Lemon Bars

Lemon Bars are a perfect balance of tangy lemon curd on a shortbread crust. You first "blind bake" the crust as you prepare the filling. I like to add lemon zest to my filling for some extra tang. If I happen to have a lime and an orange hanging around, I often zest all three - resulting in pretty multicolor flecks in the lemon curd.

To balance the tartness, after the Lemon Bars cool top them with a good dusting of confectioners’ sugar. The bars may be cut into traditional 2"x2" squares, or into tiny 1" squares for just a little bite. The bars may left at room temperature until serving but, since the filling is a custard, they should be refrigerated if stored for several days.

LEMON BARS

For the shortbread crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the lemon curd:
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Grated rind of 1 lemon*

Additional confectioners’ sugar for dusting.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the shortbread crust, mix together the flour, butter and confectioners’ sugar until well-combined. Press into an 8"x8" ungreased pan. Blind bake the crust for 20 minutes until lightly browned.

While the crust is baking, make the lemon curd. Beat together all the lemon curd ingredients. Pour over the hot crust and bake for an additional 25 minutes.

Let the bars cool to at least room temperature before dusting with confectioners’ sugar.

*You can substitute grated rinds of half lemon, half lime and half orange if you want multicolor flecks in your Lemon Bars, or any combination thereof.