Yellow Lemons!

 

When life gives you lemons, make lemon bars! I love lemon desserts, but its something I never really bake. These lemon bars were so easy to make and tasted so yummy! I baked these lemon bars for a night with my friend while we watched the final rose of the Bachelor. Yes, cheesy, but fun to have dinner wine and some dessert with a friend! The recipe is taken from Alice Medrich's Cookie and Brownies Book. This book has been used so many times the pages are coming out. This book is great to have in your collection.

Here is the recipe:
8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
¼ cup sugar
¾ tsp pure vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

For the filling:
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
½ cup strained freshlemon juice
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Position rack in the lower third of the oven.

To make the crust: Cut butter in chunks and melt in medium saucepan over medium heat. After melted, remove from heat and add sugar, vanilla and salt. Add the flour and mix just until incorporated. Press the dough over the bottom of the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the crust is well browned at the edges.

To make the topping: Stir together the sugar and flour in a medium bowl until well mixed. Whisk in the eggs, stir in the lemon zest and juice. When the crust is ready, turn the oven down to 300 and slide the rack out without removing the pan. Pour the filling over the hot crust.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the topping is puffed at the edges and the pan does not jiggle anymore. Set on a rack to cool completely in the pan.

Cut into 2 inch pieces or the size of your liking! Sprinke powdered sugar on top of bars. The bars can be stored for 3 days then after that for 3 days in the refrige.

ENJOY!

Instead of using a square pan I used a 8 inch cake pan and made triangle pieces to enjoy!