Lemon Squares

Needs more lemon juice. This is one of my all-time favorite cookie recipes (I am a sweet-tart addict.) I was checking several copies of the recipe I have and found they are basically, through all time, the same..only varying in whether to include lemon zest in the curd or not. THIS recipe calls for 1/3 C lemon juice. All others suggest 2/3 C and I believe this is the best amount of juice to use. You can halve this recipe and use a 8" square pan.

My go-to lemon bar recipe for 16 years. I usually add more lemon juice (2/3 cup total) and add the zest from all the lemons as well.

I didn’t have any lemons on hand but substituted the canned pinto beans on my shelf. Tabasco for the confectioners sugar and a last minute swap of flour tortilla for the shortbread. Turns out as a lemon square it was awful, but I made a pretty decent burrito.

Confectioner's sugar is important to make the shortbread crumbly. My recipe includes the zest from the lemons, too, and I probably put 5-6 lemons, zest and juice, into each 9x13 pan.

Line the pan with foil to make it easier to lift out the lemon bars.

I didn't have any lemons on hand, but cherries are in season and I had an extra lime; turns out cherry lime bars are very good. Run 12-20 cherries and juice from 1-2 limes through a food processor and substitute for the lemon juice.

Try lining the pan with parchment paper--they come right off!

Why do people make so many changes to the recipe ? I can understand one or two adaptations, but some use limes, cherries, etc. & that completely changes the recipe. I always say, the first time follow the recipe & after that changes are ok.

I baked the recipe just yesterday and: Added almost three times the quantity of lemon juice (lime juice is also an excellent option, in fact). Used half (yes, HALF of the quantity of sugar, both confectioners and granulated), which was sweet enough and definitely lighter. And baked it at 250ºC instead of 350ºC for 15 min instead of 25 for the dough and then an extra 15 min for the whole cake. And the result was still amazing.

I'd like to hear from both sides, the people who measure with a cup and the folks who use a scale. Guaranteed that the two groups are using different quantities of flour and that would seem to be important. One cup of flour, per King Arthur, the flour people, weighs 120 grams. Your recipe shows 128 grams (x 2 = 256). Using weights is supposed to lend more accuracy to recipes but it seems that darn near every recipe writer has different numbers for their flour. Responses??

Used Myer lemons (after using all the zest for Limoncello!) and added the ground seeds of about 6 or 7 Cardamom pods to the shortbread. Also a little sea salt along with the powdered sugar on top. Definitely recommended, adds a subtlety and depth of flavor that sometimes lemon squares lack. And they pop out of the pan fine!

My best friend and I used to make "Lucy's Lemon Squares" from The Peanuts Cook Book (1969). Simple, foolproof recipe, even for a pair of eleven-year-olds. Look it up if you're having trouble with this!

The only thing difficult about these delicious cookies is getting them out of the pan. I recommend lining the pan with foil as the lemon filling sticks to the sides of the pan and makes it hard to get them out

I have made a number of versions of lemon squares over the years, but hadn’t baked any for quite a while. All of the recipes are pretty similar. I did not like the one with olive oil in the lemon filling. Here I was hesitant about the use of melted butter in the shortbread base. The squares turned out very tasty. I may give this recipe another try and use softened, not melted butter, and then decide which version I prefer. I must admit that this batch has been disappearing rather rapidly...

This was easy and tasty. However, next time I would use a bit less of the dough base to get a thinner crust and better crust-to-lemon ratio.

I have been making lemon bars for a long time, and just compared this recipe to my own. Mine has only 1/4 cup of lemon juice and a tablespoon of lemon peel, otherwise just the same, and I must say, they are fantastic. So I would not hesitate to follow this recipe to a "T"; I might still add some peel, though admittedly, the texture is probably smoother without it. If you prefer a more lemony taste, you can add either a little lemon oil 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. (I like Boyajian) or lemon zest.