Classic Lemon Bars

We have 2 meyer lemon tree in the backyard. Sometimes I get overwhelm with them because they litter the yard. They bear fruits all year round so we always have lemon in the house. When I have more than enough in the house, I give some to the neighbors or take some to work. I also use them for cooking and the kids makes fresh lemonade whenever they feel like having one.

I'm a big fan of lemon cake, lemon cookies and lemon bars. I have been itching to make them from scratch with all the fresh lemons I have around but I never get around to it. I finally had the time and made these beautiful and delicious classic lemon bars. I found the simple recipe on foodgawker. I decided to blog it on my site because it is worth sharing!

Note: The most important part of this recipe is cooking time, all ovens and pans are different, so it's really hard to tell how long to cook something; the best thing I can do is to tell you what to look for. Make sure when you're only cooking the crust that you don't let it get too dark (it will take away from the flavor if it cooks too long) and if its undercooked, they'll be harder to keep intact, and they'll be more gooey than anything. Same thing goes for when you're cooking the bars with the filling; you want a golden color around the edges, nothing too dark, or they'll be too stiff, and if undercooked, too gooey.

Ingredients and Preparation: (20-25 bars)

Crust:

2 cups flour (sifted)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup unsalted butter (firm)

Topping:

2 cups sugar
2 lemons,  juiced and rind grated
4 tablespoons of flour
4 eggs beaten
pince of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour and powdered sugar together in a big bowl. Mix in the butter in pieces and mash with hands thouroughly or use a blender if you have one. Do not over mix. Pat mixture into bottom of a greased 9x13x2 baking pan or a non-stick pan.

Bake for 25-30 mins until lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.

To make topping mix flour and sugar, add to beaten eggs; add lemon juice and salt. Mix thoroughly. Pour topping over crust, return to oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Let cool before cutting into squares.