Simple Lemon Bars

This is the simplest lemon bar recipe that I know of. Its crust is for an 8" x 8" baking pan.

Lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar

For the crust:

1 c. all-purpose unbleached flour
1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

2/3 c. organic, granulated sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
3 tbsp lemon juice
zest of one medium lemon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. In a bowl, whisk together flour and powdered sugar with a fork. Stir in melted butter until small crumbs form. Empty into an 8 x 8 baking pan and press crust down with a fork.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, baking powder, lemon zest, and lemon juice until ingredients are mixed well. Add in eggs and whisk to combine.

3. Bake crust for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly golden on top. Remove from oven and add the filling.

4. Bake lemon bars for 20-25 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and not dark brown. Let cool before cutting into squares.

To add extra zing to the crust, you can split the lemon zest between the filling and the crust. And, to make it more tart, an additional tablespoon of lemon juice can be added to the filling.

Lemony lemon bars

So, I started with this basic recipe, and ended up with a more-tangy-than-sweet product in the end. Lemon drop makers would be proud to eat this creation. Juice and grated rind of 5 lemons might just be overkill and needs to be washed down with a cup of mildly hot tea. Alas, I took no pics of the process, but it has less than 1-hour prep/cook time.

Ingredient/method adaptations:

Crust: 1 1/2 sticks of butter (instead of 2 sticks); sifted unbleached white flour and powdered sugar together, then added melted butter and mixed by hand.

The filling: juice of 5 small lemons, grated rind of 5 lemons, 1 1/2 cups granulated organic sugar (instead of 2 cups), 4 eggs. Blended with a hand mixer.

I cut the bars after they cooled, then dusted the batch with sifted powdered sugar before taking them into work. The crust is definitely tasty. The filling is a wee bit too tart for me and needs less lemon juice