Lemon Butter Bars Food

LEMON BUTTER BARS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Combine all crust ingredients in bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Press onto bottom of ungreased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake 15-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
• Combine all filling ingredients except powdered sugar in bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Pour filling over hot, partially baked crust. Continue baking 18-20 minutes or until filling is set.
• Sprinkle with powdered sugar while still warm and again when cool. Cut into bars.

THE BEST LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
• Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.

LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.
• Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
• For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
• Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners' sugar.

LEMON BARS I

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• To make Bottom Layer: Mix one cup flour and 1/4 cup confectioners sugar. Melt the butter and stir into flour mixture.
• Press flat and even into an 8x8 inch baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes.
• While baking, make the top layer: Mix 1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and the baking powder.
• Beat eggs and add to mixture, stirring well. Add lemon juice and rind, mix again.
• Pour over bottom layer; Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Cool a little, cut into squares while warm; dust with confectioners sugar.

THE ULTIMATE LEMON BUTTER BAR

Steps:

• EQUIPMENT:
• 8-inch by 8-inch by 2-inch baking pan, preferably metal (if using a glass pan, lower the oven temperature 25°F.), bottom and 2 sides lined with an 8-inch by 16-inch strip of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
• SHORTBREAD BASE
• Food Processor Method
• Cut the butter into 1-inch cubes, wrap it, and refrigerate.
• In a food processor with the metal blade, process the sugars for 1 minute or so, until the sugar is very fine. Add the butter and pulse in until the sugar disappears. Add the flour and pulse in until there are a lot of little moist crumbly pieces and no dry flour particles remain.
• Dump the mixture into a plastic bag and press it together. Remove the dough from the plastic bag and knead it lightly, until it holds together.
• Electric Mixer Method or by Hand
• In Scotland, it is said that the best shortbread is mixed with the fingers and that each woman's fingers lend something distinctive and special to the finished cookie. I find that the texture is more delicate when the dough is mixed with the fingers rather than in a machine. For either method, use superfine sugar for the best texture and be sure to soften the butter.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugars. In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy. With your fingers or with the electric mixer, mix in the flour until incorporated. If using the mixer, add the flour in 2 parts.
• For Both Methods
• Place 1 oven rack in the middle of the oven.
• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Pat the dough into the prepared pan. Use a fork to prick the dough all over.
• Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned and the top is pale golden (do not brown).
• While the shortbread is baking, prepare the Lemon Curd Topping.
• LEMON CURD TOPPING
• Have a strainer, suspended over a bowl, ready near the range.
• In a heavy noncorrodible saucepan, beat the egg yolks and sugar with a wooden spoon until well blended. Stir in the lemon juice, butter, and salt. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 6 minutes, until thickened and resembling hollandaise sauce, which thickly coats a wooden spoon but is still liquid enough to pour. (A candy thermometer will read 196°F.) The mixture will change from translucent to opaque and begin to take on a yellow color on the back of a wooden spoon. It must not be allowed to boil or it will curdle. (It will steam above 140°F. Whenever steaming occurs, remove the pan briefly from the heat, stirring constantly to prevent boiling.)
• When the curd has thickened, pour it at once into the strainer. Press it with the back of a spoon until only the coarse residue remains. Discard the residue. Stir in the lemon zest.
• When the shortbread is baked, remove it from the oven, lower the temperature to 300°F., pour the lemon curd on top of the shortbread, and return it to the oven for 10 minutes.
• Cool the lemon curd-topped shortbread completely in the pan on a wire rack. Refrigerate the pan for 30 minutes to set the lemon curd completely before cutting into bars. Place the powdered sugar in a strainer and tap the strainer with a spoon to sprinkle a thick, even coating, entirely covering the lemon.
• Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the pastry on the 2 sides without the aluminum foil. Use the foil to lift out the lemon curd-covered shortbread onto a cutting surface. Use a long, sharp knife to cut the shortbread first in thirds, then in half the other way, and then each half in thirds. Wipe the blade after each cut.
• The powdered sugar will start to be absorbed into the lemon curd after several hours, but it can be reapplied before serving.
• Store:
• In an airtight container at room temperature, or in the refrigerator or freezer.
• Keeps:
• 3 days at room temperature, 3 weeks refrigerated (individually wrapped in plastic wrap to prevent drying), or 3 months frozen.
• Smart Cookie
• • Cooking the topping before pouring it into the shortbread ensures crispness as opposed to the usual pastiness of the pastry.
• • Returning the curd to the oven, where it will be exposed to heat without stirring, causes the yolk to rebond, making it firm enough to cut after cooling.
• • If each lemon is heated about 10 seconds in a microwave oven on high power and rolled around while pressing on it lightly, it will release a significantly greater quantity of juice.
• • An aluminum pan should not be used to prepare the lemon curd because it will react with the egg yolks, turning them chartreuse.
• • Sugar raises the coagulation point of the egg yolk. It also protects it from premature coagulation during the addition of the lemon juice. If the juice were added directly to the unprotected yolk, the yolk would partially coagulate and, when strained, a large percentage of it would be left behind in the strainer. Be sure to mix the sugar well with the egg yolks before adding the juice.

SECRET INGREDIENT LEMON BARS

Steps:

• For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-by-13-inch cake pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the long ends; this will help you remove the lemon bars from the pan later. Lightly spray the pan with nonstick cooking spray.
• Add the flour, cheese and confectioners' sugar to a food processor. Pulse to incorporate all the ingredients. Slowly stream in the butter while pulsing, stopping occasionally to scrape the bowl down and to loosen any caked flour on the base of the bowl. Continue to pulse until the mixture has the texture of wet sand and holds together when pressed together in your hand. Transfer the mixture to the prepared pan and press and mold to dough to cover the base of the pan and up the sides about 3/4 inch. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the crust is set and the edges are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
• In the meantime, make the lemon curd filling: Add the granulated sugar, flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla and eggs to a large bowl and whisk to evenly combine. Transfer the filling to the warm crust and bake until the curd is just set, 20 to 23 minutes.
• Let cool to room temperature on a wire rack, then transfer the pan to the refrigerator to cool for at least 2 hours or up to overnight. Dust with confectioners' sugar before slicing.

LEMONY LAYER BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Line a 13x9-in. baking pan with parchment, letting ends extend up sides. In a large bowl, mix cracker crumbs and butter. Press onto bottom of prepared pan. Sprinkle with white chips, coconut, almonds and chocolate chips., In a small bowl, combine milk, lemon curd and 1 tablespoon zest. Pour over chips. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon zest. Bake until edges are golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Lifting with parchment, remove from pan. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.

BUTTER BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.
• Mix together cake mix, 1 egg and butter. Mixture should be stiff like a dough.
• Press into greased pan.
• Mix together cream cheese, 2 eggs and powdered sugar and poured over the dough.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 40 - 45 minutes.

THE BEST LEMON BARS YOU WILL EVER EAT

Steps:

• Crust:.
• Mix 2 cups flour and powdered sugar. Cut in the butter then use your hands to knead it into a moist ball. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper and brush with melted butter. Pat the dough into an even layer at the bottom of the prepped pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
• While crust is baking mix: eggs, granulated sugar, remaining flour, lemon juice and salt.
• Pour over baked crust. Bake for 20 min more. If it's still a little loose in the middle turn off the oven, open the door for one minute to allow heat to escape then close it and leave in cooling oven for another 5-10 minutes until it has set.
• Remove from oven. Using the parchment as a sling carefully move uncut bar to a cutting surface. Cut immediately into squares with a long sharp knife (run knife under hot water before and between cuts) and sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar (optional). Allow to cool.