6.26.2011

Glazed Lemon Bars

Original Recipe HERE

I love the refreshing taste of a good lemon bar, but often they're too sour or too sweet and don't strike the right balance between the two.  This recipe is being saved to make again, so it's the closest I've found.  I'd have liked the lemon flavor to be a little more pronounced, but that can be remedied by adding more grated lemon zest or a little lemon extract.

Ingredients
* Crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
* Filling
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice, strained of pulp and seeds [2-3 lemons]
1 teaspoon lemon zest [optional]
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
* Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons strained freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions
(1) Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray 9×13″ pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
(2) Whisk together flour and powdered sugar.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is crumbly.
(3) Lightly press mixture into pan and bake 15-20 minutes or until light golden around the edges. Remove from oven.
(4) Mix eggs, lemon juice, flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed for 3 minutes. The mixture should be frothy and very pale yellow.
(5) Pour mixture over warm crust.  Return pan to oven for another 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top (begin checking at 15 mintues).
(6) Remove pan from oven and allow to cool completely on drying rack.
(7) When bars are cool, whisk together glaze ingredients until smooth.  Gently spread over bars. Refrigerate at least 2 hours (preferably more).  Cut into squares before serving. Makes about 36 bars.

Notes: (1) I couldn't get the crust dough to stop sticking to my fingers, so it was tough to make it an even thickness.  Maybe letting the dough sit in the refrigerator, then rolling it out into large pieces and "patching" them together in the pan would work.  (2) While I let the glaze sit on the bars for the two hours it recommends, it was still pretty runny when I cut the bars.  I assume this would be fixed by letting them sit in the refrigerator longer (probably overnight).  However, the glaze would crack and the appearance might not be as nice.  An option is to cut the bars before applying the glaze, then drizzle the glaze over each individual bar and letting it run down the sides. (3) Directions say to bake the lemon topping for 20-25 minutes, but I checked at 17 and it was already pretty browned.  Next time I'll check earlier.

Kid Participation:
* Whisk dry ingredients
* Add wet ingredients to bowl
* Operate mixer
* Pour glaze over bars

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