Lemon Bars with Olive Oil and Sea Salt

Four years ago, I made lemon bars for a family party. They were a huge hit, especially with my mom, who raved about them for days afterwards. And then weeks afterwards. And then years afterwards. I didn’t pick up on her numerous hints, partly because I can be really dense and partly because, while she loved them, I was less convinced.

They were good, for sure, but they weren’t the bomb-diggity.* A bit too one-note: just bright, tart lemon on a buttery shortbread base. (Cue a collective eye roll at my pain-in-the-butt-ness.) But then, a few months ago, I spotted Melissa Clark’s lemon bars, tricked out with olive oil and a touch of sea salt. I immediately emailed the recipe to my mom, who promptly bought a bag full of lemons and waited for me to come home.

And despite my best attempts to ruin them, these lemon bars are perfect. Olive oil and citrus are a wonderful pairing, and the fruity bitterness of the oil complements the lemons here nicely. The salt adds an extra layer of complexity, elevating these bars to “sophisticated,” “chic” and a bunch of other grown-up words that one rarely associates with lemon bars.

There’s not a chance that we go four years between making these.

*I’ve been listening to the “No Diggity” playlist on Pandora a lot recently. They really don’t make music like they used to …

Lemon Bars with Olive Oil and Sea Salt
Recipe from Melissa Clark / NY Times
Makes one 9-x-9 pan of bars

For the crust:

– 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

– 1/4 cup granulated sugar

– 3 tablespoons powdered sugar + more for sprinkling

– 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

– 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

– 10 tablespoons (1-1/4 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

For the curd:

– 4 to 6 lemons

– 1-1/2 cups sugar

– 2 large eggs + 3 yolks

– 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

– pinch of fine sea salt

– 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) melted butter

– 1/4 cup fruity extra-virgin olive oil

– flaky sea salt, for sprinkling

1) Preheat the oven to 325F and line a 9-x-9-inch baking pan with enough foil or parchment paper to hang over two of the sides (these will be used as handles later, to lift the bars out of the pan).

2) Make the shortbread base: whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, lemon zest and sea salt in a large bowl. Using two knives, cut the butter cubes into the flour mixture until a crumbly dough forms. Press the dough into the prepared pan and bake until the shortbread is pale golden all over, 30-35 minutes.

3) While the shortbread is baking, prepare the lemon curd: Grate 1/2 tablespoon zest from lemons and set aside. Squeeze the lemons to yield 3/4 cup juice.

4) In a small saucepan, whisk together the lemon juice, sugar, eggs and yolks, cornstarch and fine sea salt over medium heat until the mixture has boiled and thickened, 2-5 minutes. (Make sure the mixture comes to a boil or the cornstarch won;t activate. But once it boils do not cook for longer than 1 minute, or you risk the curd thinning out again.) Remove from heat and whisk in the butter, olive oil and lemon zest.

5) When the shortbread is ready, take it out of the oven and carefully pour the lemon curd onto the shortbread base in an even layer. Return the pan to the oven. Bake until topping is just set, 10-15 minutes more.* Allow the bars to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold before cutting into bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and flaky sea salt right before serving.

*I baked my bars for much longer than that (almost 25 minutes #OOPS), because this episode was on and I got a bit distracted … They were darker than they should be, but tasted fine, so don’t fret if your bars overbake slightly.