These luscious lemon bars are nestled on a sweet graham cracker crust and swirled with super microwave-friendly lemon curd. My family loves them and it’s one of our absolute favorite bars. They are so delicious that you will have to calm down or you will find that you have just consumed three to four of them.
Preparation:
To cook:
Level: Easy
Ingredients
- FOR THE DOUGH:
- 1-½ cup Graham cracker crumbs
- 6 tablespoons Melted butter
- 2 tablespoons Sugar
- FOR THE LEMON CURD:
- 4 tablespoons Butter
- ½ cups Sugar
- 3 Large egg yolks
- ½ cups Fresh lemon juice
- 1 Lemon, zested
- FOR THE CHEESECAKE TOPPING:
- ½ cups Sugar
- 2 packages (Size 8 oz) Cream Cheese
- 1 tbsp Lemon juice
- 2 large eggs
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Press evenly into baking dish.
For the lemon curd, melt the butter and let cool for 5 minutes. In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine sugar and egg yolks until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest and melted butter. Microwave at 1 minute intervals, stirring after each minute, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. The curd will thicken further as it cools.
For cheesecake filling, in a stand mixer with paddle attachment, mix sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Turn mixer to low and add lemon juice and egg, one at a time, mixing until incorporated. Pour cream cheese mixture over graham cracker crust.
Using lemon curd, draw three lines along the length of the baking dish to the edge. Use a shish kabeb stick or chopsticks to make small S’s across each line. Don’t go too deep as you don’t want to disturb the crust. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the mixture is set in the center.
Cool completely before slicing. For best results, refrigerate for several hours up to overnight.
Note: Lemon Curd is too thick for great swirls. The goal here is to get lemon in every bite.
