Although most lemon deserts conjure up images of springtime, it sure feels like spring here in LA so why the hell not?!  We still had a plethora of lemons available from our lemon tree grab bag and we just can’t drink any more damn lemon water.  So onto the squares! Or bars! Whatever!

Now, we actually had a go to lemon bar recipe that always gets rave reviews from boyfriends and coworkers but we decided to try a new recipe…the verdict? We both favor the original recipe (which is also less time consuming), but either one will be a crowd pleaser.  

And we are so totally over dusting lemmie squares with powdered sugar.  Well that’s not entirely true, if you’re serving them at home dust at the very last minute. But if you’re taking them outside of your kitchen bubble,  the sugar absorbs into the squares and it doesn’t look as pretty! So either bring your tiny sifter and bag of powdered sugar in your purse or use a simple lemon glaze instead (3 T lemon juice + 1 1/2 C powdered sugar + some lemon zest.)

The New Lemon Bar Recipe.

Old Recipe:

Shortbread Base:

11/2 Sticks (3/4C) unsalted butter

2 C flour

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cut butter into 1/2-inch pieces. In a food processor process all ingredients until mixture begins to form small lumps. Sprinkle mixture into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan and with a metal spatula press evenly onto bottom. Bake shortbread in middle of oven until golden, about 20 minutes. While shortbread is baking, prepare topping.

Topping:

4 eggs

1 1/2 C sugar

3/4 C fresh lemon juice

1/3 flour

3 Tablespoons confectioners’ sugar

HOT shortbread base

In a bowl whisk together eggs and granulated sugar until combined well and stir in lemon juice and flour. Pour lemon mixture over hot shortbread. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F. and bake confection in middle of oven until set, about 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan and cut into 24 bars. Bar cookies keep, covered and chilled, 3 days. Sift confectioners’ sugar over bars or glaze with lemon glaze.

That’s right. You heard us. Now pull your head out of your ass and make these cookies.

For the Cookies:

2 C all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter @ room temperature

1 C sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. First things first. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

2. Whisk together first 4 ingredients in a bowl or rounded plate with high sides. 

3. Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. And for reals, let it get light and fluffy. Don’t just mix it until combined. Don’t be an asshole.

4. Add egg, vanilla and lemon juice. Beat until combined.

5. Beat in flour mixture in 2 or 3 additions. Mix on low and BEWARE FLOUR STORM. 

6. Drop by heaping Tablespoons, spaced 1 inch apart, onto prepared baking sheets.

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes (ours took almost exactly 15, so keep an eye on those little monsters) ROTATE sheets halfway through cook time, front to back and top to bottom (Oooh sexxxy.)

8. Cool on wire rack then glaze. 

For the Lemon Glaze:

2 C confectioners sugar

2 Tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

1/3 C fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Mix all this together until smooth. Write obscenities on cookies if desired. If you’re at a loss for a obscenity, leave a comment on this post and we will be happy to help you insult someone. 

We prefer very lemony cookies. The lemon juice and zest have been increased slightly to create a more satisfying mouth puckering sensation. If you prefer a more subtle lemon flavor, decrease the zest and/or juice. And the glaze really makes these cookies totes bad ass, so don’t get lazy and skip it. 

**Recipe note: Spoiler Alert! We didn’t write this recipe. Martha Stewart did! Although we have made several edits to the original recipe, we gotta give credit where credit is due.  And also, we don’t want a cease and desist letter from the Martha Empire. You don’t wanna mess with her legal team.