Lemon Pie Bars

Okay, so this is one of those recipes that nearly everyone loves since it’s both tangy from the lemon juice and peel and sweet.

I served this when I had my brother Shlomo visiting from the States (we missed you Dorie!!) and I made an impromptu barbecue for him, my other brother Avi and SIL Diane and my momma. So you are serving bbq foods which are not exactly light and lively and you want a dessert that’s not too heavy to end the meal with. This really fits the bill. In this vein, it is excellent at the end of Shabbat and holiday meals for the same reason, not too heavy and if people just want a smidge you just cut a smaller square. Nobody says no to this.

It’s got a crust which you make in a snap and a very liquidy filling. No worries, it firms up when baked and there you go.

It can be made either in a mixer or food processor. The only diff is if made in the food processor, your butter/marg stays cold right out of the fridge, if in a mixer, take it out to soften at least an hour. This time I made it in a food processor, so onward.

First preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C.

Place the crust ingredients in the food processor, flour, powdered sugar (don’t sub regular sugar it changes the texture) and the salt.

Give it a buzz and then place the cold cubed butter/marg in and whiz just till crumbs form and then whiz again till a loose ball of dough forms.

Scoop out all the dough, including any small bits, and put in a lightly greased 9 x 13 rectangular pan. Pat all over bottom of pan and a bit up the sides like so:

The pic doesn’t show it so well (sorry) but it’s a bit up the sides. Good. Pop into your now hot oven and bake for 20 minutes. Whilst it’s baking, make your filling. I used the same unwashed bowl of food processor (or mixer if you prefer) just make sure you got all the dough bits. Whiz or beat the sugar, eggs, lemon juice and grated peel, baking powder (yup, it’s part of the filling, no mistake there) and salt till well combined.

When the crust has baked for the 20 minutes, remove from oven (it won’t be brown it will be light in color, that’s correct) and immediately pour the quite liquidy filling over the the crust.

Note the filling is not sloshing all over but is just more or less covering the bottom crust. That’s fine, you’ve done it right and the baking powder will fluff it up, so to speak.

Return to oven right away and continue baking for an additional 25 – 30 minutes or until center does not jiggle and is nicely browned on top.

Let the pie bars cool completely on the wire rack and when really cooled, sift the powdered sugar on top. Cut into generous squares and serve.

Lemon Pie Bars

For the Crust:

2 cups (240 grams) flour
1 cup (225 grams) butter/margarine
1/2 cup (50 grams) powdered (icing/confectioner’s) sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Filling:

2 cups (400 grams) white sugar (you cannot use brown sugar for this recipe)
4 tablespoons lemon juice, preferably fresh
grated peel/zest of a whole lemon
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
powdered sugar for sifting on top

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C.

In food processor place flour, powdered sugar and buzz together. Add COLD butter/marg and pulse till crumbs form and then pulse a few more times just till a ball of dough forms. If making in a mixer, soften the butter/marg and proceed as above. Remove the crust ingredients, getting all the bits out and pat into a lightly greased 9 x 13 rectangular pan, patting a bit of crust up the sides of the pan, about 1/2 an inch worth or so. Place in the hot oven to bake for 20 minutes.

In the same mixing bowl or food processor bowl (no need to clean just get any bits of dough out) whiz together or beat together the filling ingredients, the sugar, lemon juice, peel, eggs, baking powder (yes, you need it), and the salt till fully combined. Remove crust from oven after the 20 minutes (it will be light in color) and pour the liquid mixture over the crust. Place back in oven and continue baking for about 25-30 minutes or till no longer jiggly in the middle and top is nicely browned. Let cool in the pan on wire rack. When truly cooled, sift the powdered sugar on top. Serve in squares.