Lemon Bars

Hello, amazing people! It is Friday, June 26th, around ten o'clock here in California, and today, I'm going to show you one of my favorite all-time recipes: LEMON BARS!!

These bars are brilliant, INCREDIBLY tasty, and SUPER awesome. I'm making three-to-four batches of them today to take to some friends of mine who live nearby, and I wanted to share it with you guys, too! So, without further adieu, let's begin! :)

GATHER:

For the crust: 
2 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (1 1/12 sticks) of cold butter, cut into cubes (or pats)
1/2 cup of confectioners' (powdered) sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt

For the filling: 
1 1/3 cups of granulated sugar
3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice (you can juice it yourself, or buy lemon juice at the store - it really doesn't matter either way)
3 eggs
2 teaspoons of grated lemon rind (it's optional, and I never use it in my lemon bars, but you can if you like)
Extra powdered sugar for dusting

TO DO THE THING:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish with foil and let the foil overhang just a little bit (this will make it easy to remove the bars from the pan after cooking). Coat lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

Next, prepare the crust: Combine flour, butter, confectioners' sugar and salt in a food processor, or you can use your fingers to mash the butter and other ingredients together in a bowl. I for one do not use a food processor, but I'm sure it makes it a lot easier. You can do whichever way, and I'm sure it'll be fine. If you do use a food processor, whirl with one-and-off pulses until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

Scrape crust into prepared pan and pat down to level it evenly. Bake the crust in your preheated oven for twenty minutes or until lightly browned. Leave the oven on.

Meanwhile, to make the filling, combine sugar, flour, baking powder, lemon juice, eggs, and lemon rind if you are using it, into a food processor (or a large bowl if you do not want to use a food processor. Like I said, I never use it). Whirl (or whisk in a bowl) until well blended. Pour filling over your crust while the crust is still hot.

Bake in the 350 oven for 20 minutes or until set in the center. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Afterwards, you can carefully lift the foil to remove the Lemon Bars. Cut into squares and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. You can refrigerate them in an air-tight container for up to a week.

And there you have it! Just make sure you don't eat too many at one time. Stomach aches insure. So, I hope you enjoy this, and I'll see you all in my next post! :D

(Recipe taken from "FamilyCircle All-Time Favorite Recipes")

-BeyondTheClouds777