These are so terribly good that you should only make them when you have company or children who can help you eat them. They’re great for church lady meetings and also delicious for spring holidays such as Passover or Easter. If you need to make them unleavened for Passover then simply leave out the baking powder in the custard filling. It doesn’t make that much difference. You can even make them with lime juice for St. Patrick’s Day.
I use bottled lemon juice (the cheap stuff) for my Lemon Bars and they turn out great every time. If you see a sale on fresh lemons you may want to decrease the lemon juice to 1/2-cup because fresh lemon juice has much more zing to it than the bottled stuff.
This is another recipe that is so good, no one can tell it’s allergy-friendly.
Lemon Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 2 cups GLAD Flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1 cup dairy-free margarine, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
Lemon Custard Filling
- 2/3 cup lemon juice
- 1-1/3 cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup GLAD Flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt
Topping
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
Directions
First search around in your cupboards until you find your favorite 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Grease the pan with SOLID shortening or coat it with nonstick spray. Set the pan aside.
Next prepare the crust. Measure all of the crust ingredients into a medium sized bowl. Use a large fork or your hand (make sure they’re clean) to mash the ingredients together until they are a stiff dough. Plop the dough into your greased baking pan. Use palms and stiff fingers to press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan. The center of the dough tends to be thicker than the corners so make a little extra effort to mash the center thin enough to be even with the outer edges.
Bake the crust at 350° for 20 minutes.
While the crust is baking prepare the filling. Use a paper towel to wipe out the bowl you made the crust in. Use this same bowl to mix up the lemon filling. Measure all of the filling ingredients into your medium sized bowl. Use a whisk or electric beaters to make a smooth, thin mixture. Set this aside until the crust is done baking.
Measure the powdered sugar and set it aside.
When the crust comes out of the oven immediately pour the filling over it. The pan will be hot so be careful not to burn yourself. Place the pan back into the oven. Continue baking for another 25 minutes. The top of the custard will be cracked in a few places. This is evidence that it’s done.
Remove the pan from the oven. Sprinkle the powdered sugar over the top. Allow the pan to cool for 20 minutes and then cut into bars.
My guys love these bars so they never can wait long enough for the bars to cool significantly. They taste good hot too, although they’re gooey. Store leftovers in the refrigerator because the eggs in the custard don’t keep well at room temperature.
Makes about 24.