Lemon Bars

I debated a great deal what dessert to make next.  I toyed with lemon cupcakes or lemon curd spooned over angel food cake or perhaps over pound cake.  Finally, after much deliberation I settled on a pan of lemon bars.  

I've loved lemon bars ever since the first time I tried them over at a friends house in 4th grade.  The recipe her family used was Lucy's Lemon Bars out of The Peanuts Cookbook.  While I don't have that particular recipe, I have tried many different recipes over the years.  Lately my favorite has been Ina Garten's version.  I particularly like it because it seems to have about twice the lemon filling as the standard recipe.  These are lemon bars to eat with a fork.

Because I always must fiddle with things, I have made a few adjustments to her recipe.  Since I really like lemon and think that most recipes could use a bit more, I add lemon zest to the crust as well as the filling.  Also, I am a firm believer that sweet recipes need a bit of salt to round things out so I add a little salt into the filling as well.

Even on a cloudy and grey day these are a bit of sunshine.

Ina's Lemon Bars

adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties! by Ina Garten

Crust:

1/2 lb unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 C granulated sugar

2 C all purpose flour

2 t lemon zest

1/8 t salt

Filling:

6 eggs at room temperature

3 C granulated sugar

2 T lemon zest

1 C fresh lemon juice

1 C flour

1/8 t salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To make the crust, cream together the butter and sugar in a mixer.  Add in the flour, zest and salt all at once and mix to combine.  Pour dough into a 9 x 13 baking pan and press evenly on the bottom and about 1/2" up the sides of the pan.  Bake for about 20 minutes until lightly golden.  Set aside while the filling is made.

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, juice, flour and salt.  Pour mixture over crust and bake for 30 - 35 minutes until filling is just set.  Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into 20 squares and dust with powdered sugar.