Baking- Lemon bars

I have about 20 recipes I want to try this summer and this recipe from Smitten Kitchen was near the top of my list. I love citrus fruits and any dessert with lemon is definitely a must for me.  When I read this recipe, it looked simple and easy to follow so I decided to try it.

For the crust:
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the full-size lemon layer:
6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons- We used 5)

3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (The original recipe says 1 cup but we couldn't get 1 cup of lemon juice from 5 lemons.)
1 cup flour

First, preheat the oven to 350°F 

cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl

I had to do this manually because we didn't have an electric mixer. 

Combine salt and flour

Gradually add flour and salt into the butter/ sugar mixture.  Make it into a ball and flatten the dough into a baking tin.  Put it in the fridge and let it chill.  Afterwards, bake the crust for 15 minutes until lightly browned.

Lemon zest

3/4 of lemon juice

For the lemon layer, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour.  Pour the lemon layer on top of the crust and bake for 30 minutes. 

TADA!

I wanted to dust icing sugar on top but we didn't have any.  It would've looked better with it though..  I think the recipe can be created with less sugar for the lemon layer because it was a bit too sweet.  Also, 3/4 cup of lemon juice was  definitely enough for the lemon flavour to come through.  I really enjoyed the crust and I think I will use the crust recipe for other things as well. 

 Look at the oozy lemon layer! 

This recipe is super easy, and it only takes about an hour to make it.  It's a great recipe to keep and make it for dinner parties or potlucks and I also think it's perfect for summer.  Continuing with the lemon theme, I am hoping that I can try baking a lemon meringue pie soon! 

It's been gorgeous in Vancouver the past week and I hope it stays like this for another 4 months.  The weather has gotten warmer as well and today I was wearing shorts and it finally felt like summer.  Also, I got a new job which I am excited for and I've been just really busy with working, volunteering, hanging out with friends and summer school. I've been enjoying blogging as well and it's part of my routine now. 

 I've added some random photos of food I ate this week below!

 Tacos from La Taqueria

 Raspberry Cheesecake from Boulangerie la Parisienne

There are more reviews/ baking/ cooking to come so please watch out for them!






Thanks for reading!






Rei