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Cranberry Lemon Bars
![Cranberry Lemon Bars](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/11/18/dining/13bakingrex3-bars/merlin_179650401_1c345546-086d-42e6-a2d5-62511090cc00-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus cooling and chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1(12-ounce/340-gram) bag fresh or frozen cranberries
- ¾cup/150 grams granulated sugar
- 2 to 3large lemons
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1½cups/190 grams all-purpose flour
- ⅓cup/65 grams granulated sugar
- 1teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾cup/170 grams unsalted butter (1½ sticks), melted and cooled
- 1cup/200 grams granulated sugar
- ¼cup/30 grams all-purpose flour
- ⅛teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3large eggs, at room temperature
- Confectioners’ sugar (optional)
For the Cranberry Layer
For the Crust
For the Lemon Layer
Preparation
- Step 1
Start preparing the cranberry layer: Combine the cranberries, sugar and 3 tablespoons water in a medium saucepan. Zest 2 of the lemons directly into the saucepan; reserve the lemons. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Continue boiling, stirring occasionally, until the berries burst and the mixture is jammy, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove from the heat and reserve.
- Step 2
Make the crust: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with one large sheet of heavy aluminum foil, making sure there are no gaps or holes, then generously coat with cooking spray.
- Step 3
Whisk the flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk the vanilla into the butter, then pour over the flour mixture. Stir until the dough comes together in a mass. Press into an even layer in the prepared pan. Bake until golden brown around the edges and dry and golden on top, 17 to 20 minutes.
- Step 4
While the crust bakes, begin preparing the lemon layer: Squeeze the juice from the 2 reserved zested lemons. You should have ½ cup. Squeeze the juice from another lemon, if needed.
- Step 5
Whisk the sugar, flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add the eggs and whisk gently just until incorporated. Add the lemon juice and stir gently with the whisk just until smooth.
- Step 6
Let the crust cool for 5 minutes, then spread the cranberry mixture evenly over the crust. Carefully and slowly pour the lemon mixture on top to create two distinct layers.
- Step 7
Return the pan to the oven and bake until the filling is set, 18 to 22 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack, then refrigerate until cold and firm, at least 2 hours. Using the foil, slide the bars out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Cut into 24 squares, wiping your knife between cuts for clean slices. If desired, sift confectioners’ sugar over the tops just before serving.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
After the berries had begun to pop, I used an immersion blender to purée the cranberry sauce and cooked in on simmer for approximately 30 minutes until it was very think and jammy. Spread the cranberry sauce over the baked crust an allowed it to cool for 15-20 mins before pouring the lemon custard on top. This resulted in attractive, distinct layers of fruit when the bars were sliced.
After reading the comments of others, we used an 8 inch square pan with half a recipe of crust, half a recipe of cranberry filling, and the full amount of lemon filling. The baking in step 7 took about 25 minutes. Our bars were delicious, with three distinct layers—just like the picture!
Can the sugar be reduced in the cranberry filling? Usually when I make whole cranberry sauce, I use much less sugar and it gels nicely when chilled. Still spreadable.
Agree with others who said this recipe was poorly worded. The ingredients for filling section should be divided into two distinct parts, or at least have the sugar amount say “divided” so you don’t dump all the sugar into the cranberry sauce and leave none for the lemon layer! For the distinct layers to form, 1) cook the cranberry sauce down until it’s completely smooth and the cranberries are no longer intact berries (30 min). 2) also consider doubling the lemon layer - not enough to cover!
I'd love to make this gluten free for a friend with celiac. Has anyone tried this with a gluten free flour?
I made this in an 8x8 glass Pyrex baking dish. I would absolutely recommend. I kept all of the same measurements and it resulted in a beautiful thick crust, a moderate but incredibly flavorful cranberry layer, and a thick (I estimate about 2/3 inch thick) lemon layer. The flavor is on point. The baking process is simple. The only thing that changed for me (because of the smaller glass baking dish) was the cooking time. I baked it for a total of 30 minutes before the center set.
Reduced sugar for lemon filling to 3/4 c and cranberry jam to 1/2 c. As written, not enough lemon filling to make a distinct layer: cranberry bleeding through. Next time will experiment with either doubling lemon filling or decreasing size of pan.
Cranberry filling 1 12ounce (340gram) bag of fresh or frozen cranberries 3/4Cup granulated sugar 3 Tablespoons water The zest of two lemons Crust-you probably only need 1 ¼ recipe but it isn’t easy to translate into measurable amounts without a scale. Use just enough for a thin but adequate crust layer 2 ¼ Cups all purpose flour ½ Cup granulated sugar 1 ½ teaspoons salt 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla 2 ¼ Cups melted butter Lemon filling 1 cup lemon juice ½ Cup flour ¼ teaspoon salt 2cups sugar 6 eggs
These are delicious! I might have made them in a smaller pan, because the lemon part ended up quite thin. Also, for those asking if you could use less sugar, you probably can, but it is quite tart with the amount of sugar in the recipe. Last - an almond crust would be delicious!
These came out great! I used parchment instead of foil and very slightly reduced the sugar in the cranberry and lemon fillings. The directions are not clearly written so make sure you read thoroughly. Steps 2 and 3 are for the crust, steps 4 and 5 are for the lemon filling. It was confusing at first and could be easy to mix up the measurements.
I made these with two tweaks based on comments and they turned out beautiful and delicious, with distinctive layers. Very successful. 1. I added 50 percent more to the lemon layer 2. I used the immersion blender on the cranberry layer so it was smoother.
After reading the notes I decided to use Melissa Clark’s Lemon Bars with Olive Oil as the base recipe, then added the cranberry layer per this one. Used a 9x13 pan: without the cranberries there wouldn’t have been enough custard but with them, delish. Big hit. Even my daughter-in-law, a professional baker, gave these high praise.
Came together pretty well, but recipe needs editing. As a pretty experienced baker, still got tripped up when I added the wrong amount of sugar to the crust . Luckily, I realized it when I got to the lemon prep part and pulled the crust out of the oven and remixed. Please restate amounts in step 3 .Also, well-written recipes tell you what part of the oven to bake in (upper third seems to work). Freezing notes are appreciated, especially at Thanksgiving. Tart and Delicious and worth it.
Can parchment paper be substituted for the aluminum foil?
Maybe an almond flour crust? Really easy and splash of almond extract amps it up a little. Nice change. Tons of recipes available.
Do you think I can substitute blueberries for cranberries?
Has anyone used rhubarb instead of cranberries? It’s spring time in Wyoming and it just feels right
while the actual instructions to this recipe are a bit vague, on the whole - i found the recipe to be forgiving enough that the final product turned out well. not my favorite lemon bar recipe, but definitely still enjoyable.
Wow. Wow. WOW. New standard for the holidays. And valentines
Interesting that my local store now has only 10 oz bags of frozen cranberries.... still worked.
Okay, I hate to be that person but hear me out: 1. Substitute the cranberries for 16 ounces of fresh strawberries. 2. Blend the jam mixture after it has cooled a bit. 3. Use only 1 1/4 cup of flour for the crust but add in 1/2 cup of shelled pistachios (finely chop the nuts before adding to the flour mixture). I was inspired by Molly O'Neill's Pistachio-Lemon Bars and the Sister Pie Strawberry Pistachio Crumble Pie and those tweaks to this recipe nail that overlap perfectly.
I am an impulsive baker and will bake any dessert/pastry that calls for melted butter instead of “room temperature.”
Wish I had read comments before making these. I even used a smaller baking pan 8x11 versus 9x13 and STILL didn’t have enough to make a full lemon layer. Also feel it should be cooked like a curd before pouring it over the cranberry layer. It looks disgusting I’m sorry to say. Clotted cranberry seeped over a partial lemon layer that looks like a mornay sauce. I’m willing to taste them when they cool but I won’t be bringing them to Mah Jongg tomorrow, I can tell you that.
Use an 8x8 pan instead
These were messy, but I really did like the flavors.
Delicious. Following the advice of others, I also used an 8 inch square pan, but with a full recipe of crust and lemon layer and half the amount of cranberries.
Made these for the office for the holidays and got rave reviews. After reading the comments, I did double the lemon layer which everyone loved. I wish I had used my immersion blender on the cranberries. While I did get distinct layers, the larger pieces of cranberry came through the lemon although everyone thought it looked really pretty and they liked a slightly chunkier texture of the berries vs the smoothness of the curd.
Made these at Christmas. Having read the comments, I made in a 9x9 pan. I blended the cranberry layer with a stick blender and doubled the lemon layer. Otherwise I followed the recipe and made in the smaller plan. I felt I overcooked by 2-3min so keep an eye on them. They were very well received by the lemon lovers. Tart, lemony, not too sweet cranberry and nice shortbread.
I made this with leftover cranberry sauce I had made previously, otherwise I followed the instructions. They turned out good. My cookie crust took a bit longer to become golden than the directions (probably 25 mins total, my oven is usually reliable so not sure why so off), and I did use a 9x13 pan. My only regret is that I poured the lemon filling to quickly and didn't have the distinct layers as in the picture. I'd try again next time and be more careful about that.
I made these in my endless search for yummy tart-tasting desserts without much sugar. Changes I made, based on other's comments: used a 8x8 glass pyrex pan, 1/2 c sugar for the cranberries, 3/4 c sugar for the lemon layer, much longer baking time for the crust, about 20-25 min baking time for lemon layer, and an immersion blender on the cranberries. I let the crust cool completely before adding the cranberries. It came out beautifully. Wipe your knife after each cut to keep the squares pretty.
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