This recipe is a nice twist on traditional lemon bars. They’re still tart like a lemon bar, but with a delicate raspberry flavor, and a really pretty pink hue. This is a great spring or summer dessert. Actually, this is a great dessert for any time of the year. I cut my bars into sixteen pieces. If you do that, I bet you won’t be able to eat just one.

I don’t drink a lot of pink lemonade, so I never thought about what gave it that pink signature color. It turns out that mixing lemonade with a little cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, raspberry juice, or beet juice will do the trick.

I love a recipe where you dump all of the crust ingredients into a food processor and let it do the work – no muss, no fuss. Pro tip: If you have extra raspberry puree after making the recipe, mix it into your morning yogurt. Yum!

These will stay for a week in your refrigerator, if they last that long.

Pink Lemonade Bars
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

For the crust:
1 cup (130 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (typically from ~1/4 lemon)
1/8 teaspoon table salt or 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup (4 ounces or 115 grams) butter, cut into chunks

For the lemon layer:
1 cup [ (4 – 5 ounces) fresh raspberries
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (35 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (typically from 1 or 2 lemons)
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8″ x 8″ pan with parchment paper, extending up on two sides. This will allow you to lift it easily from the pan. Spray the unlined sides with cooking spray or grease with butter.

Put all of the crust ingredients into the bowl of a food processor (a stand mixer can work here as well) and pulse until all of the flour and butter are incorporated and the dough clumps together in a ball.

Press the dough evenly into the pan with the dough coming up the edges about 1/2 inch. Bake the crust in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the sides are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool. Leave the oven on.

Puree the raspberries in a food processor until they are liquefied. Stain them into a bowl using a fine mesh sieve. Press as much liquid out of the mixture as you can, leaving the seeds behind. You will probably end up with a little over 4 Tablespoons of raspberry puree.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until combined, then whisk in the flour until no lumps remain. Finally, whisk in the lemon juice and 3 Tablespoons or raspberry puree. Pour the mixture into the crust and place the pan in the oven.

Bake for 25- 30 minutes until they’re set. The edges should begin to brown and the center should barely juggle. Remove from the oven and let cool. You can also cool them in the refrigerator. Once the bars are completely cool, you can dust them with confectioners sugar. Don’t dust while they’re hot or the sugar will melt into the bars. Cut the bars into as many pieces as you like. I cut mine into 16 pieces.

Yield: 16 bars

Some other recipes that might interest you:

Cheesecake Swirled Brownies
Easter Egg Cookie Dough Truffles
Mini Churros
Banana Bars with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Orange Pound Cake
Whoopie Pies!