All Purpose

...both the flour and now this blog. Looking through some old photos, I stumbled upon a photo documentation of one my favorite recipes for lemon bars. And since it's tuesday peruse-day (that's a thing, right?), why not make something succulent & sweet to accompany all that reading? 

In the mean time, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease your favorite baking sheet. 

For the crust

1/2 pound of unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

2 cups of all purpose flour 

1/8 teaspoon of salt

Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Combine the flour and salt and add it to the mixer. Put the mixer on low and watch it come together. Then dump the dough onto a well-floured sheet of wax paper.

Roll into a ball. Then flatten it and press into the greased baking sheet you prepared earlier. Build a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Put it in the refrigerator.

Two rules: hands are meant to get dirty & most kitchen utensils (rolling pins, spatulas...) are therefore unnecessary.

My grandmother used to suit up the five of us little ladies-in-waiting in her stained, eyelet aprons. They would drag like wedding veil trains around our ankles. She employed our mess-craving help, let us sit indian-style on top of the kitchen table and play with the dough. In reality, this was only making her culinary creation better: "hands should always do the kneading." 

Alright, let's make the lemon filling while the crust chills.

For the lemon layer

6 large eggs

2 1/2 cups of sugar

2 tablespoons of grated lemon zest (4-6 lemons worth)

1 cup of freshly-squeezed lemon juice

1 cup of all purpose flour

Whisk everything together in a bowl.

Pour the lemon layer over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or about 5 minutes beyond the point where the filling is set. Basically, once it stops jiggling when you go to check the dish, bake for a few more minutes. Then take it out and let it cool to room temperature before cutting and serving.

Dust with powdered sugar. 

If you're feeling something fancy, cut a slice of lemon, dip it in sugar, and place it on top.

This is where I insert the final product photo, but I don't have one. They really are just that good. Once they came out of the oven, I retired the camera and began consumption. As should you. 

Enjoy!

Thanks you Smitten Kitchen for the recipe inspiration!