Lemonade Raspberry Bars
These sweet and tart raspberry lemonade bars sit on a buttery crust and are topped with a delicious crumble.
I’m in love with these lemonade raspberry bars. They are really easy to make and are so colorful with fresh raspberries that blend into the lemonade filling. The lemonade-raspberry custard filling is not too sweet and the bars have double the yum factor with a crumble/streusel topping and a buttery pie crust.
Ingredients
- Eggs
- Nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- Granulated sugar
- Fresh-squeezed Meyer lemon juice
- All-purpose flour
- Fresh raspberries
What are Meyer Lemons?
- You can immediately see the color difference between Meyer lemons and regular lemons. Meyer lemons have an orange-yellow skin because they are a cross between a lemon and an orange.
- Meyer lemons are sweeter and contain more juice than regular lemons, so they are ideal for making lemonade.
- The skin is also much softer, making it easier to squeeze out the juice for making lemonade.
- I also use Meyer lemons to make my lemon bars, which are another one of my favorite dessert bars.
- If you can’t find Meyer lemons you can use regular ones but you may want to increase the sugar in the filling.
To make the filling all you have to do is combine all of the ingredients together, except for the raspberries and flour.
For the raspberries, I like to toss them with some sugar and the flour first and then break them down a bit with a wooden spoon so they aren’t completely whole. Instead of mixing them into the filling I like to spoon them over the lemonade filling before they bake.
How to Make Raspberry Lemonade Bars
To make the filling all you have to do is combine all of the ingredients together, except for the raspberries and flour.
For the raspberries, I like to toss them with some sugar and the flour first and then break them down a bit with a wooden spoon so they aren’t completely whole. Instead of mixing them into the filling I like to spoon them over the lemonade filling before they bake.
The crust is so easy to make. All you do is combine all of the ingredients in a food processor until they are mixed and have a crumbly texture. Reserve 1 cup of this mixture for the topping and press the rest of it into a baking pan.
These bars come together easily and quickly and I love that you don’t have to make a separate crust and topping. My favorite part were the edges, which were a little firmer with the caramelized sugars from the fruits. I saved all the edge pieces for myself! I have to admit, these pie bars were gone within a day and I may make another batch because I’m craving one right now just writing about it.
Raspberry Lemonade Bars
Ingredients
For the crust and crumble
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Filling
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed meyer lemon juice, if you use another kind of lemon you may need to increase the sugar
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup fresh raspberries + 1 tbsp flour + 2 tbsp granulated white sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease or line an 8 x 8 inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a food processor, mix crust ingredients until butter is completely mixed in and mixture is crumbly. Reserve 1 cup for crumble. Pour the remaining into baking pan and press together to form crust and then press evenly across the bottom of the pan.
- In a medium bowl, pour raspberries and toss in flour and sugar until evenly coated. Using a spoon, break raspberries down slightly, so that they are halved rather than whole. Add all remaining filling ingredients (except raspberry mixture!) to a bowl of a stand mixer and mix on high speed until smooth. Pour custard filling on top of crust. Spoon raspberries on top, adding dollops evenly across so that each piece you cut later should have a little bit of raspberry in the mix, like in the photos.
- Sprinkle with the 1 cup of reserved crumble, evenly and completely covering surface. Bake for about 60 minutes until top is golden and middle is set. Let bars cool before cutting and serving.
To follow up, Kirbie–there weren’t any left after my event, and people raved about these! I”m going to make them again for another event on Friday. Would you double the recipe for a 13 x 9 pan? I”d like to try freezing them.
oh that’s so great! thanks for following up. yes, i think if you double the recipe it should work well for a 13 x 9 pan. Now I am craving these bars again. Need to go buy raspberries and make another batch!
Greetings from a fellow San Diegan. These are delicious, Kirbie! I made these for an event tomorrow and just tasted a small corner while they were a bit warm. Oh, my! So good! I used regular lemon juice, added a scant 1/4 cup more sugar, and added more raspberries. And I used the food processor for the filling as well. Thanks for a lovely recipe. Would you store these in the refrigerator or at room temperature? Would they freeze? I love to stock my freezer with goodies when i”m in the baking mood.
yay another San Diegan! So glad you like these. My first bite was from one of the corners, and omg, I could barely contain my excitement. I stored mine at room temp and I think that worked out really well and everything still tasted great and the crust was still firm and crunchy. I haven’t tried freezing them though so not sure, but usually my experience is that most baked goods freeze pretty well.
Mmmm, these look awesome! I love fruit bars 😀
they were so good! i must make them again.
Oh this is perfect! I saw a recipe in the most recent BHG magazine for a lemon bar ice cream sandwich but I didn’t want an actual ice cream sandwich. This bar is exactly what I was looking for since I’ve got a ton of Meyer lemons to use up.
yay! Hope you like it. im buying a meyer lemon tree for my garden next year
What a great combination of flavors! I imagine this would also taste good with blueberry. 🙂
im sure it does!
Your lemonade pie bars look pretty and tasty! Usually I like just plain old lemon bars but the crumble on top looks like a yummy addition.
thanks! the filling isn’t quite the same as regular lemon bars. It’s a little less lemony and a little more custardy, so it really works with the crumble.