Lemon Bar/Square Renovation - Ww 2-3 Pts Each

Submitted by Amy020

"When I saw this recipe in WW Magazine, I HAD to try it. I LOVE lemon squares and have been looking for a lighter version. At first bite, I thought these were okay....but now I've had 3 and really have to put them away or I'll eat the whole pan. They do have that gooey consistency of a lemon bar! I guess I'd like them to be thicker and in that case would make them in a smaller pan...but then the portions would be smaller - it's all a trade. As written, the recipe is 3 pts per square. However, I used Land O Lakes light butter (oxymoron!) which brought it down to 2 pts per square."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 7
• Yields: 24 bars
• Serves: 24

ingredients

• 1 1⁄3 cups flour
• 5 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 large eggs
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1⁄2 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 3⁄4 cup lemon juice

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*.
2. Make crust: mix flour and brown sugar using a food processor until fully incorporated. Toss butter into flour mixture and pulse to combine until butter is cut into tiny pea-sized pieces and dough appears lumpy. Pack gently into ungreased 13 x 9 x 2" pan (I lined mine w/foil to simplify cutting). Bake 20 minutes until golden.
3. Meanwhile: Make lemon topping. Beat eggs in medium bowl w/electric mixer (I just did everything in the food processor for easy cleanup). Add vanilla extract and 3/4 c powdered sugar. Mix well. Add lemon juice and remaining powdered sugar until sugar is completely dissolved.
4. As soon as crust is finished, remove from oven and reduce temperature to 300*. Immediately pour lemon mixture over hot crust. Bake completely, about 30 minutes Cool and cut into 24 bars.
5. NOTE: Instructions emphasize that the crust MUST be hot when you pour the lemon mixture over. Not sure why, but they made a special note, so I'm passing that along.

Reviews

[Sweet Ti]

Great recipe! Tweaked it a little, as suggested. I didn't use all of the flour mixture for the crust...it just seemed like too much. Also, I used a full cup of lemon juice for the filling, to make it a little more tangy. Great option for a healthier version of the lemon bar.

 

[chicki_girl90]

Overall, easy and delicious recipe! I would recommend.<br/><br/>However, it isn't quite what I think of when I think of lemon bars. 1) The crust. I did the recipe exactly, but came out with a VERY deep crust. When cutting calories, the crust is a huge part of that. I will try halving the crust ingredients next time.<br/><br/>The lemon part is pretty good. I added more lemon juice (a full 8 oz) for that very sweet and tart flavor. It worked.<br/><br/>This has a slight sponge texture to it, but it's not bad. I would feel comfortable making it for family or friends, but I think I'll tweak the recipe a little. Definitely worth the 114 calories per bite! (mine were about 2 bites for each serving) :( but so worth it!

 

[jeanbuckley]

I dunno, lemon bars are supposed to be luscious, and these just didn't offer that luxurious lemon curd experience. In fact, the lemon filling came out rubbery on mine. I followed the recipe to the letter, but maybe I did something wrong...

 

[duck2031205]

This isn't a "diet" recipe, it is a recipe that is just naturally not terribly high in calories! This recipe is in a cookbook I've been using since I was a kid! <br/>Great bar cookie though, classic, and delicious!

 

[Rae 3]

Wow! I was surprised by how good this was. My kids are begging for seconds. I did make one change. My son is allergic to eggs so I used Ener-G Egg Replacer. I was pretty skeptical of change I made as well as the fact that this is a "diet" recipe but it was really good.