When Life…Or Your Daughter…Gives You Lemons, Make Lemon Bars
They are tart and tangy and the perfect solution when life has presented you with lemons
This story was previously published in my Substack column The Life and Times of a Midwestern Girl but I thought readers here may enjoy this refreshing, summery recipe.
“Do you want some lemons? We bought three and don’t need any of them,” my daughter said to me the other day when I was at her house. I didn’t ask why they had lemons they didn’t need because sometimes things just happen at the grocery store. But on my grocery trips, it’s more likely that I will come home without something I need instead of coming home with something I now own but find I have no need for. But, either way, there were some lemons needing to be used in all their fresh, tangy, lemony-ness and I was all in.
I was at her house because we were inevitably trading back and forth other items, as that occurs weekly, and sometimes even daily: I made this dessert – would your family like some? I bought these T-shirts for the kids; they’re washed and ready for them to wear. We pulled this rhubarb out of the garden; can you use it? (Yes, and I will bring you some of the strawberry/rhubarb pie I make with it). I picked this up for you when I was at Target because who doesn’t need something from Target? We smoked some brisket; would you like some? (Ummm…yes, please!) I need only five dollars more to get free shipping on this order; do you need/want something from there? I was at the coffee shop, so I picked up your favorite drink … You know, things like that.
So on this particular day when we were trading I-don’t-know-what other things, she had three beautiful, fresh, bright yellow lemons in her hand. Could I use them? Yes! But I had no idea what I would use them for. On the drive back to my house, my mind was busy going through lemon-y recipes: Bread? Cake? Cheesecake? Lemonade? Cookies? Ice Cream? Slices for water or iced tea? And then it hit me – lemon bars! I was pretty sure I had just inherited the right number of lemons, and I hadn’t made those bars in a long time. And it being the middle of summer, what better time for something bright and refreshing.
Once home, I searched for the lemon bar recipe and found it in one of my favorite, go-to cookbooks for desserts: The Complete Book of Baking from Pillsbury. I actually have two copies of that book because my original copy is so used and so loved that the pages are falling out of it. But I still keep that original one because so many of the recipes have notations and changes to the recipes that I haven’t yet transferred to the newer copy. Such as this lemon bar recipe. It’s rare that I pull out one of my recipes and it doesn’t have notes and changes scribbled all over it. Because, as one of my heroes, Sally Albright, says in the movie When Harry Met Sally: “Well, I just want it the way I want it.”
When making this recipe in the past, I squeezed the lemons with my hands to get the right amount of juice, so I’d made the notation on the recipe that I needed four lemons. Well, being that I now owned only three, I made a trip to the grocery store to get two more, getting an extra one ‘just in case.’ Because I do that sort of thing. So, yes, I received three free lemons, but bought two more, so this lemon thing was starting to take on a life of its own. But now, when needing fresh lemon juice, I use the citrus-squeezer thing (using the technical term here) and get much more juice out of each lemon, resulting in the use of only 2-1/2 lemons for these bars. So, three would have been fine, but nothing wrong with having five!
Once I got my lemon juicing method figured out and the bars were baked and out of the oven, they were as tangy and delicious as always. With a shortbread crust, soft lemony center, and a very tart lemon glaze covering the top. Mmmmmmm…. Summer! So then, of course, I took half of the bars over to my daughter’s house so they could enjoy the lemons they thought they had no need for. Turns out they did – they just didn’t know it!
But now I still have 2-1/2 lemons that need to be used. What does one do when your daughter…or your life…continues to present you with lemons? Maybe this time I will make lemon cheesecake. But the question is, will I need to buy more lemons to make it??
Anyway, for now, here is the lemon bar recipe in case life has brought lemons your way….
LEMON BARS
Crust:
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· ½ cup powdered sugar
· 1 cup butter, softened
· 1 teaspoon vanilla (sometimes I use 2 tsps, but add according to your taste)
Filling:
· 4 eggs, lightly beaten
· 2 cups granulated sugar
· ¼ cup all-purpose flour
· 1 teaspoon baking powder
· ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Glaze:
· 2 cups powdered sugar (sifted after measuring – to keep the glaze smooth)
· 4-6 Tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice
Heat oven to 350°. In a large mixing bowl, combine all crust ingredients using mixer at low speed until crumbly. (I use the paddle attachment on my stand mixer.) Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of an ungreased glass 13 x 9 pan. Bake at 350° for 15 – 20 minutes or until light brown. Remove from oven.
While the crust is baking, combine all the filling ingredients except for the lemon juice in a large bowl and whisk to combine well. Then whisk in the lemon juice, making sure all is combined smoothly. When the crust comes out of the oven, pour this filling over the hot crust.
Return to the oven and bake an additional 20-25 minutes or until the top is light golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack.
For glaze, whisk sifted powdered sugar with enough lemon juice to get your desired spreading consistency. (I like it to be a glaze rather than an icing, but everyone has their own preference.) Blend until smooth with no lumps. Spread the glaze over the cooled bars. Let set for a couple of hours to allow glaze to harden.
Store tightly covered at room temperature.



These bars are tart! So a little piece can go a long way…or, as is the case in my house…maybe not. My hope is that if you should find yourself with lemons in your life, or on the kitchen counter, you give these bars a try. They just may be a sweet solution to a lemon-y dilemma.
I also write a Substack column entitled The Life and Times of a Midwestern Girl, where I expound on living life in the Midwest. I may be telling you about the day a chipmunk was trapped in my bedroom for nine hours, or it might be about things that just make me go “… Hmmmm….” or maybe we’ll discuss the magic of an Iowa summer evening spent at a little league baseball game. I will undoubtedly share stories of my adventures at the Iowa State Fair – both as an attendee and as a food-contest judge.
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