Pistachio-Lemon Bars
Published March 18, 1995
Craig Lee for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
THE CRUST
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup confectioners' sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
¼ cup shelled unsalted pistachios, roughly chopped
THE FILLING
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
⅓ cup shelled unsalted pistachios
Confectioners' sugar, for garnish
Nutritional analysis per serving (16 servings)
23 grams carbs; 35 milligrams cholesterol; 174 calories; 3 grams monosaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 8 grams fat; 1 gram fiber; 50 milligrams sodium; 3 grams protein; 15 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
To make crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper (if using foil, lightly butter it). Place flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times. Add butter and process until well combined. Stir in chopped pistachios. Firmly press mixture into the bottom of the lined pan using the flat bottom of a glass or measuring cup (if it sticks, place a piece of parchment paper on the dough before pressing). Bake until lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, whisk together the filling ingredients. When the crust is baked, pour the filling into the pan and bake until set, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and cut into 2-inch squares.
Private Notes
Comments
Pistachio is the best nutty match to lemon! This is now my favorite dessert of all time to make! A couple changes: 1) Used salted pistachios for the crust and filling. The saltiness adds extra complexity to the flavor 2) Omitted salt to prevent excessive saltiness in the crust- the pistachio was already salty 3) Added 5 minutes to baking time for the crust to get extra crisp 4) After adding the filling, lowered temp to 325 and baked 5 m extra. I will continue to make this recipe !
The crust instructions are to "stir in the chopped pistachios", but I think the crust is much improved by processing the pistachios thoroughly with the flour mixture so that the richness of the nuts is distributed evenly through the dough. I also used the zest of an entire lemon, which was rather more than a teaspoon.
I'm a huge fan of lemon, and this recipe is probably my favorite ever! Super easy. Added 3 times the lemon though (a real fan of lemon, as I said), plus 1 tbsp of flour to compensate for the additional liquid. Came out perfect.
Outstanding, and beautiful too. Perfect as written. If I wanted to make these even more lovely and festive, I'd sprinkle some rose petals over top.
Made as directed except followed the lead of people who reduced the sugar in the filling. I am no food scientist. The as directed bottom was so crumbly it did not hold together. The filling with half of the sugar did not adhere to the crust and turned to rubber! Where did I go wrong? Just a sad thing. :-(
Has anyone subsituted in almnod flour for the regular flour ? (gluten issues)