I really love lemons. The smell and flavor just remind me of a bright sunny day. Grandma’s lemon square recipe delivers on the lemon flavor with an extra sweetness and a delicious short bread crust.
I had to try this one a couple of times to get it right. Her original recipe says to beat the filling ingredients “until light and fluffy”. This, it turns out is not the best way to say it. I used an electric mixer and whipped the filling until it was light and fluffy – the result was a meringue like filling that browned on top and left the middle very runny and under baked. After playing around with it I discovered that mixing by hand delivered the best results and the directions below reflect my “learn from my mistakes” approach. I also swapped out real butter for margarine in the crust. I like the flavor better and I think it gives a better texture to the cookie crust.
This recipe is what finally convinced me to break down and buy a lemon juicer. It is amazing how much more juice you get from a lemon using one, and they are pretty cheap.
Grandma’s recipe
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Grandma Allen's Lemon Squares
Save to BigOven These delightful lemon squares make a perfect dessert or snack. Sweet, lemony with a wonderful shortbread crust. A little taste of summer any time of the year.
- 1 Cup flour
- ½ Cup butter (1 stick), softened not melted
- ¼ Cup powdered sugar ( and a little extra for dusting the top)
- 2 eggs
- 1 Cup sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh is best, but bottled will work)
- Preheat oven to 350° F
- Place the butter, flour and ¼ Cup powdered sugar in a medium bowl. Use a pastry blender or large fork to cut the butter into the flour/sugar mixture and form a light dough.
- Mix only enough to combine everything, don’t over mix.
- Line a small square baking pan (mine was 8×8, you could use a 9×9) with parchment paper. This will make it much easier to get them out of the pan.
- Put the dough in the pan and press it out evenly across the bottom of the pan, this will be the bottom crust.
- Put the pan in the preheated oven and bake the crust for 20 minutes.
- Put the eggs, sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Mix by hand with a whisk or sturdy spatula until well blended.
- As soon as the crust comes out of the oven pour the mixture over the crust and spread it out evenly with a spatula.
- Immediately put the pan back in the oven and bake for approximately 25 minutes. It’s ready when a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool on a baking rack. Cut into squares and store uneaten squares in the refrigerator.
I like to dust mine with a little powdered sugar before serving.
