Raspberry Lemonade Bars

In celebration of summer, these bars seemed perfect for a barbeque.  When eaten chilled, these raspberry lemonade bars were both delicious and refreshing.  After stumbling across this recipe, I knew I had to make them! However, after following the recipe exactly, the bars still did not want to cook properly.  The instructions said to bake them for 20-25 minutes but when that amount of time passed, the middle was still liquid.  By the time the middle was cooked to where it needed to be (after almost 45-50 minutes), the edges of the filling started to become more golden and the overall color seemed to dull down.  However, the taste was spared and they were DELICIOUS.  I added a tad more sugar to the recipe so they would not be as tart but they were still tart enough like a fresh glass of lemonade and boy were they refreshing! Happy baking!

raspberry lemonade bars

for the crust:
9 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick, plus one tablespoon)
1/4 cup (50g) superfine sugar (or regular granulated)
1 cup (100g) of unbleached all-purpose flour
pinch salt

for the filling:
1 1/2 cups (287g) superfine sugar (or regular granulated)
3 egg whites
1 egg
2/3 cup (150mL) freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 3 lemons)
2 tablespoons lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
2/3 cup (65g) unbleached, all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1-2 cups (150-275g) of frozen raspberries, defrosted
1 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180 degrees Celsius). Line a 8×8″ * square baking pan with a strip of parchment paper (8×14″) that covers the bottom and overlaps on either side. (This is so after it cools, you can pull out the entire pan of lime bars and cut them neatly. You can omit this step completely, though. You don’t even need to butter the pan.)

2. Cream butter, sugar, and salt with an electric mixer. Mix in flour until just incorporated. Flour hands and press dough into 8×8″ square baking pan, so that it comes up about a 1/2 inch around the sides.