Lemon bars

I'm not a huge fan of lemon-flavoured desserts. If given the option, I will always choose something not lemon. I especially can't stand lemon meringue pie, even though I love meringue on pies.

But these lemon bars are the exception to the rule. They are so incredibly good! It must be something about the not-to-sweet cookie base and the gooey, chewy lemon topping that changes my mind.

But the next time you're thinking about baking and have some lemons around, you should make these - I am making them tomorrow.

Lemon Bars
Ingredients
For the crust:
 1/4 cup of butter, softened
 1/4 cup granulated sugar
 1 cup flour
 Pinch of salt
For the filling:
 1 cup granulated sugar
 2 tablespoons of flour
 ¼ teaspoon of baking powder
 Pinch of salt
 1 large egg
 1 large egg white
 Juice of one lemon (3 tablespoons)
 Grated zest of one lemon
 Icing sugar, for dusting
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light. Add the flour and salt and stir until well combined and crumbly. Press into the bottom of an 8” x 8” pan that has been sprayed with a non-stick spray. Bake the crust for about 8 minutes, until very lightly browned. 

In the same bowl (no need to wash) stir together the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Add the egg, egg white, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and stir under well blended and smooth.
Pour over the crust and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until slightly golden on top and bubbly around the edges. Let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. 

Sprinkle with icing sugar before cutting into bars.

Those seem really simple, don't they? They are! And they're delicious.

Also, starting next week I'm going to be attempting to find the perfect cake to bake for my friend's wedding, and practising making cakes look pretty. And then serving them to my coworkers as guinea pigs. I told the two maintenance guys at work, and one of them was like, "awesome!" and the other did the happy fist pump.

I already know I can make them delicious, as does she (she is my bake-off opponent), but I've never tried to do more than "slap icing on top and serve." I might see if they have some of those cake decorating classes somewhere in town on a night I'm not in class.