Dreamy Lemon Meringue Pie Bars

I'm mourning the loss of my pictures on my laptop right now. Sniff, sniff. *Tears trickle down face*

I'd say I lost around a hundred pictures, and yes, they are officially gone. I've tried to retrieve them from my laptop, but no luck.

But now it's time to look on the positive side of things. My new hard drive should be here today (I think Eric is going to help me install it, although it isn't as hard as I made it seem like it would be), I can relax a bit about the blog design/changes, because I've pushed them back for a while, and I can always bake my recipes again and take more pictures.

So that's what I did yesterday, and that's what I'll be doing today as well.

And maybe some pool-side lounging with Bon Appetit?
Oh, and I have to buy yeast. Don't let me forget to buy yeast!

I also had some time today to catch up on my blog reading and it was very nice. I really enjoy reading everyone's blogs, getting to know them, and learning more about food. I love our little food blogging community!

I really, really like my readers too. You all leave such nice comments and I'm so thankful! They definitely brighten my day. Never, never feel like you have to leave a comment, though. I enjoy reading a lot of different blogs, but I don't always feel like leaving comments.

Anyway, I don't have many pictures of these Dreamy Lemon Meringue Pie Bars, because I didn't take a lot, and the ones I did take weren't that hot.



I used these lemon sandwich cookies as the base for my bars. I crushed them, mixed the crumbs with melted butter and pressed the mixture into a baking dish. After baking, the crust is topped with a homemade lemon filling, consisting of fresh lemon juice and zest, sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks, vanilla and butter.

I then topped the lemon filling with a meringue made out of egg whites, cream of tartar and marshmallow cream. Ohhh yes! Marshmallow cream! Isn't it dreamy? I think it's dreamy.

OH! Also, you could bake this recipe as a pie, and not bars. I haven't tried it but I think it would work perfectly.

These were really good, but maybe not my favorite thing I've ever baked. I'm not a huge lemon meringue pie person, and not really a meringue person at all. So why did I bake lemon meringue pie bars? Because bags of lemons were on sale for $2.


Dreamy Lemon Meringue Pie Bars
Printable Recipe

Crust
2 cups shortbread cookie crumbs (I used lemon sandwich cookies)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling
3 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
3/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Meringue
3 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup marshmallow cream

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13x9-inch baking dish with foil; coat foil with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together cookie crumbs and melted butter until combined; evenly press into bottom of baking dish. Bake 10 minutes or until light golden brown.

To make the filling, whisk egg yolks together in a medium mixing bowl. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together sugar, water, lemon juice, cornstarch, lemon zest and salt until well combined. Bring mixture to a boil, whisking constantly; whisk half of hot mixture into yolks until combined. Whisk yolk mixture back into saucepan and cook for about another minute, whisking constantly, until thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Strain filling into a medium mixing bowl; whisk in butter and vanilla until combined. Evenly spread lemon filling on top of crust.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

To make the meringue, beat egg whites and cream of tartar together, in a large mixing bowl using a mixer on high speed, until stiff peaks form. Beat in marshmallow cream until just combined. Spread meringue over lemon filling. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour before transferring to refrigerator to cool completely. Lift out foil and slice into bars.

Makes 15 bars