Lemon Bars

Apparently, January is lemon dessert month according to the internet. Everywhere I turn on the web, I see lemon bars and lemon sweet rolls as "dessert of the month". And, frankly, it's made me want something lemony, too. Maybe January is lemon month because we're all longing for spring weather, a break from a harsh winter we've had here in the south, and we think sunny yellow lemons is the way to achieve that in the kitchen. Southerners love their lemon meringue pies and lemon bars. I've got dozens of recipes for lemon bars, but I've chosen to use the one in Savannah Celebrations by Martha Nesbit.

Lemon Bars

1 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 4 tbsp. flour
1 cup confectioners' sugar
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
6 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Additional confectioners' sugar for dusting bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine butter, 2 cups flour, and 1 cup confectioners' sugar with wooden spoon. Pat with floured hands into buttered 13"x9" baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

While crust is cooling, beat together eggs, sugar, baking powder, remaining flour and lemon juice. Pour over baked crust and bake for an additional 30 to 35 minutes, until filling appears set.

Cool, then sprinkle lightly with confectioners' sugar. Cut in bars. Store in airtight container with tight-fitting lid.

Making the crust...

I was running low on butter so decided to use one stick of butter and one stick of margarine.

Dry ingredients: flour and confectioners' (powdered) sugar.

Add the melted butter/margarine mixture and blend with a wooden spoon.

The dough will be thick. Mix until just blended.

Press the dough in a greased baking pan and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool slightly while working on filling.


The filling...

I didn't even clean the bowl I used for the crust. I just used it for the filling starting with four eggs.

Two cups of regular (granulated) sugar

Remaining flour and baking powder

I squeezed my own lemon juice.

Six tablespoons equaled the juice of three whole lemons.

The batter will be very wet. Pour over the prepared crust and bake until set. Allow the bars to cool completely. Cut into squares and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Spring may not be in the air, but it's definitely in my kitchen.

Enjoy!!