Lemon Macadamia Crumble Squares is a buttery shortbread recipe bursting with the unique floral citrus flavor of Meyer lemons and the crunch of macadamia nuts.
There’s a devastating crime wave playing out on the streets of Los Angeles these days that doesn’t get a lot of press.
I’m talking citrus theft. Everybody’s trees are dripping with ripe citrus fruit right now, and there’s a bitter divide between the haves and the have-nots. My friend woke up last week to the awful realization that, in the dead of night, someone had plucked every last Meyer lemon from her front yard tree. That’s just despicable. And I was just about to ask her to lend me a few, too.
Whats the big deal about Meyer lemons?
They have an amazing lemon-tangerine-floral flavor, and they have tons of juice! They only grow in limited parts of the country, and they don’t travel well because of their delicate skin, so they show up rarely in regular grocery stores. They were brought to California from China in the early 20th century and widely planted, but in the 1940s they fell prey a disease that threatened to wipe out all kinds of citrus. So just about all the Meyer Lemon trees in the US were destroyed. In the 70s, a new virus free variety of Meyer lemon was developed, and the rest is history.
The trees are easy to grow in the right climate, and so lots of people planted them in their backyards and patios. A few daring people even planted them right out in front. Like my poor friend. I have to say though, that’s bordering on entrapment, if you ask me.
I made a fresh Meyer lemon curd for these lemon macadamia crumble squares, but you can use any store bought curd you like. Your favorite jam will work as a filling, too (blood orange marmalade, peach apricot, raspberry key lime…)
The same easy shortbread dough you make for the crust also serves as the crumble topping ~ genius!
These are really really good. The shortbread base is nice and moist and thick, the lemon curd is perfect, and the macadamias add crunch and flavor without overpowering the star of the show, the Meyer Lemon. I absolutely loved these, and highly recommend them.
more lemony recipes
- Lemon Cookies
- Lemon Drizzle Cake
- Lemon Cheesecake Recipe
- Lemon Drizzle Cake
- Raspberry Lemon Blondies
Lemon Macadamia Crumble Squares
Equipment
- 9×9 square baking pan
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts, divided.
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2/3 cups sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 9 ounces Meyer lemon curd (about a cup), homemade recipe here
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F. If you like you can line your pan with parchment paper with edges overlapping to make your squares easy to remove, or you can just grease the dish if you don't care about removing the bars from the pan.
- Take one cup of the macadamia nuts and finely chop them. Rough chop the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts and set aside for the topping.
- Cream the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla and salt.
- Add in the flour and the 1 cup of chopped macadamias and mix until the dough comes together. It will be crumbly.
- Pat 2/3 of the dough into a 9×9 square baking dish, and reserve the other 1/3 for the topping. (You can line the pan with parchment paper with edges overlapping to make it easy to remove, or you can just grease the dish if you don't care about removing the bars from the pan)
- Top with about 9 oz of Meyer lemon curd, or about a cup. Don't spread it to the edge, leave a little space around the perimeter.
- Crumble the 1/2 cup of rough chopped nuts with the reserved 1/3 of the shortbread dough. Just make large crumbs with your fingertips. Sprinkle evenly over the top. Don't worry about covering all the lemon.
- Bake for about 45 minutes until slightly golden.
- Cool completely before cutting. ( Yeah right. )
Nutrition
Hi Sue, I made this with a few variations. I used almonds and I made the lemon cream recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s book: Baking. But followed your measurements and can I tell you, it was awesome. My guests freaked out. Can’t wait to try the cranberry walnut recipe that is similar, will probably make orange curd since cranberries pretty much gone. Delicious. Thanks so much.
I’m so happy it was a success for you Suzie, I love the basic formula and I’ve recreated it dozens of times. I always change out the nuts, or the fruit filling, and sometimes the type of flour. Thanks for taking the time to give me the feedback 🙂
Love the look of these Sue. Meyer lemons tend to grow very well here in New Zealand, especially in Nelson where I live, and with the season looming large in a couple of months time I will definitely be making these.
Wow, these are gorgeous. I’m sorry to hear about the crime wave–not cool!–but it would be hard to resist plucking a meyer lemon now and then. They are so delicious.
First of all, I would be livid. And I would cry.
Second of all, there is not a single thing that I could resist about these amazing squares. That crumble. That curd. Oi.
that curd is SO vibrantly yellow! these are just lovely, sue–i absolutely can’t resist a crumb topping on anything. 🙂
When we moved to Florida the first thing I did was go and get some Meyer lemon trees! They are so heavy with fruit that I have to pull some off before they are ready or my tree will break in half! Its true that they are huge! If they are smaller than an orange I worry my tree might be sick! If anyone wants some lemons I have about 50 on my little 4 foot tree right now!
You were smart—I once planted a bay tree and I was so thrilled with the fresh bay leaves all year long.
Do you have a way to preserve all that bounty?? I wonder if you could freeze the juice, or preserve them as in Moroccan Preserved Lemons…
OMG…this looks and sounds so incredibly luscious! I’m in Fl., and just came in with a Meyers lemon from the farmers market. It is huge! I thought Meyer lemons were much smaller!
I think they are usually smallish, but probably the new varieties are bred to be bigger. You have to plant a tree!
There is nothing like a good bar cookie to brighten my mood – except maybe a bar cookie made with sunshine aka meyer lemon curd! Holy crap but these look cheerily delicious:)
I really like the intense yellow of the curd, it is cheerful!
If I had a meyer lemon tree and somebody stole all the lemons I would be on the war path. How sad and awful. I’m trying to stay away from sweets for awhile but I can’t resist this recipe. That crumbly, nutty topping is irresistible.
I really like the crumble topping, because it’s made with the dough, it’s got a more moist consistency and larger crumb than most.
I just have to try these they look too good!