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
Karen @ The Food Charlatan says
These are gorgeous Julie! Amazing what a sprig of mint and fresh raspberry can do. Here’s to 2015! Happy New Year!
Katya | Little Broken says
These look so fresh and almost “healthy” with all that fruit on top! But almost 🙂 These are seriously so pretty Julie! Even though I’m still in sugar coma from holiday baking but would totally make these in a heart beat.
Julie says
I really should be sick of sugar by now, but I guess I just have a really high threshold 🙂 Everyone’s posting all healthy stuff, and I can’t seem to get my head in the game!
Annie Lane says
Hi Julie, wanting to try your raspberry and lemon bar, but can I use frozen raspberry. Sounds really yummy, thank you
Renee says
Hi Julie I’m making these tomorrow I’ve never seen 1 11/16 cups of flour is that right?
Julie says
Hi Renee… I’m not sure where you are seeing 1 11/16 cups? There is 1 1/2 cups of flour in the crust, and 3 tablespoons in the filling. Maybe something is adding those two amounts for you?
Joanne says
Lemon season is the only redeeming part of winter, in my opinion! Love these bars…pretty sure I could devour a whole batch myself!
Julie says
So true Joanne!
Christina @ Bake with Christina says
Mmm these look so refreshing and delicious! Definitely gotta make this soon! Pinned! 🙂
Julie says
Thanks for pinning Christina. Hope you do get a chance to try them!
Cyndi - My Kitchen Craze says
These look delicious! I would love some with my coffee right now. Yum! Hope you have a wonderful New Year!! 🙂
Jennifer @foodprocessor07 says
How beautiful!!! The combination is really damn pretty!!
Julie says
Thanks Jennifer!
Jenifer says
How much would I need to increase the recipe for a 10×10 pan? Thanks and happy New Year!
Jenifer says
How much would I need to increase the recipe for a 10×10 pan? Thanks and happy New Year!
Julie says
I think if you do the recipe times one and a half, you would good with a 10 by 10 pan. They might be a little thicker than mine, but that’s ok :0)
Monique says
A perfect presentation~
Madeline says
Hi Julie, I made your recipe for Raspberry Lemon Bars last night for dessert. My family enjoyed and gobbled up every little morsel. I’ve got to say the hardest part of the recipe was “let cool”. Each one of my family members was tiptoeing around the kitchen to try and sneak a piece when I wasn’t looking! I’ve tried a few different lemon bar recipes before, but definitely had to try yours after seeing your beautiful pictures. Your food photography and styling is simply on point! I was a little surprised that the filling required only 3 tbsp of lemon juice. I’m used to making lemon bars that require at least 1/2 a cup. I did add 1 more tbsp just to make sure the lemon flavor came through. The result was a very well balanced recipe. My whole family loved that your recipe was neither too tart nor too sweet! Thank you so much for sharing! P.S. at this very moment I am pulling out the Raspberry Almond Bars that I made from your recipe. I added shredded coconut to the streusel topping! It is smelling absolutely divine and buttery! Now for the hardest part, letting it cool–before being able to eat it! Thanks again! Abundant blessings 🙂
Julie says
Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m so glad they were enjoyed by all! I’m finding that different lemons have different levels of tartness (especially when picked early in the season compared to late) so it is hard to get that perfect balance. Enjoy the Raspberry Almond Bars too!
linda says
Dear Julie,
1 Question> 350 degrees is it Celsius? And in which kind of oven…not that it goes wrong at that point 🙂
Thanks!
Julie says
Hi Linda, 350 degrees Fahrenheit in a conventional oven. Thanks for your question!
Faye says
Hi Julie,
Want a Springy, light, pretty dessert to take to a dinner. You mention not to garnish til right before serving. Why is that ?. What will happen if I do it right before leaving the house. I think I will use just a quarter or triangle for the lemon on top if there is some unforeseen reason not to garnish early. A silly question, but I do not want to have to bother when I get at someones house….if possible.
Julie says
Faye, I believe the reason I mentioned garnishing it just before serving is only because the lemon wedge tends to absorb the powdered sugar that is dusted on top. I understand why you would want to bring them to a dinner party all ready to go, and it really shouldn’t be a problem. Hope you enjoy!
Tracy says
These are beautiful! I’m making them for a garden party and I finally feel like I will have a pretty dish to share. Gorgeous pictures. We really love the idea of topping them with the berries and mint. Thank you!
Julie says
Thank you Tracy, hope you enjoyed your party!
Kelli says
im so sad these didn’t turn out anything like the picture. I’ve checked and re-checked the recipe to make sure I made it as described and I can’t find anything I did wrong. The crust is super puffy and thicker than in the picture. Also, after baking the filling in the crust for 20 minutes, it was still super runny. Any ideas on why that would be? Thanks
Julie says
I’m sorry they didn’t turn out like you had hoped Kelli. I know that can be super frustrating. I wish I could have been in your kitchen with you as you made them to see what went wrong. The only thought I had is that maybe your baking pan was smaller than 9 by 9 inches? This would account for the thicker crust and need for a longer baking time to set the filling. Just a thought… Thanks for taking the time leave me a comment.
Michelle says
I had the same problem- I used a 9X9 pan and baked it at 350 degrees (my oven is very accurate). The crust and filling were considerably thicker than pictured here and even after 40 minutes of baking, the filling was not done.
When placing the crust in the pan, the amount seemed better suited to a 9X13 pan. I wish I had followed my gut instinct but I take care to make recipes for the first time precisely as written.
When the filling was finally finished and we tried the final product, it was fine but not more than fine. I was very surprised that the recipe called for fresh lemon juice but no grated lemon rind- a missed opportunity as the zest contains so much flavor. Even putting the rind in the crust, where it would not disrupt the texture as much as putting it in the filling, I think would greatly improve the taste.
Kasti says
Hi Julie!
Making your lemon bars now, not sure how quickly you’ll be able to reply.
but i just realized that the only pan i have on hand is an 8×8
baked for the 20 minutes and the center was still complete liquid; how long total do you think they should bake for in a smaller pan?
Kasti says
answered my own question; put them in for about 35 minutes and that seems to be good!
I’ve never made lemon bars before, so i’m not sure how they are supposed to look when they first come out of the oven. so hopefully these work out!
Julie says
Hi! Hope you enjoy them! One tip is to let them cool completely, then dust with powdered sugar, and cut with a plastic knife. It really helps cut neat squares because it doesn’t stick!
Holly Wright says
I made this for church morning tea yesterday. Everyone loved it!!! Not a scrap (literally!) leftover.
Julie says
That’s wonderful Holly. Glad they were a hit!
Sam williams says
Just tried this recipe and its ssoo good! Thank you! My first time making lemon bars from scratch and they came out perfect!
Julie says
Yay Sam, that’s so great! I’m glad you liked them as much as I did!
theresa says
i made these and the lemon flavor is a little flat. I followed the directions very carefully. I don’t know about adding more fresh lemon juice as they could become soggy. They cut beautifully and look pretty, but I was disappointed with the taste. Any suggestions?
Julie says
Theresa, I’m sorry the taste was not what you were expecting. I have found that some lemons have a more potent flavor than others (early in the season they are more tart), so sometimes lemon bars taste different with the same recipe.
theresa says
Thank you Julie…I did buy cheaper lemons. I never thought that a lemon would vary in tartness…good to know 🙂 I wonder if ReaLemon (in the bottle) would work?
Beth says
What adjustments would it need for a 9x13in. pan?
Julie says
I have not made this recipe in a 9 by 13, but when I have tried converting other 9 by 9 recipes into that size, I can usually get away with making one and a half times the original recipe, and then just adding a bit more time in the oven. Hope this helps!
Monia says
Wow looks delicious!!😋 have to try them❤
Julie says
Thank you Monia, enjoy!