I didn’t think I liked Lemon Bars. I remember having them sometime long ago and not being all that crazy about them.
But Bob likes lemon bars…or pretty much anything lemon, for that matter. He mentioned those would be a good thing for me to try baking. So I thought I’d look up a recipe to make him lemon bars.
Because I am all about baking to spoil my husband.
I am so fekking domestic sometimes, you have no idea.
Lemon Bars
Ingredients:
Crust:
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature (1 stick)
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon saltLemon Filling:
Zest of one large lemon
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggsDirections:
1. Preheat to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8 by 8 Pyrex dish with cooking spray and dust with flour. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and powdered sugar on medium speed. Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour and salt. Mix until combined and smooth. Press the crust dough into the prepared pan. Make sure the crust is evenly spread out. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven.
3. In a medium bowl, rub the lemon zest and sugar together with your fingers until fragrant. Add in the lemon juice, flour, baking powder, and eggs. Mix until well combined and the sugar is dissolved. Pour mixture over baked crust.
4. Bake for 20 more minutes, or until the lemon filling is set and slightly golden brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Let the bars cool and set. Cut into squares and serve.
From here.
I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of an 8×8 pan of bars. Do you have any idea how small that is? This is DESSERT we’re talking about. So I doubled the recipe and used a 9×13 [Pyrex] pan instead.
I used a hand mixer, because I don’t have a stand mixer…yet.
Also, don’t use the mixer on the filling, just use a spoon. Or you will have a huge, yellow, lemon-flavored, splattered mess all over your kitchen. You might be able to get away with using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, but that’s just really lazy.
I could probably sustain on the shortbread crust alone, but these are actually really good. If you’re a fan of lemon, I’m pretty sure you’ll like them.
Also, try pairing it with a cup of lemon tea. It’s awesome.
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