I am feeling much better, and am back to cooking and baking. I am going to start to make an effort to stop buying ice cream or other prepared sweets, and start baking more. Here is my first effort. For some reason, I always thought that lemon bars were very complicated, but I was certainly wrong. I had only tried them once before, by making them from a box mix. Of course from a box mix, they were not very palatable, so I haven’t thought to try them in a long time. I never knew how easy lemon bars made from scratch could be. I got some big, beautiful lemons at Sam’s club, and wanted to make a dessert with them. I went to my trusty Better Homes and Gardens big red plaid cookbook and found this easy recipe. I changed the recipe just by adding more lemon zest. These lemon bars are completely irresistible, that is if you like citrus desserts. They were nice and tart without being too sweet. The crust was very easy to make, and turned out to be perfectly crumbly with just the right amount of sweetness. I highly recommend this easy recipe.
Yield: Serves 4
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons shredded lemon peel
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup half and half or cream
powdered sugar for garnish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish. cut the butter in cubes. Add the flour, powdered sugar, corn starch , and salt to a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the diced butter and pulse until the mixture becomes grainy. Press the mixture into the baking pan. Bake until lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes.
While crust is baking, combine eggs, sugar, flour, lemon peel, lemon juice, and cream or half and half. Combine well. Pour mixture over hot crust and bake for another 15 - 20 minutes, or until center is set. Let cool completely before serving.
