These pistachio and lemon bars are easy to bake and have a delicious zesty flavour.
Serve these bars with your afternoon tea for a little treat or package them up for lunchboxes and picnics. They only take 30 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to bake. Little ones can help with the preparation by measuring the ingredients with you and turning the food processor on to blitz the base together.
Ingredients
- 50g pistachios
- 100g caster sugar
- 75g plain flour
- 50g desiccated coconut, plus 1tbsp, to scatter over the top
- 100g unsalted butter, melted
- 1tbsp pistachios, finely chopped
For the filling:
- Finely grated zest of 4 lemons and 230ml juice (about 5 lemons)
- 4 medium eggs, beaten
- 230g caster sugar
- 35g plain flour
Method
- Heat the oven to 160C Fan/Gas 4. Whizz the pistachios in a food processor until finely ground, then add the sugar, flour, coconut and butter, then pulse to bring together. Stir in the chopped pistachios until evenly distributed.
- Press into the base of a 20cm square tin that has the base and sides lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes until lightly golden. Reduce oven to 140C Fan/Gas 3.
- Meanwhile, whisk all the filling ingredients together in a bowl. Strain through a sieve, then carefully pour over the warm base and return to the oven for 25 minutes, just until set. Cool in the tin then scatter over the 1tbsp desiccated coconut before cutting into 16 equal portions/bars.
Top tips for making pistachio and lemon bars
For clean, neat portions warm a sharp knife under some hot water. Dry it with a clean cloth then slice it into squares. Clean the knife between each cut.
Do lemon bars need to be refrigerated after baking?
Once the lemon bars are completely cooled, it’s best to store them in an airtight container in the fridge if you are not eating them straight away. They will keep in the fridge for around 2-3 days.
Why did my lemon bars fall apart?
It’s very important to give the base of your lemon bars a good solid structure. Make sure you press it firmly into an even layer in the tin. You want to make sure there are no gaps otherwise the curd layer will seep through and give a soggy base that falls apart once cut.
What can I use instead of desiccated coconut?
If you don’t like the flavour of coconut then swap for the same quantity of plain flour for the base and dust the finished bars with icing sugar instead. You could use ground almonds in the base instead of the coconut if you still want an extra hint of nuttiness.
For this recipe, you need a 20cm square tin with a removable base. This non-stick one from MasterClass is perfect and very versatile.
For more citrusy baking inspiration, check out our lemon drizzle cake. You might also like this lemon curd cake or our take on the classic American lemon pound cake.
