Sweet Treats Saturday: Lemon Bars

Most of the time, I create my desserts based on items I have on hand.  In the case of this week, I was handed a bag of lemons from a good friend.  She has a bit of land in the Santa Cruz mountains and between her gazillion chickens (give or take a few), she also has a plethora of lemons every year.  Only after realizing that I had never made lemon bars for What's Up, Cupcake? did I realize I needed to make them for this week.  Also, the weather was gorgeous and so very spring, that it just fit.

These delicious treats are so easy to make, but really any sort of 'healthy' features that the lemon contributes to this dessert vanish when you see the rest of the ingredients. Seriously. I gained weight reading the recipe.  But lucky for me, I can only handle so much lemon so this dessert is a perfect treat that I can only enjoy in moderation.  Chocolate on the other hand...

Lemon Bars
Recipe from Ina Garten
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Ingredients for the crust:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt

Ingredients for the filling:
6 extra-large eggs, room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tbsp grated lemon zest (approx. 4 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Directions:
1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9x13" baking pan.

2. For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Combine the flour and salt, and slowly add to the butter/sugar mixture until just combined.  Dump onto a well-floured board and form into a ball.  Press into the bottom prepared baking pan so that the whole bottom is covered.  Chill until oven is preheated.  Then place into the oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.  Let cool.

3.  With oven still on, prep the filling.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and flour.  Pour over the crust and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the filling is set.  Let cool to room temperature.

Fresh from the oven, before adding the powdered sugar

4.  Once cooled, cut into squares or triangles and dust with confectioner's sugar.  Enjoy!

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