi Heidi, I think they would be just fine! Hope you enjoy!
Elsa says
These look amazing!!
Pam says
Does one use salted or unsalted butter for the crust?
Julie says
I used salted butter. Thanks for your question!
Alondra says
On the raspberry lemon bars do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Julie says
I almost always use salted butter, just because it’s what I have on hand.
Kaylynn Mclaws says
Hello!! My name is Kaylynn Batchelor. I made this recipe and when I added the raspberries to the mixture, it turned it pink! I didn’t know if I did something wrong or if there was a way to prevent it, but I wanted to ask if you knew anything!! PS, THEY WERE STILL DELICIOUS!! I’ll definitely be making these again!!
trish says
Well it’s 2020 and the year of social distancing, stay at home orders and how much can i bake! These are wonderful! Keeping these around for sure
Julie says
Exactly! We are spending so much time in the kitchen too. Thanks for letting me know how these worked out for you!
B says
Hi!
I made this recipe several times few years ago however, today when I tried it again, the dough/crust didn’t form! I mixed the softened butter with sugar for a minute and then added the flour and mixed with my electric mixer, but it looks more like a whipped texture then dough… What did I do wrong?
Carissa says
I’ve made this recipe several times, it’s always a crowd pleaser. The crust and filling are both delicious and a good combination. Not to mention easy to make. Only reason I don’t give it five stars is the crust is quite thick compared with the filling- I adapted the recipe for myself by making the normal amount of crust and then 1.5x of the filling so that’s it’s a bit more even. I baked that in a 9×13 instead of a 9×9 and it worked out great!
Gretchen F says
Can you use frozen berries?