Raspberry Lemon Bars: Easy Dessert For Summer

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Looking for the perfect treat for your summer picnic or potluck? You’ll love these Raspberry Lemon Bars. It’s like having raspberry lemonade for dessert!

Sometimes it can be a struggle to come up with a great idea for what you should bring to your family’s summer picnic. Lucky for you, today we’ve got the best dessert recipe that I think your friends and family are going to really enjoy – Raspberry Lemon Bars!

Raspberry Lemon Bars, this delicious summer dessert is cut into individual servings and topped with fresh raspberries and powdered sugar.

Hey there, Idea Insiders! Meaghan from Cook. Craft. Love. is back today and this time she’s brought one of her favorite new lemon dessert recipes, Raspberry Lemon Bars. When she sent me the recipe, she said: “I really wanted to call these raspberry lemonade bars because they taste JUST like raspberry lemonade.” Does that sound perfect for summer or what?

Close up of a stack of 4 dessert bars made with a buttery crust, lemon raspberry puree and topped with powdered sugar. They taste just like raspberry lemonade, only in dessert form.

The Perfect Raspberry lemon bars

Meaghan loves to try different ways of creating tasty treats for summer using the fresh taste of lemon. Whether it’s her easy Lemon Cupcakes, her Lemon Raspberry Sweet Rolls or her Lemon Raspberry Donut Holes, she continues to work on her recipes until she’s perfected them. That was the case with these Raspberry Lemon Bars too.

“I tested these three times to get them just right,” Meaghan said. “First I tried swirling the raspberry puree through the top but that left it with some unattractive cracks and craters in the top. Delicious…but ugly. Then I tried doing a regular lemon bar layer and a raspberry glaze on top but they were too sweet. And I knew if *I* found them too sweet they’d kill a normal person.

So lastly I decided to just mix the raspberry puree into the lemon mixture for a delightfully pink and not too sweet bar that tastes just like raspberry lemonade. Yum.”

Overhead view of 8 raspberry lemon bars. This easy summer dessert for a potluck is topped with powdered sugar and fresh raspberries.

How to Make Raspberry lemon bars

These tasty Raspberry Lemon Bars have just the right amount of sweetness. It will feel like you’re serving raspberry lemonade for dessert.

Side view of sliced raspberry lemon bars as an easy summer dessert recipe

What you need: 

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You’ll find a recipe card at the end of this post with the specific quantities for each ingredient and the instructions to make the Raspberry Lemon Bars. First, though let’s cover the basics of what you need as well as some tips and tricks to make your dessert bars the hit of your party.

Kitchen Tools Needed: 

Ingredients Needed: 

6 raspberry lemon bars, four are stacked on top of one another and two are set to the side, fresh raspberries appear near by for garnish

Tips for making and storing raspberry lemon bars

As you prepare this dessert for your summer picnic or potluck, you may have a few questions.

How can I make them look like the ones in the pictures?

Meaghan offers the following tips and tricks so your bars will turn out as delicious as hers:

  • For the 8×8 pan, “I like to spray mine with cooking spray but you can also line it with parchment paper, too if you prefer.”
  • “For the pureé, I essentially remove 9 raspberries for garnish and then pureé the rest. It usually works out to around 1/2 a pint-ish. I also like to strain out my seeds but if you don’t mind seeds, feel free to skip that step!”
  • “You want the lemon bars to be just set so that they’re solid around the edges (mmm… caramelization) but when you jiggle the pan they wobble ever so slightly but don’t go sloshing everywhere.”
Overhead shot of raspberry lemon bars sprinkled with powdered sugar. Each of these summer desserts is topped with a single plump juicy raspberry.

How do you store raspberry lemon bars?

Once they have cooled completely, you can slice them and put them in an airtight container or put them on a serving platter to take to your summer picnic.

Do raspberry Lemon bars need to be refrigerated?

They are safe to eat if they are left out for about a day. Any longer than that and you should refrigerate or store them in the freezer long term.

How long do raspberry Lemon bars last?

They are so delicious, we bet they won’t last long! However, if you do need to store them, they will last about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Close up of a fresh raspberry on top of a raspberry lemon bar sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Can you freeze raspberry Lemon bars?

Yes, you can freeze raspberry lemon bars. They will last about 6 months in the freezer, but if I were freezing these, I would skip putting the whole raspberry on top for garnish.

There are 2 main ways to freeze them:

Side view of sliced raspberry lemon bars. 4 of these desserts are stacked on top of one another. There are a few single raspberry lemon bars near by. All of these delicious desserts are sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Overhead shot of raspberry lemon bars sprinkled with powdered sugar. Each of these summer desserts is topped with a single plump juicy raspberry.
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5 from 2 votes

Raspberry Lemon Bars

Looking for the perfect treat for your summer picnic or potluck? You'll love these Raspberry Lemon Bars. It's like having raspberry lemonade for dessert!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, Dessert
Keyword: raspberry lemon bars
Servings: 9 bars
Calories: 365kcal
Author: Meaghan Lamm

Ingredients

For the Crust

  • 1 stick salted butter
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar

For the Filling

  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice about 5-6 lemons
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 pint raspberries pureéd (save 9 whole berries for garnish)

For the Garnish

Instructions

  • To make the crust, cream together butter and sugar until pale yellow. Add flour and mix until a crumbly ball forms.
  • Press the dough into the bottom of a lightly greased square 8×8 pan.
  • Bake in a 350 preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges.
  • While the crust is baking make the filling by beating eggs, lemon juice, sugar, flour, and raspberry pureé together in a large bowl.
  • Let sit while crust finishes baking and then give it another quick whisk right before pouring it into the pan.
  • When the crust has finished baking pour the mixture over HOT crust and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until just set.
  • Allow to cool for several hours (overnight is best) before removing from the pan, slicing into bars, and dusting with powdered sugar.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bar | Calories: 365kcal | Carbohydrates: 61g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 100mg | Sodium: 119mg | Potassium: 109mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 44g | Vitamin A: 430IU | Vitamin C: 17.9mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1.4mg
Did you make this recipe?Tag us on Instagram at @kenarryideas or leave us a comment rating below.

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