Lemon Bars

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Lemon Bars

While walking my dog through my neighborhood the other day, I noticed how many of my neighbors had lemon trees full of ripe fruit, waiting to be picked. It reminded me of the lemon tree we used to have in my backyard at my old house, always ready to freshen up any meal. While, I don’t have a lemon tree in my backyard now [not yet, anyway], I wanted to bring the freshness into my kitchen. These are a butter-free version of Ina Garten’s lemon bars, but still just as delicious. These are also nearly gluten free - details below.

LEMON BARS

for the crust

2 2/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup oil
6 tablespoons nonfat milk

for the lemon filling

6 eggs
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest [3-4 lemons]
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
powdered sugar for dusting

[to make gluten free: substitute a gluten free flour for unbleached all-purpose flour]

First, is the crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Add oil and milk and mix together. Dough will be a little flaky.
Gather dough into a ball and press into the greased baking sheet, making sure that it’s about 1/2 inch thick.
Bake the crust for about 15 minutes, or until dough is slightly golden brown. Take out of the oven and set aside, but leave the oven on.
Next is the lemon layer. Mix together eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour lemon mixture over the crust and bake for 30-35 minutes.
Let it cool to room temperature [I know it’s hard to wait that long], cut into pieces, and dust with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!