Monday, January 14, 2008

Random Recipe Monday - Lemon Bars

I love lemon. Sometimes chocolate can be too much, but not lemon. It is great in pie, cupcakes, cookies and bars, especially bars. Here is Ina Garten's recipe for lemon bars. Pucker up and enjoy some lemons.

This recipe is from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa cookbook, as found on foodnetwork.com.*
"For the crust:
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:
6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners' sugar."

*For the copyright police, I am encouraging people to buy Ina's cookbook. Really. It is wonderful.

5 comments:

Lorraine said...

I'm with you on the lemon thing. These sound like heaven.

Anonymous said...

I've made these as well - they are dreamy. I heart Ina.

Greyhound Girl said...

Lemon bars are one of my all time favs. De-lish!

Anonymous said...

Hand over the Lemon Bars,and no one gets hurt!

Heather said...

yummy!