Grandma’s Amazing Lemon Squares

When my husband was little, these lemon squares were his absolute favorite treat.

He still talks about coming home from school and finding a fresh batch cooling on the counter.

According to him, he could smell that distinctive lemon-y goodness from the driveway!

Now my oldest daughter has the same obsession whenever we visit Grandma’s house.

That girl makes a beeline for the kitchen to check if Grandma made “the yellow squares” as she called them when she was younger.

Its become their special thing, and my mother-in-law always sends her home with extras wrapped in foil.

Well, yesterday after soccer practice my daughter asked if we could make them ourselves since Grandma lives two hours away and we won’t see her until Thanksgiving.

I called my mother-in-law right then and there, and she was so excited to share her recipe with us!

I was actually surprised how simple it is.

All this time I thought it was some complicated family secret but its really straightforward.

So here it is, the famous lemon square recipe that’s been making my husband’s family happy for three generations now.

Ingredients for the Best Lemon Squares Recipe

For this recipe you’ll need a 9×9 square. You can use an 8 inch square baking pan too.

For the crust:

• Shredded or flaked coconut – gives the crust a tropical twist that balances the tangy lemon
• Flour
• Butter – use REAL butter not margarine, trust me on this one
• Sugar
• Salt

For the filling:

• Flour
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Lemon juice – fresh squeezed is a million times better than bottled
• Icing sugar for topping – makes them look pretty and adds a touch more sweetness

How to Make Classic Lemon Squares

For the Crust:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the coconut, flour, sugar and salt. I like to use a fork to mix these dry ingredients together. Nothing fancy, just get them all mixed up good.
3. Cut in the butter until the mixture looks crumbly. I use a pastry cutter but two knives work fine too. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs when you’re done.
4. Press this mixture into a 9×9 pan. Use your fingers (lightly floured so they don’t stick) to press it evenly across the bottom and about 3/4 inch up the sides. My mother-in-law taught me to use the back of a measuring cup to really smooth it out. The more even your crust is now, the prettier your squares will be later.
5. Bake until the crust turns golden brown, about 20 minutes. Your kitchen will start smelling like coconut heaven! While it’s baking I usually clean up a bit and get the filling ingredients ready.

For the Filling:

1. In a small bowl beat together the eggs, sugar, flour and lemon juice. I use a whisk to make sure there are no lumps. Make sure to really mix it well or you’ll get little flour lumps in your filling.
2. When the crust is golden, pull it out and pour the filling mixture over it right away while it’s still hot. Be careful not to overfill if your crust has shrunk a bit (happens sometimes).
3. Put it back in the oven and continue baking until the filling is set, about 20 more minutes. If you’re not sure, it’s better to bake a few minutes longer than to underbake.
4. This is the hardest part – let it cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack!
5. Once they’re completely cool, dust the tops with powdered sugar using a small sieve or tea strainer for an even coating. You can use a sharp knife to cut into squares. I run the knife under hot water between cuts to get nice clean edges.

Grandma’s Best Secret!

If you try these, make sure you have someone to share them with or you’ll end up eating the whole pan yourself (speaking from experience).

They’re even better the next day when the flavors have had time to really meld together.

And don’t tell anyone I told you this, but these freeze surprisingly well!

Just wrap them individually and you can pull them out for unexpected guests or emergency sweet cravings.

Your kids will think you’re a magician when you produce homemade lemon squares on a random Tuesday.

So go ahead and make these special treats that have been bringing smiles to our family for years.

Who knows, maybe they’ll become your family’s tradition too!