The Freshman Cook: Creamy Lemon Bars

What is it? It is a handheld juice squeezer. Do you need this? Well, no. Is it worth having? Oh, yes! I used this juice squeezer to make lemon bars. In the past, when I made anything that required fresh squeezed juice, I would simply, roll the  lemon, lime, or orange on the counter, until the juice has broken from the pulp. Then I would cut the fruit in half, and squeeze the halves into my measuring cup. But this is so easy.  I cut the top and bottom off of the fruit, cut it in half, put it in the squeezer, and squeezed right into the measuring cup. The two pieces squeezing together makes sure that there is only pulp left in the fruit. Then takeout the seeds!! The best part? I bought this item of convenience at Dollar Tree!! For a $!!! Isn’t that great? So, if you see this item, buy it! Here’s a recipe for lemon bars that I love, and I’m betting that you will to. You also get to use your juicer!
Let’s Make The Dough First!    2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. If you have

a food processor combine your flour, sugar,

and butter in the bowl. Pulse until it’s 

dough. But don’t over mix.If you are using a mixer, 

combine the flour, confectioners’ sugar, 

and butter until butter is in very small crumbs.

 It should look like this!

Press into the bottom of a 11×7 inch pan. 

 Smooth out your dough. My rolling pin was too long to fit in this pan,

so I had to improvise with the cover from my candy thermometer.

Maybe a mini rolling pin would make a 

good kitchen gadget for this blog!!

Bake for 18-20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and lightly browned.

It should look like this. Isn’t that pretty?!!

Now, Let’s Make The Filling.

4 eggs 2 cup confectioners’ sugar 4 tablespoons flour 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1 tablespoons finely grated lemon peel sifted confectioners’ sugar Here is your chance to use your fruit squeezer. It will take about 4 lemons to make your 1/4 cup. Beat your eggs.
Blend together your sugar, beaten eggs, flour, lemon juice and lemon peel. When you make your lemon peel, use a zester, or microplane. (sorry, I forgot the picture!!) When you zest, run your zester over the washed lemon, but DO NOT get any of the white skin in with your lemon zest. The white makes the zest very bitter. Pour your mix over the crust you just baked.

Return to oven and bake at 325° for 20 minutes. 

 Loosen around edges, cut into bars and sift confectioners’ sugar over the top while warm. 

I hope you enjoyed this little treat of a recipe.  

(It’s adapted from a taste of Home recipe)

I know you will make this over and over again. 

It’s that good!

Thanks for joining me this week. Come back tomorrow for the shopping list for next week.

Here’s a hint~Think Steak!

See you then!