Lemon Bars

None of us were sure about what to make on Easter. My contribution was dessert. Carrot cake? No carrots. Hot cross buns? Except for the frosting on top, not enough sugar for us. We were sick of all the foil-wrapped Easter chocolates so I settled on lemon bars. They're bright and pastel and a break from chocolate. I selected this recipe because it had the highest reviews.



The base was like a giant shortbread cookie (yum). While it tasted great, I was disappointed by the filling's consistency. It was more gooey/liquid than I preferred, I expected something thicker and little more cake-like. Even though I was making it, I'm a huge germaphobe and was not big on hand mixing the dough. Nonetheless, they had a refreshing lemon flavor and an ample amount of crust. I made them yesterday and only about 10% of the tray remains.



If you're not a big fan of crust, then don't use all the crust mixture when you press it into the pan. Using all of it in a 9x13 resulted in a good centimeter of crust. In addition, if you're looking for a more lemon taste, add extra drops of lemon juice. They were very sweet, so you can lower the sugar in the filling to avoid going into hyperglycemia.

Lemon Bars
Recipe from here



Crust
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened

Filling*
4 large eggs
2 cups white sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. For the base, mix the butter into the flour and sugar. Mix with hands until it clings together. Press into 13x9x2-inch pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

2. For the filling, beat together eggs, sugar and lemon juice. Sift together flour and baking powder. Stir into egg mixture.

3. Pour filling over baked, cooled crust. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes.

4. Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into bars.

*I suggest taking a small taste of the filling and adjusting the lemon juice/sugar as needed before you commit to pouring it over the crust. You don't have to add all the sugar that the recipe calls for.