Gluten-Free Lemon Meringue Bars

I love lemon desserts after a big meal - so refreshing! Lemon bars are easy for a crowd, but they are often too sweet, and their dense, chewy texture can be a little heavy for my taste. Lemon meringue pie is my absolute favorite, but it's not great for a buffet. This Lemon Meringue Bar recipe was a big hit at a recent spring-themed dinner party I catered. It's a bit involved, like lemon meringue pie, and has several parts, but you can make it ahead, make it in quantity, and cut it into small pieces. And it combines the fun textural differences of a crunchy cookie crust, a cold, creamy, tart filling, and a fluffy, sweet meringue on top. And best of all, for me, these bars are REALLY LEMONY!

For about 24 bars, 2" square, you will need:

CRUST:

  • An 11"x 15" baking pan
  • Parchment paper
  • 1 box King Arthur Glutenfree Cookie Mix (16 oz, available at Whole Foods and online from King Arthur Flour. I like this mix because it's easy, the ingredients are good, and it has a salty, brown sugar caramel flavor that is stunning with lemon. Note: Do not follow the directions on the box, as you will use more butter and no egg. Alternatively, you can use any shortbread cookie recipe with a yield of about 2 dozen medium-sized cookies. Look for a recipe with a high fat content and little or no leavening or eggs.
  • 3/4 cup butter or dairy-free shortening, 1 1/2 sticks, chilled and cut into small pieces. My favorite dairy-free product is Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Sticks. 
  • 1-2 tablespoons ice water

LEMON CURD:

  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 tablespoons lemon zest, grated on a microplane (about 4 lemons)
  • 2/3 cup lemon juice ( from about 4 medium, juicy lemons)
  • 1 stick of butter or Earth Balance, chilled, and cut into about 8 pieces

MERINGUE:

  • 6 egg whites
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, with your rack in the middle.

Line your baking pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, using your fingers, a pastry blender, or a food processor, cut the butter in to the cookie mix until it reaches the texture of dry oatmeal, or follow your own recipe for a gluten-free or regular shortbread cookie dough.

Add the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing until the dough is soft and just holds together. Using your fingers, press the dough into the bottom of the baking pan in an even layer, about 3/8 of an inch thick. Prick all over with a fork, to prevent the dough from puffing up during baking.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until the crust is a medium golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

While the crust is cooling, make the lemon curd:

Fill a medium saucepan 3/4 full of water and bring to a boil. Find a medium stainless steel mixing bowl that rests on the rim of this saucepan, with the bottom touching the water. (If you have a double boiler, use it!)

Whisk 6 egg yolks with 1 cup of sugar until smooth. Add the lemon juice and lemon zest. As soon as the water boils, place the bowl of lemon mixture over the water and whisk steadily for about 9 minutes until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. (When you dip your spoon into the lemon curd, pull it out, and paint a stripe with your finger across the back of the spoon, the stripe should stay clearly defined and not run. That said, this lemon curd is still quite liquid when hot.)

Immediately pull the bowl off the heat and whisk in the pieces of butter one at a time, allowing each chunk to melt before adding the next. Allow to chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes, with a piece of plastic wrap laid directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. 

Now pour the curd over the crust and, using a spatula, spread in an even layer all the way to the edge. The curd should be just liquid enough to spread, but stiff enough to say put and not run over the edge of the crust.

If you are serving the dessert within a few hours, you can now make the meringue. If you plan to serve the dessert the following day, cover the surface of the curd again with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge overnight.

At least 4 hours before you plan to serve this dessert, make the meringue.

Preheat your oven's broiler. Using a hand or stand mixer, or, like I do, with a large stainless steel bowl and a good whisk, beat the egg whites until they become white and frothy, but are still quite liquid. Now add 2 tablespoons of sugar, and continue beating until the meringue forms soft peaks.

Using a spatula, very gently swirl the meringue in an even layer over the top of the bars until the lemon curd is completely covered. You can create any sort of design that you like. Place under the broiler until the meringue is a deep golden brown but not at all burned. How much time this takes will depend entirely on your broiler. Now chill, uncovered, in your fridge until ready to cut and serve. (A pastry cutter or pizza is a great tool for cutting even squares or even triangles, and the parchment paper will make it much easier to remove the bars from the pan.)

Girl with Spoondairy-free, dessert, gluten-free, lemon