A delicious lemon bar made with fresh Meyer lemons, lemon zest, rosemary, and whole wheat browned butter crust. Perfect flavor combination of sweet, sour, salty, and savory.
Start by making the rosemary browned butter. Place butter in small pan on low heat (2-3 on our stove). Your goal is NOT to burn the butter, but to slowly brown the butter fats/solids. Stir every few minutes. Once butter takes on a brown hue, add chopped rosemary, stir for a few seconds, then immediately remove from heat. Leaving the rosemary on the heat for too long will burn out much of the flavor. Cool butter until solid in the fridge or more quickly using the ice bath method pictured in article above.
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 8x11x2 glass or ceramic baking dish with parchment paper with extra hanging over lips (see photo in article above). Or just use a generously buttered baking dish if you prefer.
Add solid/cooled rosemary browned butter to flour, sugar, and salt in separate mixing bowl. Smash together until all ingredients mixed and there is a crumbly consistency. A pastry knife works best for this - but you can also help bring the ingredients together with your hands. See pictures in above section for desired consistency. Pour crumbly crust mixture on to surface of parchment paper in baking dish and smash down with hands until an even surface is formed.
Pre-bake the crust FIRST before adding lemon topping and performing final baking. Bake crust for ~30-35 minutes until crust is getting some golden brown hues. Remove from oven when done (you'll immediately pour on filling when crust is cooked.)
While shortbread crust is baking, zest and juice lemons. Set aside 1/2 cup lemon juice in bowl to whisk in starch and flour to ensure they don't clump. After whisking, this will basically be an evenly mixed paste that you'll add back to the rest of the lemon juice and whisk again. Then add sugar and zest and whisk again. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs until evenly beaten. Then add the eggs to the Meyer lemon mixture and whisk vigorously again. You'll want to give the mixture one more vigorous whisking just before pouring it onto hot pre-baked shortbread crust.
Pour lemon filling over pre-baked crust, then return to oven. Turn temperature down to 300F, and bake for about 35-45 minutes or until filling is firm in the center.
Cool on rack, then refrigerate before serving for best consistency.
Meyer lemon bars with rosemary browned butter shortbread crust https://www.tyrantfarms.com/recipe-meyer-lemon-bars-with-rosemary-browned-butter-shortbread-crust/