How Ina Garten Keeps Homemade Lemon Bars From Getting Lumpy

Lemon bars are a classic — albeit often forgotten — dessert that combines a buttery and flaky crust with a zesty lemon filling. That lemon curd interior distinguishes good lemon bars from absolutely great ones and tastes best when smooth and silky. However, the key to achieving that ideal lemon bar texture isn't just to mix your ingredients well. Rather, as evidenced by Ina Garten's recipe, shared by Food Network, the careful and methodical addition of one particular ingredient can make or break your curd's texture. That ingredient? Flour, which Garten recommends adding in slowly to avoid lumps. 

Specifically, Garten stirs 1 cup of flour into a whisked mixture of eggs, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Rather than just dump the flour into her bowl, however, Garten slowly whisks it in as the curd's final step. Garten warns bakers to follow suit, as the extra care and patience reduces the risk of lumps forming throughout the curd.

At first glance, flour may seem like such a simple and straightforward ingredient, but it overlaps with various baking tricks and cooking techniques, whether you're preventing a dessert from sticking to your baking sheet or thickening your go-to sauce. In lemon bars, Garten takes care in how she uses her flour and suggests bakers incorporate it slowly — not only in their lemon bar fillings but also in the baked good's base of shortbread-esque dough.

Garten's lemon curd filling isn't the only time her recipe calls for flour. Rather, the Barefoot Contessa's shortbread-inspired crust similarly hinges on 2 cups of the ingredient, which Garten takes care to mix thoroughly and — yes — slowly with creamed butter and sugar.

The trick to Garten's smooth lemon bar base is an electric mixer, which ensures a lump-free dessert from the base through the filling. Garten adds the flour while the electric mixer is already running on low speed. That way, the flour seamlessly and slowly merges with the butter and sugar, resulting in a harmoniously formed crust.

Sure, this approach may take longer than mixing everything at once, but it reduces flour pockets in your lemon bar's crust. Those lumps may be less of an issue in that base than in the dessert's filling, but Garten isn't taking any chances. So long, lumpy and uneven lemon bars.