Pistachio-Lemon Bars

Pistachio-Lemon Bars

These delightful and easy lemon bars have everything the traditional ones do – tang, sweetness and a buttery base – plus the added benefit of pistachios folded into the filling and the crust.

Yield: 16 servings

The Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup confectioners' sugar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

¼ cup shelled unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped

The Filling

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

⅓ cup shelled unsalted pistachios

Confectioners' sugar, for garnish

To make crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper (if using foil, lightly butter it). Place flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times. Add butter and process until well combined. Stir in chopped pistachios. Firmly press mixture into the bottom of the lined pan using the flat bottom of a glass or measuring cup (if it sticks, place a piece of parchment paper on the dough before pressing). Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the filling ingredients. When the crust is baked, pour the filling into the pan and bake until set, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and cut into 2-inch squares.

TIP: Pistachio is the best nutty match to lemon! This is now my favorite dessert of all time to make! A couple changes: 1) Used salted pistachios for the crust and filling. The saltiness adds extra complexity to the flavor 2) Omitted salt to prevent excessive saltiness in the crust- the pistachio was already salty 3) Added 5 minutes to baking time for the crust to get extra crisp 4) After adding the filling, lowered temp to 325 and baked 5 m extra. I will continue to make this recipe !

I'm a huge fan of lemon, and this recipe is probably my favorite ever! Super easy. Added 3 times the lemon though (a real fan of lemon, as I said), plus 1 tbsp of flour to compensate for the additional liquid. Came out perfect.

These are absolutely delicious! I reduced the sugar by half, both in the crust and the filling and it was perfect - slightly sweet, with the lemon and pistachio flavors shining through. I can't imagine a whole cup of sugar in the filling - it would be cloying.

I used roasted, salted pistachios, as others have mentioned. They were perfect in this dish. I also used salted butter, so didn't put any additional salt in the crust.

I agree with making 1-1/2 times the filling and with half the sugar and twice the lemon zest (proportionally); also using crushed salted pistachios. I processed the crust ingredients until almost a dough, then pulsed in the nuts. The crust baked up a bit crumbly but a better ratio between crust and filling. Also, after 24 hours the crust held together much better and the filling was more flavourful. I think that's the secret!