Aside from marking the end of the bitter cold winter and the sprouting of green stuff, there's another reason why I love spring. It's a transitional season where one season's produce is winding down, and the produce from the next season first comes to market.
Meyer lemon season, for example, runs from November through April, while strawberry season starts in April and runs through the summer. I love Meyer lemons because they're one of the few bright flavors you can taste during winter. To stick your nose in a bag full of these golden yellow beauties and take a deep breath is like inhaling a lungful of pure happiness. Strawberries, on the other hand, start showing up just as the weather starts turning really hot, and the sweet red berries stream juicy bliss into your mouth with each bite.
After a neighbor's Meyer lemon tree was blown over by an overabundance of fruit and some heavy winds, we found ourselves the lucky recipients of a bag full of fruit. I also found two pints of glorious organic berries at the market, and it wasn't long before thoughts of strawberry Meyer lemonade started coursing through my mind. In the end, I decided to have a bit more fun with the flavors and made these Strawberry Lemon Bars.
One of the biggest gripes I have with lemon bars is that they are way too sweet. When you're using regular lemons, it's necessary to add a ton of sugar to offset their acidity. The beauty of using Meyer lemons and strawberries is that they are both sweet and only mildly acidic, so I was able to reduce the amount of sugar in the filling by almost half. I also added some rolled oats to the crust for some texture and fiber. While I don't think you could ever call a lemon bar healthy, these are certainly "healthier" than your run-of-the-mill lemon bars.
With a buttery, crunchy crust underneath, the sweet fruity flavor of the strawberries pairs perfectly with the tart taste and floral aroma of the Meyer lemon juice. As the days grow longer, I'm looking forward to trying this out with other fruits like peaches and wild blueberries!
More Delicious Desserts
- Meyer Lemon Cake
- Strawberry Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake
- Strawberry and Cream Melting Moments
- Yuzu Posset
📖 Recipe
Units
Ingredients
for crust
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup rolled oats
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 pod vanilla bean (just the seeds scraped out)
- 12 tablespoons cultured unsalted butter very cold (cut into ¼" cubes)
for filling
- ¾ cup strawberries (hulled, halved and sliced)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs (lightly beaten)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon Meyer lemon zest
- ⅔ cup Meyer lemon juice strained
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Line a 9" x 13" pan with enough parchment paper to go about 1" up on all sides. In the work bowl of a food processor, add the flour, rolled oats, powdered sugar, salt and vanilla seeds. Pulse a few times to combine, then add the butter and pulse until the dough looks like pea-sized gravel (about 10 1-second bursts). Sprinkle the dough evenly over the parchment-lined pan and use your fingers to press the dough into a uniform sheet that goes about ½" up all sides. Put it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, place the oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and ¼ cup of sugar and toss to coat. This will release excess moisture and sweeten the strawberries. To prepare the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour and lemon zest. Add the lemon juice and whisk to combine.
- Remove the crust from the freezer and put in oven and bake for around 25 minutes, or until it is golden brown and fragrant. When the crust is done, take it out of the oven, then immediately scatter the strawberries around the crust, pour any accumulated juices into the lemon mixture and whisk to combine. Pour the lemon mixture over the strawberries.
- Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F, then put the pan in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the center of the lemon bars doesn't jiggle anymore. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely. Slice, then dust with powdered sugar and serve.
Tina says
I made this over the weekend. It was prefect!
Masha says
Hi Mark, I have found your blog through Saveur, I believe, and I am absolutely smitten with your approach towards cooking, your versatility with different ingredients, and your love of meyer lemon! I have been looking at so many food blogs in the past few weeks, and none has urged me to leave a 'wow' message right away. The Matzo brei idea is nothing short of brilliant, coming from a person whose mother was making some mean mushroom matzo brei for as long as I can remember that's no small prize.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Masha, thanks for the nice comment:-) Mushroom matzo brei sounds awesome! I'm gonna have to try that next time.
Robin says
My 8 year old son called these scrumptious and ordered 3 more! So easy to make and so delicious.
TrishKicks says
I made this, sooo delicious!! I didn't have meyer lemons so I mixed in some juices from 1 orange... worked great!
Thank you for the recipe!!
no name says
I made this and it was great!!! did not change one thing. the recipe worked out great, had a bag of meyer lemons and was looking for something good to use them on I sure am glad I found your recipe. Thank you so much you made me look so good at the bbq.. thank you, this is my all time fav........
Rachel says
Sooooo good. I didn't have any vanilla beans so I just added a little (1tsp) vanilla extract into the mix. I did end up using at least 1 cup or even 1 1/4 cup strawberries since the top looked pretty bare when I spread out all my slices. Everyone was so impressed with "my" abilities. Thanks Marc!
Mahda says
Dear Marc,
Thanks fo all great recipes! I love making them.
I have a question about the crust: should I slightly press the crust with my fingers to form a rectangle (without worrying about how homogenous the mixture is) or making a dough out of the mixed ingredient with my fingers ( completely mixed) and then form it to a rectangle?
Thanks
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Mahda, you need to process the butter and other ingredients until they form pea-size gravel. You still want small pieces of butter, but no big chunks. Then you press the gravel together in the pan. It's not going to be 100% homogenous, but that's what give the crust its flakiness.
marina says
Hello,
do you think I could make them in advance and freeze them for a party a couple of weeks later?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Marina, I’ve never tried it so I can’t say for sure, it’s possible the higher moisture content of these bars (due to the strawberries), could make the crusty soggy when you defrost it. Also, you’ll want to wait to sprinkle on the powdered sugar until after the bars have defrosted and come to room temperature. If you do try freezing them, it would be great if you could leave a followup comment to let us know how it goes.
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Colleen Pedrazzini says
Spring is finally here in New England and my Mom sent me the last of her Meyer Lemons from Auburn, California. This is exactly the kind of recipe I was searching for to use some of them up! Making them now, I just copied your no recipe to my book of keepers and pinned it to my Pinterest board. My daughter already liked the pin, imagine how suprised she'll be when I bring these into her work later!!! Thanks 🙂
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks for the nice note, I hope your daughter enjoyed them!
shonya.atmos says
My god, can not wait for Summer to roll round in the southern hemisphere, so I can make these...
Nazla Reagin says
I made these last year for the first time and we all loved them. I'm fortunate enough to have found a local source of Meyer lemons that are bigger and juicier than the grocery store variety and cannot wait to enjoy these bars again. Thank you for the wonderful recipe and foolproof directions.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Nazla, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed them! Also great to hear you found a local source as they can be tricky to find otherwise:-)
Kim says
These are very good. I was looking for a recipe for strawberry lemon bars and this is exactly what I wanted. It is not too sweet. My tree is a regular lemon tree but the flavor is wonderful. My friend's Meyer Lemon tree did not produce this year in Arizona, but the others had great crops. Thanks for the recipe.