I had some lemons lying around and decided to try making lemon bars from scratch. Guess what?! This recipe is almost as easy as making them from a mix, but ever so much yummier. I got this from Martha Stewart's Cookies.
For the crust:
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, frozen, plus more for dish
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
¾ cup confectioner's sugar
¾ coarse salt
For the filling:
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
¾ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about four medium lemons)
¼ cup whole milk (I used skim w/a splash of half & half)
Confectioner's sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13x9 glass baking dish. Martha says to line it with parchment as well. I think she's parchment happy and didn't bother. My lemon bars turned out fine without it.
Make crust: Take the frozen butter and grate it into a bowl using the large holes on a cheese grater. Set aside. Whisk together the flour, confectioner's sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add in the butter and stir with a wooden spoon until combined and the mixture looks crumbly.
Press the mixture into the buttered 13x9 inch baking dish. Use your hands to make sure it is spread evenly across the bottom. The edges were slightly higher on mine, which led to a well forming in the middle. Not a total disaster, but it would have been better to make sure it was even. Put the pan with the crust in the freezer for 15 minutes to freeze the crust. Then bake until slightly golden, about 16 to 18 minutes. Leave oven on.
While that is baking, make the filling: Whisk together the lightly beaten eggs, granulated sugar, flour and salt until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and milk. Pour over hot crust.
Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake until filling is set and the edges are slightly golden brown, about 18 minutes. I had to cook mine an extra ten minutes until the middle fully set.
Let cool on a wire rack. Dust with confectioner's sugar and cut into 2 inch squares once completely cooled.
