The best lemon bars
Almost everyone I know loves lemon bars and almost every lemon bar recipe I see claims it鈥檚 "the best." I have very jaded taste buds so I rarely go into the superlative when I鈥檓 describing something unless it really, really deserves it. It doesn鈥檛 mean it isn鈥檛 good if I don鈥檛 call it "the best." Only that there are so many amazing recipes out there that are super fantastic that it鈥檚 hard to claim any single one recipe as "the best" of anything.
So I don鈥檛 know if this is the best lemon bar recipe I鈥檝e ever tried. My normal go-to lemon bar recipe is also quite good and I don鈥檛 know if I would choose this one above that. The good thing is it's not really a competition. Both are good. Both can be made easily and eaten even more easily. Crisp shortbread crust, lemony topping, sweet vanilla glaze 鈥� not much not to love here.聽 If you鈥檙e a lemon bar fan, give this recipe a whirl. It鈥檚 good for using up at least one lemon.
Oh, and true confession time, I probably left this in the oven for 5 minutes longer than I should have. I was busy doing something on my computer and the time got away from me. By the time I checked on these, the top was golden brown all over and edging more towards "brown" than "golden" 鈥� eek. The good thing with lemon bars though is they鈥檙e hardy enough to withstand a few minutes' neglect because the topping is more of a custard and not a cake that will dry out. And the bottom came out a little crisp but not burnt and not crunchy-hard. 聽Dodged a baking bullet. Whew.
The Best Lemon Bars
From
For the crust:
1/2 cup butter, cold
1 cup flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
For the filling:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons lemon juice
grated rind of 1 lemon
For the glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
lemon juice to make soft glaze
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8- x 8-inch pan with foil, lightly spray with cooking spray.
2. Cut together butter, flour and powdered sugar until mixture resembles coarse meal and press into an even layer into prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
3. Mix together sugar, flour and baking powder. Add in eggs, lemon juice and lemon rind.
4. Pour over hot, baked crust and bake for 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden brown and mixture is set.
5. Mix together powdered sugar and enough lemon juice to make a glaze soft enough to drizzle over lemon bars while they are still warm. Glaze, let cool then cut into squares.
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