Soft and custard-y old-fashioned lemon bars topped with lots of powdered xylitol. These bars are a snap to prepare and even more fun to eat!
I’m really getting into these old-fashioned recipes. I just LOVE all the simplicity and history connected with old-fashioned classic recipes.
My favorite series of books as a kid were the Little House On The Prairie books. One of my favorite parts about those books were the detailed descriptions about all the food and recipes prepared back then. Recently, I made it a goal of mine to try more of the good, old-fashioned classic recipes.
One of the first classics I made was this amazing chocolate pudding. Silky, chocolate-y HEAVEN. Try it—Just do it.
Next up: Lemon bars—Soft, custardy lemon bars covered every inch with powdered xylitol (powdered sugar is a fine substitute) They also have that unmatchable old-fashioned taste that I just adore. Classics really are the best, aren’t they?
These bars are not TOO sweet, but perfectly tangy with just the right amount of lemon flavor. The crust is soft and chewy, while the filling is smooth and custard-y. Powered xylitol just tops them all off. Heaven, I tell you.
These bars are composed of two layers: The crust is a shortbread crust that pre-bakes before adding the filling. The shortbread dough is super-simple to make with only 4 ingredients: Butter, sour cream, powdered xylitol, and flour.
The dough is then pressed into a greased 9×13 baking pan and baked at 350F for about 20 minutes—The crust should be a light golden brown when it is done—-be careful not to overbake it.
While your crust bakes it’s time for the next layer! My favorite part. ♥. The lemon filling calls for only 5 ingredients: Eggs, lemon juice, grated lemon zest, xylitol, and flour. — All this gets whisked until smooth…..
And then evenly poured over your pre-baked crust.
‘Pop your bars back into the oven for another 20 minutes, or until the filling is set. Be aware that while your filling bakes, it will most likely puff up in the middle—-don’t worry, it will deflate while your bars cool. Let your bars cool completely before cutting into squares and sprinkling with some extra powdered xylitol. (powdered sugar may also be used)
Why not sprinkle a little extra xylitol on top? It makes these lemon bars so darn ‘purty. 😉
Your family is going to love these lemon bars—My siblings actually stole a few of these bars when I turned my back for one second during my photoshoot. They then proceeded to eat over half of them in the space of a few minutes. Rachel? She wanted to know where the “chockwit” in these bars were. I tried to explain that chocolate isn’t delicious in EVERYTHING, but I don’t think she really believed me. I swear, that kid is obsessed with chocolate…
But anyway, these bars—-Make them. I promise you won’t be disappointed. They put me in a permanent good mood for the rest of the day, yesterday. Lemon kind of has that effect on me…Or maybe it was just the refreshing citrus-tropical smell that filled my kitchen that entire afternoon….♥
Old-Fashioned Lemon Bars
Ingredients
- CRUST:
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup powdered xylitol
- 1-1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- FILLING:
- 4 large eggs
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
- 3/4 cup xylitol
- 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
- Powdered xylitol for sprinkling
Instructions
- Prepare the crust: In a medium bowl, whisk butter, sour cream, and xylitol until smooth. Stir in flour until a ball of dough forms. Press dough evenly into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake crust at 350F 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.
- While crust bakes, prepare the filling: In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, lemon juice, zest, xylitol, and flour until smooth. Pour evenly over pre-baked crust. Return pan to oven and bake at 350F for an additional 20 minutes, or until filling is set. (filling may puff up a little bit---don't worry, it will deflate while it cools) Cool bars on a wire cooling rack completely before cutting and sprinkling with extra powdered xylitol.
Notes
Try these other bars next!
Pumpkin Oat Shortbread Squares With Caramel
Lattice Black Raspberry Shortbread Bars
Fudgy Double Chocolate Skillet Brownies
Tina @ Tina's Chic Corner says
I made lemon bars a few years ago and they didn’t taste lemony at all. What a dissapointment. But these look amazing…bright lovely yellow…and I can tell with the lemon juice and zest that these will definitely taste lemony. Can’t wait to try them. 🙂
Sarah says
That is definitely one of my biggest pet peeves about anything lemon-flavored—If it’s not enough lemon-y enough, it just ruins it for me! I was very happy when I tasted these bars, to find that they had a perfect balance of lemon flavor. LMK how you like these bars, Tina! 🙂
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely says
I am a huge sucker for lemon bars. So good and bright! And that is so nuts you talked about Little House on the Prairie, because I said in my post today that I feel like I’m in Little House on the Prairie when I eat my bean soup. WHOA! Great minds think alike : )
PS-Do you know if your blog has an “RSS Feed” set up? I’d love to add you to my reader, but every time I try and add you it says “blog feed not found”. Try going to feedburner.com and setting it up. Then I can add you to my Feedly blog feed reader and see all your new posts as they come up : )
Sarah says
Haha! That thought did hit me as I was reading your post this morning, Natalie! Too weird! 😀 And I’m working on getting my RSS feed set up—I’ve been having nothing but problems with feedburner lately..Is feed burner what you use for your blog, Natalie? or is it some other email subscription plugin?
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely says
I think my feed is set up through feed burner. Or maybe it’s set up with Jetpack, a wordpress plug-in? To be honest, I hired someone to do the “backend” of my blog, so I’m not positive. But I’ve used feedburner before and it worked. Wish I could be more help!
Sarah says
Thanks for the info, Natalie! Sorry I have so many questions, but could you recommend someone that I could hire to the tech-y stuff behind my blog? Thanks for all your help!
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely says
Don’t worry about it, I love helping! Oh my gosh, if you’re looking to hire a web designer I cannot recommend Sara at moonsteamdesign.com. She is amazing! She helped me design my whole blog, did my logo for me, and did all the “techy” behind the scene stuff to make it function so great. I just let her know the basic layout, colors I wanted, and what “menus” I wanted at the top of my site. I think I paid around $200, and she is worth every penny. Other web designers I contacted were charging over $2500, insane. You must contact her! Your photography is already so beautiful, so having a fancied up blog will be the finishing touch : )
She has the answer for everything. I keep going back to her and hiring her to do more and more things for me, and she also designed our “business” website, acorn-films.com. It only took a few weeks too. The other web designer I was looking at had a 13 month lead time. Crazy!
Contact her and let her know what you’re thinking, and she can give you pricing. Hope that helps!
Sarah says
Wow! Thanks so much for all this info, Natalie! I will definitely be contacting this web designer! 😀
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely says
Whoops, just read that back and meant to say I cannot recommend Sara at moonsteamdesign.com ENOUGH! Haha!
Jennifer S. says
After chocolate I love lemon. Had to pin this one. 🙂
Sarah says
Thanks for pinning, Jennifer!
Gloria // Simply Gloria says
I love Little House On The Prairie! I grew up watching the shows every week.
Lemon bars have got to be my most fave! So cute how she was asking where the chocolate was… too funny!
Jelli says
These look great! Love the photos but don’t know what xylitol is. Guessing I couldn’t find it in a local Costa Rican grocery store. Can I sub the same amount of sugar?
Sarah says
Absolutely! Powdered sugar or granulated sugar would be a fine substitute. 😉
Krista @ Joyful Healthy Eats says
Yum.. these lemon bars look absolutely delicious Sarah. Love all the photos too, absolute stunners! 🙂 Thanks for sharing at Show Stopper! 🙂 Pinned
Sarah says
Thanks so much, Krista! You’re too sweet. 🙂 Thanks for pin, as well!