Brown butter lemon passionfruit bars are dreamy twist on a classic. Passionfruit is sweet and tart with exotic notes of jasmine and honey. It’s wonderful with lemon. The shortbread crust is toasted and nutty from browned butter.
Notes
– Start with all your ingredients at room temperature.
– When pressing the crust into the pan, use another piece of parchment paper to smooth it down. You can use a spoon or the bottom of a measuring cup to get a smooth clean surface. This also keeps the dough from sticking on your hands.
– Allow the bars to cool completely and refrigerate for clean slices. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Brown Butter Lemon-Passionfruit Bars
Ingredients
For the crust:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
For the topping:
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup passionfruit juice, strained
1/4 cup freshly squeeze lemon juice, strained
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 8X8 pan and line with parchment leaving an overhang.
- To make the crust: Cut the butter into tablespoon-sized pieces. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter while stirring constantly. The melted butter will foam a bit, then the foam will subside. Keep cooking the butter until the milk solids turn golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Take the butter off the heat and pour it and all the browned bits from the pan into a heat-safe bowl to cool slightly.
- When the butter has cooled, add the sugar, vanilla, and salt. Add the flour and mix until just incorporated. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Bake the crust for 20-22 minutes, until it is golden brown. Lower the temperature to 300.
- Make the filling-stir the sugar and flour together, whisk in the eggs then the passionfruit, lemon juice and zest. Pour over the crust and bake for 25-27 minutes, until the filling stops jiggling and its barley set. Let cool to room temperature. Then refrigerate for two hours before cutting.
- Cut the bars into square or triangles and dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving. Store leftover bars in the fridge.
* To make the passionfruit juice place a strainer over a small bowl. Scoop out the passionfruit and place into the strainer with a spatula extracting as much of the juice as possible.
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