Lemon Bars with Almond Shortbread

Hello hello! Welcome to my new blog, I am so happy you're here!  I love making things, sewing, baking treats, inventing new ways to DIY things, and making crafts so I thought this would be a perfect outlet to document some of my adventures and share my triumphs and mistakes.  

Today I have a recipe for you guys.  I really want to title this post "THE BEST LEMON BARS IN EXISTENCE" with 5 million exclamation points but I decided to be classy and mature.  These really are THE BEST, though.  Every time I make them people ask for the recipe--I think it has something to do with the fact that these lemon bars are light and tart, and not eggy at all (you know that flavor I'm talking about... ick.) Also, if you are allergic to nuts or don't like nuts, these are still delicious without the almonds, just leave them out.

Make these today, and then eat half the pan for breakfast, lunch, and dinner like I did. Yum!

Lemon Bars with Almond Shortbread Crust

These lemon bars are definitely best with fresh-squeezed lemon juice (you'll need about 6 lemons for this recipe), but if you'd rather use bottled lemon juice, that's fine--just make sure you have 1 lemon on hand to grate some zest.  Also, you can see in the picture above I tried to get fancy and use a piece of lace over the top of my lemon bars to try to create a powdered sugar pattern.  It sort of worked, I think my lace didn't really have big enough holes, but you can make a powdered sugar pattern by using all sorts of paper cut outs or lace placed on top of the lemon bars and then shake the sugar over top and remove the stencil.

Crust

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, roughly chopped (optional)

Lemon Filling

• 6 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup lemon juice 
• Zest from 1 lemon
• 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• Powdered sugar for topping

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and butter a 13 x 9" pan.
2. To make the crust, mix together the powdered sugar, flour, butter, and almonds (optional).  Mix until all ingredients are combined and a smooth, even dough forms.
3. Press the crust dough into the buttered 13 x 9" pan.  Keep pressing with the palm of your hand until the dough is a relatively even thickness throughout the whole pan.
4. Put the crust in the preheated oven for 20-30 minutes until it is a light golden brown.
5. While the crust is baking, make the filling.  Whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, and pinch of salt.  Then add the lemon juice, lemon zest, granulated sugar, and all-purpose flour and mix until well combined.  Scrape the bowl with a spatula so that no flour is left stuck to the bowl.
6. As soon as the crust is finished baking, pour the lemon filling into the pan directly onto the hot crust and close the oven.  Immediately reduce the temperature to 300°F and let bake for 25-35 minutes (until the filling sets up and is no longer wobbly)
7. Let cool and then transfer to the refrigerator.  Right before you are ready to serve the lemon bars, cut them using a sharp knife and dust the top with powdered sugar.