Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (1 1/3 ounces) confectioners
- 3 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
- 3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup (1 1/3 ounces) confectioners
- 3 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
- 1 tablespoon whole milk
- 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
- 1 cup large egg plus 1 large egg white lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest plus 6 tablespoons juice (2 lemons)
- 1 tablespoon confectioners
Preparation
Baking Directions:
In this bar cookie favorite, a rich shortbread cookie crust is paired with a topping alive with bright lemon flavor.
After examining several full-fat recipes, we found that the lemon topping was not all that fattening.
Instead, it was the super-buttery crust that was in need of a major overhaul.
Here's what we discovered:Test Kitchen discoveriesWhen we tried replacing the butter with margarine or vegetable oil — or even Neufchâtel cheese — the results were flavorless or just plain bad.
We found that cutting back the butter to just a third of the amount used in a traditional recipe gave us acceptable buttery flavor and pared down the calories.
Butter contributes moisture and tenderness to the crust, but with such a drastic cutback the crust fell apart.
To solve the problem, we turned to milk for moisture, and replaced some of the flour with cornstarch to achieve a melt-in-your-mouth quality.
Lemon zest and extra salt boosted the crust's flavor, while baking powder helped to lighten it.
We also found that we could trim the sugar a bit without anyone noticing the difference.
For the filling, we took out one of the egg yolks and gradually cut back on sugar until we had reduced it to just a fraction of that used in a full-fat recipe.
Traditional lemon square recipes have 330 calories, 16 grams of fat, and 11 grams of saturated fat per serving.
Our changes brought the numbers down to 190 calories, 6 grams of fat, and 4 grams of saturated fat.
To prepare:Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.
Line 8-inch-square baking pan with aluminum foil to hang over pan edges.
Spray foil lightly with vegetable oil spray.
For the crust: Process flour, sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, baking powder and salt in food processor until combined.
Add butter and milk and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 pulses.
Transfer mixture to prepared pan and press into even layer.
Bake until edges are lightly browned, 16 to 20 minutes.
Cool crust on wire rack for 15 minutes.
For the lemon topping: Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
Whisk granulated sugar, egg, egg white, flour and salt together in bowl until smooth.
Stir in lemon juice and zest until combined.
Pour filling over cooled crust and bake until filling is set, 15 to 20 minutes.
Cool completely in pan on wire rack, about 1 hour.
Dust with confectioners' sugar.
Using foil overhang, lift lemon squares from pan and cut into 9 squares.
Serve.
Tip: Press the crust dough snugly against the pan edges to keep the lemon topping from running beneath the crust.
Cool the crust for at least 15 minutes before pouring on the lemon topping.
Reduced-fat results:Market report: Butter down almost 70 percent.
(Full-fat crust uses 12 tablespoons; this version uses just 4.)Cornstarch, baking powder and milk work together to keep the crust tender (despite the drastic cut in butter), while lemon zest adds bright lemon flavor.
