My lovely lemon bars with a pecan shortbread crust.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword bars, cookie, crust, lemon, shortbread
Budget Frugal
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 45 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour
Servings 12
Calories 243kcal
Equipment
8"x8" baking pan
2 Medium bowls
Ingredients
For the crust:
8tablespoonsunsalted butterslightly melted but still cool
⅓cupgranulated sugar
¾teaspoonlemon zest
¼teaspoonkosher salt
½teaspoonvanilla
1cupall-purpose flour
½cupfinely chopped pecans
For the topping:
1cupgranulated sugar
2tablespoonsall-purpose flour
¼teaspoonkosher salt
2teaspoonslemon zest
3large eggs
½cupfreshly squeezed lemon juicefrom 2-3 lemons
powdered sugarfor garnish
Instructions
For the crust:
Spray an 8x8 inch glass baking pan with baking spray.
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, stir the sugar, salt, lemon zest, and the vanilla together. Add the flour, (cooled) melted butter, and pecans until a crumbly dough forms.
Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Prick the dough with a fork all over to prevent air bubbles while baking. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes in the pan before baking. Bake the crust at 325 degrees until lightly golden brown, about 25 minutes.
For the lemon topping:
While the crust is baking, stir the sugar, flour, salt and lemon zest together. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time until smooth. Whisk in the lemon juice and refrigerate until the crust is out of the oven,
While the crust is still hot pour the lemon topping over the top and spread evenly. Increase the oven temperature to 350 degrees, return the pan to the oven and bake until the topping is set in the center. It should not jiggle when the pan is moved. This should take 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove pan from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack and cool until the bars are cooled completely. Refrigerate until chilled and firm enough to cut into squares or triangles. Dust the tops with powdered sugar just before serving.