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Luscious Lemon Squares

Source of Recipe

From "Once Upon A Chef" by Jennifer Segal


Recipe Introduction

"One day, my dear friend Melissa and I got on the subject of lemon squares. Neither of us had a go-to recipe, so we decided to hit the kitchen and create one of our own. Well, we must have made at least 200 lemon squares. After testing every possible variation, we came up with this be-all and end-all recipe. The squares have a crisp shortbread crust and luscious lemon filling. They're not too tart and not too sweet—they're just right."

List of Ingredients

For the crust:
â—¦ ¾ cup all-purpose flour
â—¦ ½ cup confectioners' sugar, plus more to dust the finished bars
â—¦ ¼ cup cornstarch
â—¦ ½ teaspoon salt
â—¦ ½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces

For the lemon filling:
â—¦ 3 eggs
â—¦ 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
â—¦ 5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from 2 lemons
â—¦ 1 tablespoon lemon zest
â—¦ 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour


Recipe

To make the crust:
Preheat the oven to 350° F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Cover a 9-inch square baking pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil, allowing 2 inches of overhang on all sides to help removal from the pan. Spray the foiled pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Mix for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press firmly with your fingers into an even layer, building up a thin ½-inch edge around the sides (this keeps the filling from spilling beneath the crust). Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Bake the crust until lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

While the crust is baking, make the filling:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, lemon juice and zest, and flour. When the crust comes out of the oven, give the lemon mixture a quick final stir and then pour it over the top of the crust. Immediately return the pan to the oven and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, or until the topping is set and firm. Let cool on a rack to room temperature, at least 30 minutes, then cover and chill in the refrigerator until cold (the bars are much easier to cut when cold).

To cut, use the foil overhang to lift the baked square out of the pan and onto a cutting board. Loosen the foil from the edges of the crust, using a knife if necessary. Using a sharp knife, trim the edges off, then cut into 2-inch squares. Use a fine-mesh sieve to dust the squares with confectioners' sugar. Store the finished lemon squares in the refrigerator and serve chilled.

Makes sixteen 2-inch squares