My Favorite Lemon Bars

These are one of my all time favorite desserts to eat, and so to find the perfect recipe was essential while working in the bakery.  We pooled all our recipe’s and tested them, the winner by far was a recipe I had from Ina Garten.  It is available on foodnetwork.com!  I made just a few tweaks, but they come out perfect every time!  In the following pictures I made a double batch, so don’t worry if the pan looks way bigger than a 9×13 it is .

The key to any lemon bar recipe is use real lemons, and fresh lemon juice!  I always buy more lemons than I think I need to zest, just to make sure I have enough lemon juice to complete the recipe!  This recipe is easy, not any crazy ingredients, and will have people clamoring for more! Really, I have people just waiting for me to make some (thus why I always make a double batch)!  Another hint, these will freeze beautifully, just double foil, before you dust with sugar, freeze, and pull them to use when you need them.

Ingredients:

Crust: 1/2 pound butter @ room temp

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups flour

pinch salt

Filling:  6 eggs at room temp

3 cups sugar

2 Tbs lemon zest ( I just use the zest from all the lemons I am using 3-4large or 5-6 smaller)

1 cup lemon juice

1 cup flour

powdered sugar for dusting

Preparation:

*For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light and, add the flour and salt until just mixed.  Put the dough in your prepared 9×13 pan. * HINT- Spray your pan, line with foil, wrapping the foil around the edges of pan, and then spray the foil.

* Flatten the dough on the bottom of the pan, and up the edges about 1/2″ and chill.

* Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 mins until slightly golden.  Let cool on counter, but leave the oven on.

* For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, and flour.  Add the zest at the end.  Pour the filling in the crust.

*HINT- I do this with the pan already in the oven, moving it once the liquid is in, it is very hard to move without spilling.

* Bake at 350 degrees until the filling is set, about 30-35 mins.  Let cool at room temp, I then put them in the refrigerator.

* Cut and dust with powdered sugar.