Megans Hush Hush Lemon Bars Food

LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. While the motor is running, add the butter and continue to process until mealy. Transfer mixture onto a buttered 12 by 18-inch sheet tray. Press to form an even layer of crust.
• Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until light golden in color.
• Meanwhile, prepare the lemon topping. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the sugar, flour, and salt. Stir until well blended. Lastly, stir in the lemon zest, juice, and milk.
• Pour over the prebaked crust and continue to bake another 20 minutes or until set. Chill for 2 hours before cutting into bars. Dust with powdered sugar.

LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Line the bottom and sides of a 9×13 baking pan* with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to lift the finished bars out (makes cutting easier!). Set aside.
• Mix the melted butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the flour and stir to completely combine. The dough will be thick. Press firmly into prepared pan, making sure the layer of crust is nice and even. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven. Using a fork, poke holes all over the top of the warm crust (not all the way through the crust). A new step I swear by, this helps the filling stick and holds the crust in place. Set aside until step 4.
• Sift the sugar and flour together in a large bowl. Whisk in the eggs, then the lemon juice until completely combined.
• Pour filling over warm crust. Bake the bars for 22-26 minutes or until the center is relatively set and no longer jiggles. (Give the pan a light tap with an oven mitt to test.) Remove bars from the oven and cool completely at room temperature. I usually cool them for about 2 hours at room temperature, then stick in the refrigerator for 1-2 more hours until pretty chilled. I recommend serving chilled.
• Once cool, lift the parchment paper out of the pan using the overhang on the sides. Dust with confectioners' sugar and cut into squares before serving. For neat squares, wipe the knife clean between each cut. Cover and store leftover lemon bars in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
• Lemon bars can be frozen for up to 3-4 months. Cut the cooled bars (without confectioners' sugar topping) into squares, then place onto a baking sheet. Freeze for 1 hour. Individually wrap each bar in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and place into a large bag or freezer container to freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator, then dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

WHOLE LEMON BARS

Steps:

• For the crust: Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking dish and set aside. Add the butter and granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and combine until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt and slowly add to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour the dough into the prepared baking dish and press, making sure the dough comes up the sides of the dish around the edges about 1/2 inch. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the dough until lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. (Leave the oven on.)
• For the lemon filling: Cut the lemon in half and slice the lemon halves into thin wheels; remove any seeds. Toss the lemon wheels (with flesh and peel), granulated sugar and chunks of butter into the bowl of a food processor. Process, scraping down the sides as needed, until the lemon is thoroughly pureed. Add the eggs, cornstarch and salt and pulse until the batter is smooth. Pour into the prepared crust.
• Bake until the filling is set, 35 to 40 minutes. You can test this by bumping the pan a little; it should only jiggle slightly. In my oven, I find that the point at which the filling is set is also when it starts to get very light brown on top.
• Let cool on a rack. Cut into rectangles and dust with powdered sugar.

CLASSIC LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Make the crust: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan with vegetable oil and line with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides; grease the foil with oil. Pulse the butter, flour, both sugars and the salt in a food processor until the dough comes together, about 1 minute. Press evenly into the bottom and about 1/2 inch up the sides of the prepared pan, making sure there are no cracks. Bake until the crust is golden, about 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Whisk the whole eggs and yolks, sugar and flour in a bowl until smooth. Whisk in the lemon zest and juice. Remove the crust from the oven and reduce the temperature to 300 degrees F. Pour the filling over the warm crust and return to the oven. Bake until the filling is just set, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Let the bars cool in the pan on a rack, then refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours. Lift out of the pan using the foil and slice. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

THE BEST LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on 2 sides; spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
• For the crust: Add the flour, cornstarch, confectioners' sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse 10 times until combined. Add the cold butter and pulse until the mixture looks like coarse sand, about 30 times. (The dough will not come together in one mass.) Sprinkle the mixture evenly in the prepared pan and lightly pat it down. Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until golden brown around the edges, 20 to 25 minutes.
• For the filling: Combine the eggs, yolks, sugar, flour, salt and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Whisk continuously over medium heat, occasionally scraping down the sides and edges of the pan with a rubber spatula, until simmering and thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon zest and butter until combined.
• Lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. Pour the filling over the crust and bake until just set, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Place on a wire rack to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.
• Use the foil overhang to lift the bars from the pan. Remove the foil and slice into squares. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

BARBARA BUSH'S LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Mix margarine, powdered sugar' sugar and flour together.
• Spread in 15 x 10-inch jellyroll pan.
• Bake at 350 F for 15 minutes until lite tan. Cool.
• Mix remaining ingredients. Pour over crust. Bake for 25 minutes at 350°F Cut into bars.