When Life Gives You Lemons...

July 29, 2010

Make Lemon Bars!

I love summer, the color yellow, and lemon flavor. I love summer for the obvious reasons, the sun is out, the weather is warm (in Santa Barbara this all does not happen until August), and it stays light later. The color yellow has always been a favorite color of mine. I love lemon flavor for the fresh feeling it gives you. Plus, I hate cooked fruit, including pie, chunky jam, and fruit in yogurt. I mention the yogurt because when I was younger most all the yogurt had fruit at the bottom that you could stir in and I hated it. But lemon yogurt did not have any chunks, so I ate a lot of lemon yogurt.

So when you get a chance to combine all three you just have to roll up your sleeves and do it. Grab yourself come lemons from the store, a friends tree, or just a tree when no one is looking. I made these on Monday for a friend that just had a baby, which means I was able to keep some for myself. Alright, enough is enough, get out there and make yourself some Lemon Bars.

Here is the recipe I used.

Ingredients
For the crust:
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling: nocoupons
6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.
Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners' sugar.