I Tried Trisha Yearwood's Lemon Squares—and They're Everything a Summer Dessert Should Be

Trisha Yearwood may have made her name as the country music star behind hits like “She’s in Love With the Boy” and “Walkaway Joe,” but these days, her talents extend far beyond the Billboard charts. Over the years, the Grammy Award winner has carved out a second successful career for herself as a bestselling cookbook author and the longtime host of Trisha’s Southern Kitchen on Food Network.

With a focus on sharing hearty casseroles, weeknight dinner staples and nostalgic desserts, Yearwood’s warm, down-to-earth personality and affinity for Southern comfort food have earned her a reputation as an approachable source for recipes home cooks of all skill levels can enjoy. From fan favorites like her spicy Cowboy Lasagna to her famous Unfried Chicken, Trisha specializes in reliable dishes that don’t require complicated techniques or hard-to-find ingredients.

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Case in point: her take on the classic lemon square. Made with a simple ingredient list full of items you likely already have in your kitchen, this timeless dessert sits somewhere between a buttery shortbread cookie and lemon pie, offering a satisfying bite packed with rich, lemony sweet flavor. And while Trisha’s take in no way reinvents the wheel, it’s a reminder that all it takes is a few key ingredients and attention to detail to make restaurant-worthy desserts at home.

Ingredients for Trisha Yearwood’s Lemon Squares

To get started, you’ll need just a handful of ingredients for this two-part recipe. For the crust, set aside 2 sticks of room-temperature butter, 2 cups of all-purpose flour and half a cup of confectioners’ sugar. For the filling, you’ll need 4 large eggs, 5 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of grated lemon zest, 2 cups of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder and half a teaspoon of salt.

You’ll also need a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, a mixing bowl and an electric mixer to help bring everything together.

How to Make Trisha Yearwood’s Lemon Squares

Start by preheating the oven to 350°F and spraying your 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray before setting it aside.

For the crust, melt two sticks of butter in a medium saucepan over low heat, then combine flour and confectioners’ sugar in a mixing bowl. Once the butter is melted, add it to the dry ingredients and mix everything together until a dough forms. From there, simply press the dough firmly into your greased pan until the entire surface is covered, then toss it in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

While the crust bakes, use an electric mixer to combine the eggs, lemon juice and zest until nice and smooth. Then, add in the granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt, and mix until it’s smooth again.

Once the crust is out of the oven after 25 minutes, pour in the freshly mixed lemon filling and return the pan to the oven to bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Once ready, remove the pan from the oven again and let the dish cool completely, allowing for at least 30 minutes before serving. Finish it off with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar, cut into squares and serve warm.

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What I Thought of Trisha Yearwood’s Lemon Squares

As someone who generally steers clear of overly lemon-flavored things, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by the incredible combination of flavors this simple list of ingredients produces. And even though the filling is primarily made up of sugar and lemon, the finished product tastes undeniably rich and complex, with bright, citrusy notes and a satisfyingly buttery, crumbly crust.

I can see myself making this recipe for just about any summer occasion, whether it’s whipping up a tray to share with friends and family at a cookout, keeping a batch on hand to enjoy throughout the week or bringing it along as a creative dessert for a summer potluck. And with an overall prep and cook time of roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes (with breaks in between), I also found the recipe to be fairly easy to recreate and rewarding to make during a relaxing afternoon.

Tips for Making Trisha Yearwood’s Lemon Squares

If you’re going to make Trisha Yearwood’s lemon squares yourself, these are the tips to keep in mind before you start.

1. Stay strict with bake times.

Because this recipe bakes fairly quickly, you’ll want to keep a keen eye on your timer to ensure both the crust and the filling do not overbake. That said, you can expect the crust to come out fairly browned after the first 25 minutes, but if you leave the tray in the oven longer than the additional 20 minutes needed to bake the filling, you’ll end up with a top layer that looks reminiscent of crème brûlée, only overly cooked and likely burnt underneath.

2. Get creative with the crust.

While the instructions say to simply press the crust dough down into the bottom of the pan, I found that if you form a bit of a side wall with the dough around the perimeter, you end up with a satisfying deep-dish-style crust that gives each square a little extra texture to enjoy.

3. Let them cool completely before cutting.

It might be tempting to slice into these lemon squares as soon as they come out of the oven, but allowing them to cool completely will give the filling time to set and make it much easier to cut clean, even squares. You can even let them cool overnight in the refrigerator to be enjoyed in the morning. 

4. Use fresh ingredients for the best flavor.

While you may want to use bottled lemon juice as a shortcut, using fresh lemons for both the juice and zest will give your lemon squares a much brighter citrus flavor and help balance the sweetness of the filling. More importantly, that fresh flavor will only enhance the final bite, making the little extra effort all the more worthwhile.

Now that you know how to make Trisha Yearwood’s lemon squares and the tricks to making them the best they can be, you now have a go-to summer dessert in your recipe arsenal that you can enjoy all season long.

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