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Pistachio Lemon Bars are a nutty upgrade to traditional lemon bars. This totally unique dessert features a pistachio shortbread crust (made in the food processor!) that gets flooded with a honey-sweetened lemon curd. The result is a buttery, nutty bar that’s also bright, zippy and perfectly sweet. A must-make for spring!
I’m picky about lemon bars and they’re notoriously very easy to make and also very easy to get wrong. For those reasons, I tested this Pistachio Lemon Bar recipe more than eight times.
In order to achieve a crisp yet buttery crust that’s made from nuts, you’ve got to use the right kind of sugars and the right ratio of sugar and flour to nuts and butter. I’ve tested the pistachio shortbread every which way and I can guarantee that it’s the best pistachio crust out there.
Finally, to round out the flavors, I like to add a dash of cardamom to the crust which pairs wonderfully with the pistachios, lemon and honey-sweetened lemon curd.
This recipe article was originally published in July of 2021, it has since been updated with helpful tips, step-by-step images and instructions and storage information.
Reader Review
“Really enjoyed the tangy lemon flavor with the hint of cardamom. I like that it’s not cloyingly sweet. Very easy to make.”
– Karen Z.
Table of Contents
Ingredients Needed
Here is a quick rundown of what you’ll need for this lemon pistachio bar recipe. For ingredient amounts, jump down to the recipe card.
- Pistachios: use raw, shelled and unsalted pistachios. They’re usually easy to find in the bulk section of the grocery store. Use any leftover pistachios in my Pistachio Shortbread Cookies.
- Sugars: you’ll need both granulated sugar and confectioners’ sugar (aka powdered sugar).
- Flour: the beautiful thing about these bars is they can be made with either all-purpose flour or white whole-wheat flour. AP will make a slightly crisper shortbread while whole-wheat will be more tender and flavorful.
- Spices: ground cardamom and kosher salt are all you need for these bars.
- Eggs: grab a dozen of eggs. You’ll use mostly the yolks, so save the whites for a crustless quiche or egg white omelette.
- Unsalted butter: you’ll need 1 stick of butter. If you’re using salted butter, simply decrease the added salt in the recipe by a total of ¼ teaspoon.
- Honey: adds a floral, earthy sweetness to the lemon curd!
- Lemons: you’ll need 6 juicy lemons.
How to Make These Bars
Here is a quick rundown of what you’ll need for these lemon shortbread bars. For ingredient amounts, jump down to the recipe card.
- Toast the pistachios for the shortbread crust. Let them cool completely before processing.
- Process the pistachios and sugars into a fine flour.
- Add the flour and salt and process to combine, then add the butter and pulse until it looks like wet sand.
- Add the yolk and process into a dough.
- Press the dough into the baking pan and bake until golden brown.
- Make the lemon curd by combining the lemon zest and lemon juice in a saucepan with egg yolks, eggs, honey and salt. Cook until thickened then remove from heat and stir in the butter.
- Strain the lemon curd then pour over the cooled crust and bake until the filling it shiny and opaque and center jiggles slightly when shaken.
- Let cool completely then cut into bars and enjoy.
5 Tips for Making Pistachio Shortbread Crust
- Use raw, unsalted shelled pistachios (raw almonds also work). Avoid using roasted and salted pistachios. We’ll be toasting the nuts and adding salt—two variables we want to be able to control!
- Toast the pistachios. Toasting the nuts prior to processing them into a flour unlocks and deepens their flavor and makes for a crisper crust.
- Cool the nuts before blending. It’s SO important to let the nuts cool prior to processing them into a flour. Processing warm nuts will result in nut butter (great for my Pistachio Loaf, not great for a shortbread crust). To speed up the cooling process, transfer the nuts to a small plate or bowl and place in the freezer for 5–10 minutes.
- Use a combination of granulated sugar and confectioners’ sugar. I tested this crust recipe with just about every kind of sugar and natural sweetener you can imagine. The ideal combo is granulated sugar (for crispness) and confectioners’ sugar (for melt-in-your-mouth tenderness).
- Let the crust cool completely before adding warm lemon curd. This is a departure from most lemon bar recipes which call for pouring warm lemon curd right over a warm crust. First of all, those crusts never get crispy enough for me. And second, I found the warm ground nuts need to cool completely in order to crisp up before being topped with curd.
Storage
For the best quality, I recommend enjoying these pistachio lemon bars on the day they’re made. I like to chill them once they’ve completely cooled to room temperature.
Stored in the refrigerator, covered in plastic wrap, these will last up to 3 days. Stored any longer and the pistachio crust will start to soften and the lemon curd will start to weep.
More Lemon Curd Recipes
Use my honey-sweetened lemon curd in these stunning tarts!
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Pistachio Lemon Bars with Shortbread Crust
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Ingredients
Pistachio Shortbread Crust
- ¾ cup (100g) raw, shelled and unsalted pistachios
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons (15g) confectioners’ sugar + more for dusting
- ¾ cup (100g) all-purpose flour or white whole-wheat flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 4 tablespoons (60g) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1 large egg yolk (20g)
Lemon Curd Filling
- 5 lemons
- 8 large egg yolks (150g)
- 2 large eggs (100g)
- ½ cup (175g) honey
- pinch kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced
Instructions
Pistachio Shortbread Crust
- Heat oven to 350ºF (176ºC) with rack set in middle position.
- Make foil sling for 8-inch square baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of foil to be 8 inches wide each. Lay sheets of foil in pan perpendicular to each other, fold extra foil over edges of pan. Push foil flush to pan, into corners and up sides. Coat with nonstick spray.
- Pour ¾ cup (100g) pistachios onto a baking sheet and toast in oven until fragrant and starting to brown, 5–8 minutes. Let pistachios cool completely. (I pop mine in the freezer for 10 minutes to quicken the process).
- Process cooled pistachios, ¼ cup (50g) sugar, and 2 tablespoons (15g) confectioners’ sugar in food processor until pistachios are finely ground, about 20 seconds. Add ¾ cup (100g) flour, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon cardamom and pulse until combined, about 5 pulses.
- Scatter 4 tablespoons butter over top and process until mixture resembles damp sand, about 15 seconds. With processor running, add egg yolk and process until dough forms a rough ball, about 15 seconds.
- Transfer mixture to prepared foil-lined pan and press firmly into an even layer. Bake until crust is fragrant, golden brown all over, and dry to touch, 20–25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let crust cool completely; at least 1 hour.
Lemon Curd Filling
- Zest 5 lemons using a microplane; should measure a packed ¼ cup lemon zest. Juice lemons and measure out ¾ cup juice (195g). Add lemon zest and lemon juice to a medium saucepan with 8 egg yolks, 2 eggs, ½ cup (175g) honey, and a pinch of salt; whisk together until smooth. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with whisk or rubber spatula, until mixture thickens slightly and registers 165–168°F, about 8 minutes.
- Immediately remove saucepan from heat and stir in 4 tablespoons butter until completely incorporated. Strain lemon curd through fine-mesh sieve into a bowl then pour warm curd over cooled crust; slightly turn and rotate pan to even out filling in pan.
- Bake until filling is shiny and opaque and center jiggles slightly when shaken, 12–16 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let bars cool completely in pan, about 2 hours. Using foil overhang, lift bars from pan and transfer to cutting board. Cut into squares and chill until ready to serve. Dust with confectioners’ sugar (optional) and serve.
Really enjoyed the tangy lemon flavor with the hint of cardamom. I like that it’s not cloyingly sweet. Very easy to make. I assume you add the chilled butter to the curd after heating on stove. Also, I saw you recommended to put curd through sieve before baking to remove lemon zest but it’s not mentioned in the recipe. Thanks
Hi Karen! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the lemon bars and that you were happy with the sweetness. And goodness, the amount of times I tested this recipe you’d think I’d have the instructions written to a T. I’ve updated the recipe with those missing steps—thanks for the heads up on that!
These look amazing – perfect for Easter next weekend. Quick question – can you sub regular AP flour for white whole wheat flour? I would rather not buy a whole bag to just use 100 grams – but I also don’t want to mess up that crust….
Hi Kate, great question. I did test this with AP flour as one of my initial tests—the formula was different than what is written here so I can’t guarantee it will work. However, I think it will work. If you have a food scale, I would replace the ww flour 1:1 by weight. If you don’t, I’d spoon and level 3/4 cup and then add one small additional spoonful of flour. Let me know how it goes!
do you think I could use a quality jarred lemon curd?
Hi Joanne, I worry it won’t set as well as homemade curd would just due to how it’s made for shelf stability. There’s a risk the curd will run a bit when cut into. That being said, if you make the lemon curd layer a bit thinner, you may be able to avoid that. I would still bake the bars after adding the lemon curd, but keep an eye on it. It may need less baking time. Let me know if you try it!
thanks, Lauren. giving a try and will let you know.
may also try chilling well before serving.