LEMON BARS




                                    






 I like sour, tart foods, especially when it comes to desserts. So it should come to no surprise that I like lemon bars. Unfortunately, the first time I tried making them a couple years ago, they turned out less than ideal. The lemon "custard" topping turned out rubbery, I'm pretty sure I cooked it too long. After that disappointment, I was leery to try them again, so I didn't. That is, not until this past week.

 At work we were talking about baking and cooking, and it came out that I enjoyed baking and cooking and found it relaxing. We then started talking about various recipes I've made and some of our favorite desserts. One of my coworkers mentioned that she loved lemon bars, I heartily agreed, one thing lead to another and next thing I know I was expected to make lemon bars. That sounds a little harsh, I think what actually happened is that given the conversation prior to our talk of lemon bars, and the fact that I admitted to loving lemon bars, they figured that I'd made them more frequently than was the case. I really did need to conquer my fear of baking lemon bars again, so I decided to give it another shot.

 Having decided to "exercise the ghost", so to speak, I needed to find a good recipe for lemon bars. For me, there are basically three places I will go to first before broadening my search for a recipe. Those being: Betty Crocker ® cookbook, allrecipies.com® and The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. Fortunately for me I didn't have to search long, I started and finished my search at allrecipies.com®. I decided to try a recipe submitted by Patty Schenck, The Best Lemon Bars. How could I go wrong, it was given 4 1/2 stars out of a possible 5, a good sign to me! Before I make a recipe I've never tried before from allrecipies.com®, I always check out the reviews for any suggestions I might find helpful. A couple suggestions I kept seeing from person to person was that the crust could use a little salt and that the lemon "custard" could use more lemon juice. I found one review that I really liked and decided to follow their suggestions, turns out it was from MommyfromSeattle! I had used their suggestions before and had never regretted it, so I knew I would be okay. The recipe that follows will be the original recipe that Patty Schenck submitted, but I'll highlight the changes that MommyfromSeattle suggested, and that I followed.

(MommyfromSeattle suggested using an 8x11 inch pan instead of the called for 9x13 inch pan, that way the shortbread crust and the lemon topping would be thicker.)



INGREDIENTS:

1 C. butter, softened
1/2 C. sugar
2 C. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt4 eggs
1 1/2 C. sugar
1/4 C. flour (plus 1 tbsp)
2 lemons, juiced (I used 2/3 C. lemon juice)


DIRECTIONS:

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 C. flour, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/2 C. sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan. (I used an 8x11 inch pan, for a thicker crust and lemon topping. I also sprayed the pan with a non-stick cooking spray.)

 
                                              

                                     




 Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. (Because I went with a smaller pan, and the crust was thicker I cooked the crust an additional 5 minutes, for a total of 25 minutes.) In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 C. sugar and the 1/4 (plus 1 tbsp) flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice.




                                       




 Pour over the baked crust. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. (Again, since I was using a smaller pan and the lemon "custard" was thicker, I cooked it for an additional 7 to 10 minutes.) The bars will firm up as they cool.

                                 

 I waited about 10 minutes after the lemon bars came out of the oven, and then I sprinkled about 1/4 C. powdered sugar on top. You can use more, or less, if you'd like. You can even skip the powdered sugar.





                                

~Throughout this post, I have mentioned a lemon "custard". I am referring to the lemon topping that is on top of the crust. To me, it resembles a custard, so that is why I have referred to it as such. So, to clear up any confusion, the lemon "custard" and the lemon topping are one and the same.

~Remember, this recipe was originally intended for a 9x13 inch pan. So it WILL work in a 9x13 inch pan. The only difference is that the crust and the "custard" will be thinner if you decide to use the larger pan. If you would like a thicker crust and "custard" use an 8x11 inch pan.

~To add a little more kick to custard, you can add the zest of 2 lemons (suggestion courtesy of MommyfromSeattle). I didn't, only because I didn't have any lemons on hand.

~For the lemon juice, I would rather use lemon juice from a store rather than juice my own lemons. It's just faster this way. But if you like juicing the lemons yourself, go ahead ;)

~Going with 2/3 C. lemon juice makes the lemon bars very tart! Just wanted to forewarn you. If you do not want yours to turn out that tart, you probably will want to use only 1/3 C. lemon juice and cut the additional 1 tbsp flour in the "custard" and cook for the original amount of time listed, 20 minutes.

~The original recipe also suggests: "For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion."

~If you are still unsure of how good these lemon bars are, just look at the following picture.




                                      

                                                   (Mmmmmm, delicious!!!)