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–+ servings
Stack of three cranberry lemon bars on white plate

Cranberry Lemon Bars

Hanelore Dumitrache
Triple layer cranberry lemon bars with lemon base, homemade cranberry jam filling and pillowy soft meringue. Topped with almond flakes for extra crunch and flavour!
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine International
Servings 16 slices
Calories 332 kcal

Equipment

  • 9 x 12 inch rectangular baking tray

Ingredients
  

Lemon Base Dough

  • 3 ¼ cups all purpose flour (400 grams)
  • ⅔ cup unsalted butter, softened (160 grams)
  • 3 egg yolks, large
  • ⅓ cup granulated sugar (80 grams)
  • 1 zest of one lemon
  • ⅓ cup lemon juice, fresh (80 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast (5 grams)

Cranberry filling

  • 4 cups fresh cranberries (450 grams)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
  • 1 zest of one lemon
  • 1 juice of one lemon

Meringue topping

  • 3 egg white, room temperature
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup sugar (150 grams)
  • 1 cup almond flour (100 grams)
  • ½ cup almond flakes

Instructions
 

Cranberry filling

  • Place the cranberries, lemon juice, lemon zest and sugar into a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to burst the cranberries a little.
  • Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

Lemon base dough

  • Pre-heat the oven to 325°F (170°C).
  • Cream the softened butter with the sugar until fluffy, for about 2-3 minutes.
  • Mix in the egg yolks, lemon juice and lemon zest until fully combined.
  • Separately, add the instant yeast and flour to a bowl and whisk well to combine.
  • Pour the flour into the wet batter and mix to form a dough. Knead the dough for 2-3 minutes until it becomes smooth.
  • Cover with plastic wrap, then set aside to rise for 15 minutes.

Almond meringue

  • Whip the egg whites and salt until soft peaks.
  • Add half of the sugar, then mix to incorporate.Pour in the remaining sugar, then continue mixing until the sugar is fully dissolved (3-4 minutes).
  • Fold in the almond flour into the egg whites by using a spatula. Be gentle to not deflate the air whipped into the meringue.

Assembling all layers

  • Place the dough on a large piece of baking paper, then roll it to ½ inch thickness with a rolling pin. The dough should be the same size as the baking tray.
  • Together with the baking paper, fit the dough into the tray, pressing it with your fingers into shape.
  • Spread the cranberry filling evenly over the dough and level with a spatula.
  • Pour the almond meringue topping over the cranberries, levelling it as well.
  • Sprinkle almond flakes over the top, then bake for 30-35 minutes. If the almond flakes start browning too quickly, cover the tray with aluminium foil.
  • Once baked, let it cool down completely before slicing. Enjoy!

Notes

  • I recommend using a kitchen scale in grams for more accuracy. The cups used for the conversion are standard US customary cups (1 cup flour = 136g). There are many different types of cups across the globe, which is why I strongly recommend using grams instead. 
  • Nutritional value is estimative and it is calculated per serving (this recipe yields 16 servings). 
     

Nutrition

Calories: 332kcal
Keyword christmas bars, cranberry bars, cranberry lemon bars, lemon cranberry bars
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