Developing These Perfect Lemon Bars Nearly Broke Me | Bon Appétit

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I hope Kendra knows that her struggle made this THE MOST INTERESTING video in this series to date. I think us viewers learn more the more you struggle 😂❤

This needs to be a new series ASAP ! Great talent, great style of video, great food content and very much repeatable. Kendra's 10/10

Giving me flashbacks of Claire's Gourmet Makes trial and error.😅😅 Love Kendra by the way! She needs a series something like this.

Excellent video. Felt personally invested in this lemon bar journey

To avoid having your crust float on top of your filling while baking, press your crust down and into the side of the pan immediately after taking it out of the oven while still soft and hot. The crust shrinks when it bakes and it’s an easy way for unset filling to seep under. Also, in order to get a smoother surface on the surface of the lemon filling, pop the bubbles quickly with a kitchen torch before placing into the oven if you’re bothered by it.

Closest thing to Gourmet Makes and I’m so HERE for it!!! More Kendra trial and error please!!!

Love the energy that Kendra exudes!

Had the issue of 'un-lemony' lemon bars when I last tried these. Found a novel fix: blitz citric acid crystals into a powder and mix it into the sugar dusting (the mixture is basically lemon sherbert). Every bite starts with a sharp lemony hit before that creamy, fragrant baked lemon flavour comes through.

Fab video - really throws back to the pre-scandal BA videos.

You got the job by taking creative risks and willing to make mistakes...that to me is a great chef.

My grandma used to make lemon bars occasionally and I loved them. Can’t remember the last time I had them. I’m gonna bake some in her honor ❤

The last time I made lemon bars, I decided to halve the sugar because I thought the amont was ridiculous. Yeah, that was a bad idea. The lemon bars turned out so tart, it made people's teeth ache. 😂

LOVE the failures; I feel like that's what made watching the whole video worthwhile. Very excited to try the final recipe.

100% need more Kendra. LOVED this episode

These “making it best” are always my favourite videos

Brilliant! More Kendra please!!❤

More shows like this please~

Finally, I've found something interesting to watch on ba again! ❤

MORE OF THIS. Kendra is fun to watch and I really miss this sort of recipe development content. Also love that Cheis Morocco dropped in.

Thank you for the honest journey!! I'm inspired to make this and feeling excited!

"How did she get this job"
Me: "Well back in 2020...." 😂

I've never baked or cooked desserts, but I stumbled upon your video and LOVED the process. I really learned a lot watching your process, your struggle, and the reviews... you really look so natural on camera you should do more of these videos...
... and with that ending I'm making this recipe tomorrow!

I love Kendra. Need more of this in my life!

Absolutely fascinating. Thank you for sharing the development process. I'm making these bars this weekend.

Kendra is a star -- need more of these asap!

it's really just easier (and gives the classic lemon bar taste/texture) to pre cook the filling in order thicken it up, before you pour it on the crust. The runny liquid filling just soaks into the crust before it reaches a temperature hot enough in the oven to thicken. If your using sweetened condensed milk it's giving you the thickness you need to start, but it's not a classic lemon bar. it's a lemon supreme pie filling bar.

Final recipe makes a fantastic lemon bar! Kendra, thanks for working out all the variables for us. This one's bookmarked and will be used often!

EXCELLENT SHOWING CHEF!! I AM happy to see you. Thank you. Welcome to BA as far as I can see. With my hero, Chris?! Lemon bars for life! If I've messed up my compliment I assure you that I want to see many more of your recipes. I BLANK LOVE lemon bars!! 💯💯❤️❤️

I have a large Meyer Lemon tree in my backyard and am always wanting to try new recipes. Not realizing Lemon Bars were historically difficult, I recently tried a recipe [similar to #3] and was very disappointed. The crust turned out perfect, but the filling never thickened sufficiently even after the required time in the oven. The parchment paper almost started burning on the edges. I just tossed it into the fridge; it was a very tasty, but messy outcome the next day. But I would like to share a rule given to me by a dear friend: Never use metallic bowls or utensils when baking with lemons; avoid the acidity by using glass and/or oven proof bowls and cookware and plastic whisks when possible. 🍋😉

made these for easter dessert absolutely incredible

It was really enjoyable to watch you go through this experimenting process and so satisfying to come through with a great bar at the end.

I have made lemon bars where the crust ended up on top - basically the filling has seeped underneath the crust during cooking. I think the answer is to add the filling while the crust is still hot. When the crust cools, it shrinks, leaving a gap. It also helps to precook the filling.

Hey Kendra -- why are you nervous to fail? Experimentation is all about failing and making it better -- thats the awesome part! I'm looking forward to make these this weekend

I looooove lemon desserts! This looks amazing

Such an amazing effort.

Adore Kendra!! This is a great episode! 20:11

Make this a series!!!

11:19 The genuine way that she couldn’t speak or form her thoughts was so funny.

Super fun! Loved the process.

The authenticity is super engaging

haven’t watched BA for years but this gave me a sense of familiarity, i’m glad i came across this video

BA is coming back! kendra is amazing!! haven’t been so interested in a BA video in a while!

The best and easiest lemon bar recipe, I found in Southern Living magazine. I've been making it for years.

I definitely will be trying thissssss asap! 😍

Epitome of when life gives you lemons 🤣🤣. Kendra you delivered 🎉

I am amazed at the recipe instructions. There is a scale being used and the onscreen recipe shows cups, then the website recipe shows some ingredients in grams but the butter still shows tablespoons!
The best baking needs exact measurements and in U.K. we definitely don’t measure butter in tablespoons and butter doesn’t come in sticks.

Thank you Kendra. You are a joy to watch. Your pain is our gain!

I am definitely going to try these. I have several different lemon bar recipes but none of them seem to deliver the lemon flavor that I want. I always put zest in with the sugar but I am not convinced it makes a difference. The last batch I made I used browned butter in the crust, no egg (never had a lemon bar recipe with egg in the crust), and about 1/4 t of turmeric which gave the lemon part a brighter color with no taste.

I love videos like these! Can we do a recipe for carrot cake or banana bread next?😄

Adding lemon zest and decreasing the juice is worth trying, The recipe I make uses two teaspoons of zest and two tablespoons of juice.

Your saga of the Perkins bar reminds me of the time I hiked out of the,San Juan mountains in Co. I lost a foot to frostbite so I totally get your struggle.

When life hands you lemons make lemon bars… ❤😊 love this video!

The "inverted" crusts was also facilitated by the fact that you used those cross-shaped parchments, so the crust was never adhered to the pan and the liquid could just run off and under, duh.

This needs to be a regular show

First time seeing Kendra and now I'm 100% team Kendra.

Explaining your thought process as to why you are changing your ingredients is extremely helpful. Thank you.

I love videos with Chris, great source is knowledge and a funny guy

I haven’t watched Bon Appétit in awhile but I enjoyed this video

You did not fail, you learned ways not to bake lemon bars & got an oven in the BA kitchen fixed!

It's not the format of the show but the vibe she's giving is legitimately reminiscent of Claire's. Like it kind of feels like that's what she's going for. I can't tell if she's being entirely herself or not.

I must say, I can watch her all day. She is a delight to watch.

Excellent, excellent episode.

My current favorite dessert got a dedicated video!

I just tried making these. I think the issue of the lemon bars turning upside down is the crust floats on the liquid. More dense crust / heavy packing the crust down.

Lemons and Limes... both are delicious 😋

Love your content 😊😊😊❤❤❤

I made these today, and reading the comments on the bon appetit site had me a bit worried. They turned out excellent for me, though I decided to gently heat the lemon mixture (to about 75F) before pouring it in

This may be heresy at BA, but you should head over to ATK and try Lan Lam’s lemon bars recipe. Yes, they are twice cooked, but they are awesome and have what Lan describes as a secret ingredient to make the lemon flavor pop without being too tart. I have not yet made yours to see how they compare, but Lan’s set the bar high.

I love that she believes we are all following along with her ingredient calculations

This was a great video BA. Kendra is super fun and charming to watch. Thanks!

Lemon lemons & more lemons
The Color is amazing

i've made lemon bars that look like her worst ones, glad to see i'm not alone

I loved this video ❤

More Kendra videos please.

Kendra is my Bon Apetit spirit animal.

Try using a Manual Egg Shakers, Egg White and Yolk Spin Mixer Egg Scrambler for Making Hard Boiled Golden Eggs, to mix the eggs while minimizing air added to the mix.

My mother would have something to say about this being a perfect Lemon bar

LOL, What a ride! Kudos!

Kendra is my favorite among the new members.

This was a lot of fun to watch, I only watched cause the great algorithm decided I should; now I want to go make lemon bars!

True empiricism. Very interesting. But what precisely was the problem with the oven?

You are my lemon bar soul sister! Goals: 1) perfectly balanced flavor 2) crust 3) aesthetic

Kendra is incredibly likeable. I would like to see her more on this channel!

Kendra is a great host! I don't know how long she's been doing videos on the channel but I like her. I haven't watched any bon appetit since all that drama and nonsense happened a couple years ago.

We haven't seen u in a while, and we're glad u r here.

In Australia we call these 'lemon slice'. Donna Hays is the best - hers is a curd that you cook once. I've tried others. Hers is the best.

"How did she get this job???!".... "I'm trying my best!"... That's what we were afraid of... :)
Loved the video - great info and presentation style!

I can smell the faint smell of 9 to 5 office coffee in the sound engineering of this video. It's giving "no complaints".

I make mine with half lemon juice, half lime juice. But I like a really acidic lemon bar.

If its not Land O Lakes Lemon Butter Bars, I don’t want it. They’ve had the perfect, easy lemon bar recipe for 50 years. You don’t have to pre-cook the filling and they come out great every time.

I gotta say: I'm not convinced. Rose Levy Beranbaum's Lemon Bars achieve all the criteria laid out here. Not squidgy. Doesn't fall apart when you bite into it. Perfect balance of sweet and sour. Beranbaum's lemon curd is gorgeous and doesn't run even a *little*. It's *perfectly* bright. And is not at *all* thickened with starch so it has an impossibly smooth texture and zero "flouriness". The crust is *actual* shortbread that holds together. It doesn't contain yolk so the crust doesn't get the chewy thing that frankly I don't want in my lemon bars, but because the shortbread isn't overworked and because it's baked at such a low temperature, it holds together just fine and is the perfect soft and mild platform for the curd.

This reminded me of Alton browns science cooking show in the best way

I would like to see the final photograph being done...I think it's just as important as compliment to the chef and baker.

I don't even like lemon bars but I had to watch this all the way 😅

this woman

mmmmmmmmm Kendra. Delicious! 😋

And KRplus literally pops up Claire's video on making lemon bars. Competition much?

Lemon Bar = Best Bar

Toast the flour to eliminate the paste notes and provide some toast notes