The Butter-iest Lemon Bars—Ever

Baking Spree! 

Day One

Hibernation can be good. 

It gives you time to step away from all the frazzle-dazzle and come back refreshed.

After working on a few great projects—like playing around with my new iphone—I have time to blog again.

I’ve missed all of you and I hope you’ve missed Alfresco!

And what better way to get our baking spree kicked off than with these easy, yummy, cookies that have a lot of good things going for them. Sweet, tart, buttery, and tender, these bars can be cut as large or as small as you wish.

Buttery Lemon Bars have a little magic, too. They seem to be able to banish any winter blahs or blahs in general. With a cup of tea or a shot of limoncello, you’re back in business.

Buttery Lemon Bars

With a shortbread cookie crust and a sweet/ tart lemon filling, these bars are addictive.  

Makes 3 dozen  

For the crust:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting

For the filling:

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line a 9 by 13-inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.

2. For the crust, pulse the flour, salt, butter, and confectioner's sugar in a food processor, just until the dough holds together.  Press the dough onto the bottom and halfway up the sides the prepared pan. Bake the crust for 15 minutes until just set and slightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside.

3. For the filling, combine the filling ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and beat for 3 minutes with an electric mixer. You want the mixture to be a lighter yellow, thicker than when you started, and with a froth of bubbles. Pour the filling over the hot crust.

4. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes more, or until firm in the middle and lightly browned on top. Cool completely, then dust with additional confectioner's sugar and cut into bars.