To be honest, I am not a fan of lemon desserts. I am way more of a chocolate dessert kind of person. The chocolatier the better. Ryan, on the other hand, loves lemon desserts. For that reason this was one of the first recipes we made from my Grandmother's list of desserts. We created this cookbook as a surprise for my family, when I brought the bars to my parent's house my Mom told me "oh these seem just like something your Grandmother made!" She thought for a whole year that all these recipes were found on Pinterest! She would tell her Mom how funny it was that old recipes were popping up on Pinterest as new recipes and how we thought we had found something new and exciting, but it'd been here all along!
Anyways, welcome to the old new and exciting. These are my Grandmother's famous lemon bars.
To start you need to make the shortbread layer on the bars. You're going to do this by making a crust. Start by pre-heating the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the first four ingredients (2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary, 1/4 tsp. salt) in a bowl; with a pastry blender add the chopped up butter. (Fun fact: Ryan totally thought that the pasty blender was a potato masher until I pointed it out. According to him the pastry blender is amazing at being a potato masher). Try to get this as mushed as you can. it'll be pretty crumbly but if you mush it together it'll form a ball.
Grease a 9x13 pyrex dish (or whatever dish you're using) very thoroughly, or you will be sorry. Take the mixture and firmly mush it, as evenly as you can, across the bottom of the dish. Once you've done this, bake it for 18 - 20 minutes or until the mixture is lightly brown. Let the crust cool.
The rest of this is pretty straightforward so we didn't take many pictures. Honestly having pictures of combined sugar and all isn't that noteworthy or novel.
After the crust is done cooling you'll make the filling. Combine 1/3 cup flour and baking powder in a small bowl. In a different bowl crack the four eggs and lightly beat them. To that bowl add the sugar, lemon juice, lemon rind, and butter. Add the egg mixture to the bowl with the flour mixture and stir well.
Then it's easy. Pour that over the cooled crust and bake at 350 degrees for 25 or 30 minutes or until it's set. You'll want it to be a little jiggly still, but it'll keep cooking a bit after you pull it out.
While it's baking you'll want to make the heavenly topping. It's super simple, just powered sugar and milk! When Ryan made these this weekend he doubled up the topping, he highly recommends doubling the topping.
Once you pull the bars out of the oven you can either drizzle the topping over the uncut bars or pour it over the top if you doubled it up. Then let the bars sit until they're set and cut and serve them!
Enjoy!
LEMON-ROSEMARY SHORTBREAD BARS
YIELDS: 2 DOZEN | PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES | COOK TIME: 1 HOUR
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary (or 3/4 Tbsp. dried rosemary)
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter or margarine, cut up
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. grated lemon rind
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 tsp. milk
Instructions
Combine first 4 ingredients: the flour, powdered sugar, rosemary, and salt; cut in ¾ cup butter with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Spoon mixture into a greased 13 x 9 x 2” pan: press firmly and evenly into pan, using fingertips and bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Let cool.
Combine 1/3 cup flour and baking powder in a small bowl, stir well. Combine eggs and next 4 ingredients: sugar, lemon rind, lemon juice, and butter, in a large bowl; stir in flour mixture.
Pour mixture over cooled crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until set. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Combine ½ cup powdered sugar and milk; stir until smooth. Spoon into a small zip-top plastic bag; seal bag. Snip a tiny hole in one corner of bag, using scissors. Drizzle icing over uncut bars. Let stand until set. Cut into bars.