Your Lemon Bars Are Missing This Chocolatey Addition

When you're in the mood for a bright-tasting treat that incorporates the delectable tang of lemon paired with freshly baked shortbread, make a pan of lemon bars to satisfy your cravings. While for some, the idea of enjoying homemade lemon squares is perfectly satisfying on its own, you may be looking for a way to level up your traditional recipe. Instead of topping lemon bars with berry puree or whipped cream, why not upgrade the flavor of this citrus-based dessert with a drizzle of your favorite chocolate?

Whether you're using dark, milk, or white chocolate, incorporating a bit of this velvety confection to homemade lemon bars is the upgrade you didn't know you needed. Since most chocolate is made from various combinations of cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, and milk, this confection is quite complex. The tart, bright taste of citrus fruits pairs beautifully with chocolate's rich flavor and creamy consistency. However, you don't need to drastically alter your traditional lemon bar recipe to successfully incorporate a bit of chocolate.

Sure enough, the best way to add chocolate to lemon bars is by adding this rich confection at the last minute. Once your homemade lemon bars have cooled, top them with a drizzle of easy chocolate sauce, or a melted portion of your favorite variety. Given the type of chocolate you decide to use, the resulting flavor of your upgraded dessert will be deliciously unique.

Surprisingly, there aren't many limitations for adding a chocolate drizzle to lemon bars. While chocolate is a complex confection, depending on the variety, the flavor of this universal delight can easily be amplified when paired with the right ingredients. Dark, milk, and white chocolate each encompass a range of flavors that include spicy, bright, earthy, bold, and creamy qualities that pair well with lemon. Consider the differences between each type of chocolate before choosing the best variety for your homemade dessert.

Dark chocolate tends to have a sharp flavor with somewhat bitter qualities. The refreshing taste of tart, sweet lemon curd is the perfect way to complement dark chocolate's robust qualities. Alternatively, white chocolate is usually extra creamy and sweet. The acidic bite from lemon curd balances white chocolate to create a sweeter, more mellow lemon bar.

Lastly, you shouldn't overlook milk chocolate since this variety tends to be the most versatile. If you don't want your lemon bars to potentially turn out too sweet by using white chocolate and you aren't a huge fan of potent dark chocolate, milk chocolate provides the perfect balance. The creamy addition of milk solids gives milk chocolate a delicious well-rounded flavor without an overpowering taste. Since there is more than one type of chocolate to choose from, consider which variety you like best and how your resulting choice can highlight the tart, acidic flavor of lemon curd.

Once you've selected the best chocolate for the job, melt broken bars or chips in the microwave in 15 to 30 second intervals until melted. To create the perfect drizzle, you may need to add a bit of coconut oil to give your chocolate an ultra smooth, drippy consistency. You can either spoon melted chocolate onto cooled lemon bars or add chocolate to a resealable plastic bag and cut off a bottom corner, like a make-shift piping bag. This way you can squeeze chocolate with more precision to create the perfect design.

If you enjoy the taste of drizzled chocolate on lemon-flavored delights, you're in luck since there even are more ways to take your lemon squares up a notch. Instead of drizzling chocolate onto lemon bars as a finishing touch, use a butter knife to swirl chocolate directly into homemade curd before baking. This gives lemon bars a marbled effect that evenly fuses the combination of lemon and chocolate in every bite.

Alternatively, upgrade the crust of classic lemon bars by using a combination of crushed shortbread cookies, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Without changing the recipe of your beloved lemon custard, the added cocoa powder gives the base of your lemon bars a mellow chocolate taste. Yet, if what you're after is a simple upgrade, you can't go wrong with a drizzle of chocolate.