Lemon Bars

I love baking!

Most of my "creations" are the result of finding a solid recipe and keeping it around to be used over and over (although I am starting to play around with recipes more than I used to). But today I am proud to share with you one of the first recipes I've ever made uniquely "mine."

A few years ago, I discovered the dessert delight known as the lemon bar and I was immediately a fan. There's just something about the flavor of lemon that is refreshing in a dessert!

Freshly washed lemons, ready to be grated and squeezed

The first time I made lemon bars, I followed a Taste of Home recipe. They were good, but when I bit into them, I immediately knew the recipe could be altered to taste even better.

So I did some tweaking and added and changed some ingredients until the recipe was distinctly different and achieved the taste I wanted.

And here is the result! There's one key ingredient that makes this recipe uniquely different from other traditional ones. See if you can find it.

Liz's Lemon Bars

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling:

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

4 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

6 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest

Additional confectioners' sugar

Cut the flour, butter, confectioners' sugar and vanilla with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles fine or small crumbs. Pat into an 8 X 13 pan greased with baking spray (the new nonstick spray that contains flour--it works like a dream for baked goods and it's a lot less messy than shortening and flour!). Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

To prepare filling, beat eggs and add sugar, flour, baking powder, lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat until frothy.

Pour filling over crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before cutting into bars. Dust cut bars with additional confectioners' sugar.

Cut crust mixture, ready to be pressed into the pan

Freshly grated lemon zest

Did you find it? The vanilla extract is my "secret" ingredient! I've looked at several other lemon bar recipes and vanilla is not included in them. But I'm a huge fan of vanilla and think it makes a big difference in this recipe.

I also recently tried changing the recipe somewhat to make it gluten-free, as a birthday gift for my friend Wendy. They weren't quite the same as the regular version, but still turned out well. So here's that recipe:

Gluten-free Lemon Bars

Crust:

2 cups multi-purpose gluten-free flour

1 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling:

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. gluten-free baking powder

6 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest

Prepare the recipe the same way as listed above, but use olive oil or vegetable oil to grease the pan instead of the baking spray.

Enjoy! :)