Luscious Lemon Bars

Until now, the only lemon bars I'd ever eaten were made from a box. If the world knew how easy they are to make from scratch and how unbelievably luscious they taste- lemon bar box mixes would go out of business! These are awesome. The shortbread crust takes two minutes to prepare and several more to bake. Can you whisk? Then you can make the filling. Pour it over the crust, bake again. Done. I do advise letting them cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar and slicing. You won't want to wait, but you should.

I have a friend who I consider a lemon bar connoisseur. She approved of this recipe and thought the amount of lemon what just right. Not too sweet, not too tart. And I agreed. I just used regular lemons, but the original source suggested using Meyer lemons. They are only available seasonally, but if you can get your hands on them I bet it would make this dessert extra special.

INGREDIENTS
Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Filling:
2 large eggs
1 cup superfine (baker's) sugar (or regular sugar after a few whirls in the food processor)
1/8 tsp. salt
2 tsp. lemon zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper.

2. To make the crust, combine flour, powdered sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add butter and pulse until the mixture is pebbly. Press evenly into the bottom of your prepared pan. Bake until lightly golden, about 18-20 minutes. Set aside.

3. To make the filling, in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, flour and salt. Whisk in lemon zest and juice until well combined. Pour over crust (it's okay if crust is still hot). Bake until filling is just set, about 15 to 18 minutes. Cool completely and dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Makes an 8 inch square pan.

(Adapted from Alpine Berry)