Springtime Lemon Bars

In my mind, certain recipes pair with certain seasons. Spice cakes in the fall, cranberry loafs in the winter, parfaits in the summer, and for spring? Lemon bars, hands down. I’ve been baking for as long as I can remember, starting back with my “flour pies” that I’m sure drove my poor mother crazy (sorry mom!), and lemon bars have been there since the start. I love the way that the sweetness of all the sugar in this dessert is tempered by the tartness of the lemons to balance out for a light, fresh bar. Know what lemon bars pair really well with? Al fresco dining and a glass of white wine (or cordial) after a day of gardening, hiking, or spring cleaning!

Step one of this recipe is a little bit of prep. Take the eggs out of the fridge and let them warm up a little. This will ensure a smoothier, fluffier lemon bar in the end! Keep the butter in the fridge until you’re ready to use it though. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 13×9 baking pan.

Step two is to prepare the base. Lots of bar cookie recipes have a graham cracker crust, but the shortbread crust is an essential and iconic part of the lemon bar. Start by sifting the flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a large bowl. Then, using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in the butter until it looks like your bowl is full of coarse breadcrumbs. Once this is ready, press it into the bottom of the pan with your fingers. Weigh down the crust with either pastry weights or beans so it doesn’t rise too much! Bake this by itself for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the edges are golden. If you’ve never heard the phrase before, that’s called a blind bake!

While your crust is baking, prepare the filling. In a medium bowl, stir together the eggs, sugar, three tablespoons flour, lemon peel, lemon juice, and half and half with a fork. Once combined, pour over the crust once it’s done and still hot. Then put back into the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes. You know it’s done when it’s not jiggly in the middle anymore. Once completely cool, cut into squares and sprinkle powdered sugar over the top. Voila! Serve on the patio for some springtime sweetness.

Ingredients:

Crust

-2 cups all-purpose flour

-1/2 cup powdered sugar

-2 tbsp cornstarch

-1/4 tsp salt

-3/4 cup unsalted butter

Filling

-4 eggs

-1 1/2 cups sugar

-3 tbsp all-purpose flour

-1 tsp lemon peel

-3/4 cup lemon juice

-1/4 cup half and half

-Powdered sugar to top

Directions

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and allow eggs to come to room temperature.

-Grease a 9×13 pan and set aside.

-To make the crust, sift together the flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Cut in the butter until your mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs.

-Press mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the edges are golden. If you want, you can weigh the crust down with pie weights or beans.

-While your crust is baking, make the filling. Stir together the eggs, sugar, 3 tablespoons of flour, lemon peel, lemon juice, and half and half. Set aside until the crust is ready.

-Once the crust is ready, pour the filling over the top while still hot. Put back into the oven and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until the center is set.

-Allow to cool, and then slice into squares. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the top and serve!

Have you tried these? What do you think?