Lemon Bars

My very earliest memory of loving lemon dessert was my Grandma Selvidge's lemon meringue pie.  I have always been primarily drawn to desserts made of chocolate and/or peanut butter, but I couldn't resist her lemon pie.  And even now, while chocolate tops my list, every once in a while I need to have something lemon. 

A week or so ago, a friend brought me a big bag of huge, beautiful lemons from her neighbor's tree.  She also told me that she had made lemon bars with them the night before and that they were to die for.  Of course, I had to do something with all those lovely lemons, so why not give lemon bars a try myself, right?!  (I should mention that prior to this, the only lemon bars I had made were from a box. :) )  So, off to the internet I went to find a perfect recipe. 

I found that most lemon bar recipes are pretty much the same, with a few variations here and there.  The final product I ended up with was bits and pieces of the more simple recipes I found.  They are very lemony and the crust is crunchy and oh-so-good.  I took them to a dinner party on Saturday night, along with the Cookies and Cream Cupcakes (recipe to follow in the next day or so!) and they were a huge success.  In fact, one person at the dinner who is a die hard chocolate and Oreo lover, said that she actually liked the lemon bars BETTER THAN THE CHOCOLATE!  I guess this recipe is a keeper.

Lemon Bars

Ingredients

Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
6 Tbsp flour
6 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Prepare the crust by combining flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  Mix in the melted butter.  Press into the bottom of the baking dish.  Bake for 20 minutes.

While the crust is baking, make the filling by mixing the eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and zest in a large bowl with an electric mixer.  Pour filling over baked crust and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes.  Allow to cool to room temperature before cutting.  Sprinkle top with powdered sugar, if you would like.