MEYER LEMON BARS

Meyer Lemons

guess what this is?

you'll require a lot of lemon zest for this recipe

this is my new cookbook stand.   love it!

these meyer lemons were so full of juice that i only had to use 5 to get 1 cup of juice

my bad...i did not wait until the crust was cooled before i dumped the egg and lemon juice mixture in! you're supposed to wait 15-20 minutes but i only waited 10 minutes.

Oh I knew I was tempting fate!  I realized as soon as I dumped the filling onto the crust that it would soak right into the crust and not sit on the top like it should!  I don't think it helped that I used the gluten free flour blend either because that sucker just slurped up the filling almost immediately.  While I watched it in the oven, the filling just become one with the crust.  There would be no lemon curd layer.

freshly baked and hot out of the oven, the crust looks like one big shortbread cookie!  If I had the patience, I may have been rewarded with a layer of lemon curd, but alas this was not to be.

Despite the fact that I screwed up my Meyer Lemon Bars, they still tasted very good.  I think that if I had used regular flour and waited until the crust cooled, I may have achieved a nice layer of lemon curd on top of the crust.  I'll choose to see this little experiment as relatively successful because the kids loved it and so did I!  The flavour was still there and I really liked the texture.

still yummy.  tastes like a lemon shortbread cookie.  very tender and crumbly

the best parts are the edges, where the bar gets all crusty-caramelized.  not a flop!  let's call it a lemon cookie bar!

This recipe comes from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, which I recently purchased at a hefty discount from Book Warehouse, which is closing its doors soon (c'est dommage!)

My family will miss the book store sorely and we used to frequent it quite often to buy our books. 

LEMON BARS [made GF]

from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook by Allysa Torey and Jennifer Appel

CRUST

• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups all-purpose flour [I used Cup4Cup gf flour blend]
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

TOPPING

• 2 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup lemon juice [I used 5 Meyer Lemons]
• 6 teaspoons grated lemon zest 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a 12 x 18 inch jelly roll pan
3. To make the crust:  In a large bowl, on the low speed of an electric mixer, combine all the ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Form the dough into a ball.  Spread crust evenly into prepared pan.  Use a large piece of waxed paper to firmly and evenly press down crust.  Bake the crust for 18-20 minutes until lightly golden.  Remove from oven and let cool for 15-20 minutes before proceeding. [*warning: I did not do this and didn't get my lemon curd layer :-(  I'm sure if you allow it to cool,  and use regular all-purpose flour, yours will turn out different than mine! ]
4. While the crust is cooling, make the topping:  In a medium-size bowl, on the low speed of an electric mixer, beat the sugar, the eggs, the lemon juice, and the zest until well combined.  Pour over slightly warm crust.  Return to oven.  Bake 18-20 minutes until edges are golden brown.  Remove from one and let cool for about 20 minutes.  Dust with confectioners' sugar.
5. Allow to cool to room temperature, or overnight, before cutting and serving.