ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Recipe for Lemon Bars With Shortbread Base and White Chocolate Coating

Updated on August 12, 2012

Lemon Bars

Lemon bars are really simple to make and are the perfect accompaniment to a good cup of afternoon tea. There are lots of different ways to make them but the recipe I have opted for here uses a shortbread base, a creamy lemon filling and a white chocolate coating which is heavenly with the lemon flavour. I haven't made this too tangy but, if you're a fan of that sharp lemon taste and want a real contrast to the creaminess of the white chocolate, you could add a little more lemon juice and zest to the recipe. Just remember to taste as you add more lemon - you don't want to end up with something bitter and inedible.

lemon bars with white chocolate
lemon bars with white chocolate | Source

Cook Time, including time for cooling

Prep time: 4 hours 30 min
Ready in: 4 hours 30 min
Yields: 12-16 bars

Ingredients

  • 1 and 1/2 cups flour, all-purpose
  • 1/4 cup caster / superfine sugar
  • 1 and 1/2 cups unsalted butter, cold
  • pinch salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup heavy / double cream
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 14 oz white chocolate
Press the shortbread dough into the base of your baking sheet.  If you don't have one that makes individual tray bakes, like the one shown, it is okay to make one big slab of shortbread and slice later.
Press the shortbread dough into the base of your baking sheet. If you don't have one that makes individual tray bakes, like the one shown, it is okay to make one big slab of shortbread and slice later. | Source
The lemon filling should be smooth and creamy.
The lemon filling should be smooth and creamy. | Source
Pour the lemon filling over the shortbread.
Pour the lemon filling over the shortbread. | Source
Bake until set.  As you can see here, the filling has browned around the edges, but this is okay.
Bake until set. As you can see here, the filling has browned around the edges, but this is okay. | Source
When cooled, you should remove the shortbread from the tray
When cooled, you should remove the shortbread from the tray | Source
Don't worry about being too precise with the chocolate coating for these lemon bars.
Don't worry about being too precise with the chocolate coating for these lemon bars. | Source

Lemon and White Chocolate Bars

  1. First you need to pre-heat the oven to 325 F /160 C and prepare your baking tin by greasing and flouring it. I use a baking pan with individual squares for making tray bakes, but you could just as easily use a deep rectangular baking tray. Just remember that you may need to adjust your cooking time.
  2. Put the flour, sugar and pinch of salt into the bowl of a food processor, preferably with steel blade attachment - you could also prepare the dough by hand. Pulse until everything is combined. Now, take your butter, straight from the refrigerator and cut into cubes, adding a little to the flour and sugar mix at a time and pulsing. Once you have added in all the butter, continue to pulse the food processor until the dough comes together, forming a ball which comes away from the sides of the bowl.
  3. Take chunks of the dough and press into the bottom of the individual moulds in your baking pan, or into the bottom of a single sheet pan. You want a thickness of around 1/2 inch. Prick the dough and put into the oven.
  4. After 5 minutes, reduce the heat of the oven to 300 F / 150 C and continue to bake for 25 minutes until light golden brown.
  5. While the shortbread is baking, prepare the filling. First, beat the eggs and sugar together until you have a pale and frothy liquid. Add in the lemon juice and zest and mix well. Now add the cream and mix until everything is well incorporated and the filling begins to thicken slightly.
  6. When the shortbread is ready, remove from the oven and pour a little of the lemon filling on top of it. Return to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until the filling has firmed up - it should still wobble a little. It's ok if the top browns a little, but you don't want it to burn, so it's best to check it after 15 minutes.
  7. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tray. When completely cooled, remove the shortbread and lemon bars from the tray, taking care not to break them up. If you have made this in one big sheet, carefully cut into slices of the desired size.
  8. Now, break your white chocolate up into pieces and carefully melt in the microwave. It is very important to keep an eye on the chocolate as it is melting - it will burn very quickly if you're not careful. I tend to give it a 20 second burst in the microwave before removing and stirring. Then, if more time is needed to melt the chocolate completely, I return it to the microwave for 10 seconds at a time, checking and stirring after each brief burst.
  9. When the chocolate has melted completely, stir with a fork for a minute or so to ensure it is completely smooth. Pour over the lemon bars. I don't tend to fuss over this too much as I like the chocolate a bit uneven but you could smooth it over with a spatula if you're aiming for something a bit neater.
  10. When all of the bars are coated in chocolate, refrigerate until ready to serve. These bars will last quite nicely for 2-3 days.
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: per portion, based on 12 portions
Calories 583
Calories from Fat405
% Daily Value *
Fat 45 g69%
Saturated fat 28 g140%
Unsaturated fat 17 g
Carbohydrates 39 g13%
Sugar 30 g
Protein 5 g10%
Cholesterol 122 mg41%
* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

How do you like this recipe?

5 stars from 1 rating of Lemon Bar
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)