Although I have come a long way from my early cooking days of couscous bowtie pilaf and tuna noodle, there are still certain recipes that intimidate me. Anything complicated involving meat, for instance. I stopped cooking meat on a regular basis before I became truly proficient at it, so I feel as if roasting a whole chicken would be totally beyond me. Also, canning gives me visions of a horrific mess of exploded vegetables in my pantry, and I was completely overwhelmed by homemade lemon bars.
My lemon bar phobia is due to the fact that the grocery store sells a lemon bar mix; therefore, lemon bars must require complicated feats of baking wizardry. Obviously, this logic is completely flawed. I've made chocolate cake and lemon cupcakes from scratch without any sort of disaster ensuing, and they were much better than the boxed versions. So when a friend gave me a lovely lemon bar scented candle, with attached recipe, I decided that it was time to conquer my fears. Without much hassle, my batch of lemon bars came out perfectly, with a tasty crumb crust and a very lemon-y filling. Maybe I can take on that canned salsa or roast chicken after all.
Adapted from the recipe by Better Homes and Gardens
Yield: (16) 2 inch by 2 inch bars
Ingredients:
Crust:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup powdered (confectioner's) sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
Filling:
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (all of the zest from one medium lemon)
- 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (juice from 1 1/2 medium lemons)
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Grease a piece of aluminum foil large enough to line the bottom and sides of an 8x8 pan, and line the pan with the greased foil.
Combine 1 cup flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter and cut into flour mixture with a pastry blender until the the mixture looks like wet sand.
Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan with a spatula, making sure that the crust is a consistent thickness.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until edges of crust have started to brown.
Meanwhile, combine the eggs, granulated sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, and milk in a medium bowl. Pour over the baked crust.
Bake for an additional 12 minutes, or until the lemon filling has set.
Place the pan on a wire rack and allow the lemon bars to completely cool. Lift from pan by grasping the foil, and cut into bars.
Store bars, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.
