I was searching for a Lemon Bar that could easily travel to picnics or in a care package. The bar couldn’t be fragile or need refrigeration. An ideal Lemon Bar would be chewy, creamy, and full of citrus lemon zing. Chewy White Chocolate Lemon Bars more than meets my search terms and my expectations!
There are many situations in which it helps if you know what you’re looking for.
On house hunting TV shows the beleaguered real estate agent receives the home buyers’ list of “must haves” right at the beginning of the show. The agent then knows what to look for, even if the expectations are unattainable.
Standing with your daughter in the prom dress department is another time that a few price, style, and color guidelines can be helpful in reducing stress and drama. With hundreds of frothy or slinky creations to audition for the role of “the dress”, it’s essential to be able to eliminate non-contenders.
Then, there is the college search. With thousands of colleges in the U.S., it is helpful if students have some inkling of what they are looking for in order to filter out the possibilities. When I did the tour of colleges with my daughter, she was exceedingly specific; she knew where in the country she wanted to be, she knew the size of school she was looking for, and she knew that she wanted to be an elementary education major. We were able to quickly narrow down the choices to a handful of schools that met her needs. My son, on the other hand,was exceedingly unspecific. He looked at universities from coast to coast. Though he didn’t want a huge school, he was flexible on size. Most impactful to the search was that he had no idea what he wanted to study, making it impossible to look for a college with an expertise in a yet-to-be-determined major. My son did not know what he was looking for, but in the end he chose what felt like a good fit, and his choice has worked for him.
One night when I should have been sleeping, but instead was imagining cookies, I thought about baking a lemon bar that was mail-able. I knew exactly what I was looking for; something lemony, soft, and chewy but not the traditional moist, gooey lemon bar that is delicious but doesn’t travel well. I wanted to use desert safe ingredients that would result in a sturdy, long lasting bar with great flavor and texture. I definitely knew what I was looking for, but I couldn’t find it. There are tons of recipes for luscious lemon bars; however, none I found are suitable for care packages. Some are so fragile, I’m not sure they would make it to a picnic.
Stubbornly sticking to my lemon bar craving, I decided to create my own recipe. I started with a recipe for butterscotch blondies and played with it. After a few less than stellar results, I am very happy with this, the final version. I added an extra egg yolk for chewiness and lemon zest, lemon juice, and white chocolate for flavor. To follow desert safe guidelines, I substituted granulated white sugar for the brown sugar. The original recipe and mine use vegetable shortening, but I think butter or coconut oil would work equally well. For mailing, I do not recommend using the optional icing. The icing is tasty and adds a little extra lemon zing but it smushes when wrapped. The tops of the bars are sprinkled in yellow decorative sugar before baking which gives a yellow sparkle that dresses up the bars without icing and stays in place for packaging.
You can read more about desert safe ingredients and find an index of all of the desert safe recipes on The Monday Box by clicking here.
Chewy White Chocolate Lemon Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter flavor vegetable shortening
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest zest of 1 lemon
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 2-3 tablespoons yellow decorating sugar
- ICING optional:½ cup confectioner’s sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Directions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9” x 9” pan with foil extending over the edges. Spray the foil with non-stick spray.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt.
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Place vegetable shortening in large microwave safe bowl and microwave about 1 minute until melted.
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Into the bowl of melted shortening add flour mixture, sugar, eggs and yolk, vanilla, zest, and lemon juice. Mix with a large spoon until smooth.
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Stir in white chocolate chips.
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Spread the batter evenly into pan then sprinkle with yellow sugar. With fingertips, press the sugar gently to make sure it sticks to the batter.
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Bake for 25-35 minutes until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
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Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
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When cool, remove from pan by lifting the overhanging foil.
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If icing, mix together lemon juice and confectioners sugar until smooth. Adjust consistency if necessary by adding more sugar or juice. Drizzle over uncut bars.
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Cut into bars.
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Store at room temperature in an airtight container or ziplock bag for 2** weeks. For longer storage, I recommend not cutting into individual bars, but wrapping the entire square.
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**Desert-safe adaptations: The lemon juice and zest baked into the batter should not pose a spoilage problem. The lemon juice in the icing is not baked in and should not be used. Wrapping the entire pan of lemon bars without cutting will preserve moisture and keep the bars chewy for longer.
Packing Tips
Double wrap bars individually or in pairs in plastic wrap before placing in airtight containers or ziplock bags.
Baking for a lemon lover? Click on the photo for these lemony recipes!
How do we make lemon bars even more scrumptious? Add white chocolate! Wendy this is BRILLIANT!! And with all the sunshine lately I’d love to enjoy one of these on the front porch with a glass of lemonade. 🙂
Thanks for being my own personal cheering squad, Jess! Your enthusiasm for baking always makes me smile. 🙂 White chocolate adds a creamy taste that does up the scrumptious factor. You pour the lemonade, I’ll bring the lemon bars. 🙂
I just realized that white chocolate almost literally goes with everything. I wonder if it will ever edge out dark chocolate for that reason? 🙂 These sound delicious!
Thanks, Loretta! I agree, white chocolate does go with so many flavors. It adds a creamy taste while allowing other flavors to shine. However, I doubt that die hard dark chocolate fans (and they are a verbal bunch) will ever let dark chocolate take a back seat. 🙂
I love a good chewy bar, I mean who doesn’t love lemon bars! These remind me of lemon bars my Grandmother used to make. 🙂
I agree, Jennifer, lemon bars are wonderful. That is why I really wanted to figure out a mail-able lemon bar recipe! The chewiness is an added bonus. 🙂 Do you think your grandmother used vegetable shortening in her bars? Many older recipes use vegetable shortening and it often makes a textural difference.
I’m a big fan of lemon and white chocolate..in a bar cookie..all the better 😉 ps. love your cookie recipes!
Thank you so much, Patty! I truly appreciate your kind words. Your amazing photos and recipes are what I aspire to. Your California growing season gives you so many fresh herb, fruit, and vegetable options! I am envious. 🙂 The lemons used in these bars are never going to be local to Missouri, but they are rather yummy anyway. 🙂
When I hear the word “chewy”, I always pay closer attention! Love your creativity. I’m sure these are delicious and I hear a lot of raves about the combination of lemon and white chocolate (D. Lebovitz says it’s good and he knows what he’s talking about! : )
Chewy is my pay attention word too, Monica. 🙂 In bars that’s key. In cookies, my favorites tend to be chewy in the center with slightly crisp edges. D.Lebovitz certainly is A if not THE chocolate baking guru. I say, go with his authoritative command! 🙂
These look amazing! You caught my attention with white chocolate, lemon and chewy! Deliciousness!
Thanks, Serena! White chocolate adds a creaminess to lemon that I find luscious. 🙂
YAY white chocolate and lemon! What a perfect combination! How lovely!
Thanks! Yes, they are lemony and smooth at the same time! 🙂
Lemon bars are the best! These look fabulous 🙂
Thanks, Jennifer! I love lemon bars and am so happy to be able to make a lemon bar that can be shipped as well as gobbled immediately. 🙂
That lemon bowl is super cute….how fun! Your lemon bars sounds spectacular! I love everything lemon 🙂
Thanks, Suzie! The bowl is paper mache and comes from a small factory in central Mexico. I couldn’t resist. 🙂 I have a tray in the same design.
I love the idea of white chocolate and lemon together! Very unique and a pairing I haven’t tried before. They are like sunshine and happiness! I love them.
Reeni, the white chocolate adds a sweet creamy dimension to the lemon. In these bars the lemon comes from both juice and zest. The white chocolate smooths it all out. 🙂 Wouldn’t it be wonderful to send someone a care package filled with sunshine and happiness!!!
what a great way to make a lemon bar transportable! i admire your efforts here; it’s not always easy to turn something with one distinct flavor profile into something completely different, and it looks like you did it (and did it well!).
Thanks, Shannon! I think that these very closely maintain the flavor profile and only alter the texture of the traditional lemon bar. I guess these are more like a lemon brownie in feel and chew. A lemonie? 🙂 Not easy is true, especially when you are working with limited knowledge, but its so much fun when you finally get it right. 🙂
i think “lemonies” are going to be my new favorite thing. 🙂
I am just starting to like lemon in desserts : ) And all of a sudden I feel bold and have been putting it in lots of baked goods! lol These look delicious – I love that icing too! I don’t even recognize myself anymore – me, like lemon? Crazy!
Thanks, Ashley! Once you start baking and playing with flavor combinations, there is no telling what new cravings will arise! 🙂 I find that I like certain flavors only in certain textures. Like lemon. I like it in curd and in chewy things but not in cake or candy. And I LOVE lemonade or limoncello! (if we count those because they aren’t baked) 🙂
Great job! These look amazing – love the icing but if you’re traveling I can understand the smearing – but just lick the paper! Lemon blondies – delicious.
Thanks, Tricia! I think if the icing was left to dry overnight it would probably dry hard and be mail-able. But when short on time and determined to ice….I agree, send instructions in the care package to lick the paper! 🙂
I also imagine cookies and cupcakes as I try to sleep! 😉 Love these bars!!
Thanks, Jocelyn! Is it productive use of insomnia to imagine baked creations or the cause of insomnia do you think?! In any case, I am very glad to know I am not alone!! 🙂
I love the combo of lemon and white chocolate. I have never seen them used together but I am imagining how good these are. I be t the lemon cuts the white chocolate’s sweetness. I also lay awake thinking about cookies! But then, I am thinking about them when I am on the treadmill and in spin class and …..
The lemon and white chocolate just seemed to make sense together. You are right, Cindy, the lemon cuts the sweetness of the white chocolate. Also, the white chocolate adds a creamy sweetness to the lemon. They are a good pair, I think, in a chewy bar. 🙂 It is so good to hear that others ponder cookies and baking possibilities at random times day and night. 🙂 I would fall off the eliptical if I thought about cookies while doing aerobic gym stuff, but my mind definitely wanders to baking when I am supposed to be clearing my mind during pilates!
I love the combination of lemon and white chocolate. I’m going on a little picnic this weekend, and I think these bars would be the perfect treat to bring along!
Thanks, Sheryl! I think these lemon bars are picnic perfect; they travel well and don’t need refrigeration. If you try them please let me know what you think. 🙂
My mouth is watering looking at these 🙂
Thanks, Renee! These bars are chewy, lemony, and travel well. What’s not to love ?! 🙂
Thank you! I’ve been looking for a good lemon bar recipe! I love the chewy but not gooey aspect.
Yum!
Michelle
Thanks, Michelle! Keeping the chewy (good for care packages) and losing the gooey (bad for care packages) while keeping the lemony zing of a traditional lemon bar was the challenge in developing this recipe! I love the result and hope you do too! 🙂
Stopping over from Full Plate Thursday. I just had to come pin the recipe for these… I love white chocolate and lemon together!
Thanks, Marye! I love white chocolate and lemon together too! I’m glad you stopped by so that I could discover your blog as well! 🙂
I would love a dozen to go please! Your luscious lemon bars (with chocolate no less) look absolutely scrumptious!
Thanks, Susan! The best part about these bars is that you really can take them “to go”! They travel beautifully. 🙂
Love the lemon and white chocolate combo! YUM!
Blessings,
Edye | http://gracefulcoffee.wordpress.com
Thank you, Edye! I love the lemon and white chocolate combo too! Added to a chewy bar and I am hooked. 🙂
These look positively divine!! I love the idea of the lemon and white chocolate and i’ts so nice to see a lemon bar that can travel well!
Thanks for bringing these by Throwback Thursday!
Mollie
Thank you, Mollie! Lemon and white chocolate is a personal favorite ! Thanks for hosting Throwback Thursday!
Wow your lemon bars look stunning!
Thank you, Kat! I love these lemony bars because they are transportable; picnics, care packages, pot lucks, etc.
Your Lemon Bars looks amazing! Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at Full Plate Thursday this week. Hope you will come back and visit us again real soon!
Miz Helen
Thanks, Miz Helen! It’s always fun to share at Full Plate Thursday!