Lemon Raspberry Bars

A friend of mine (the same person who mentioned the Cookie Dough Cupcakes) was talking about bringing lemon bars to our last craft party. (Sidebar: Lisa, I just realized what you're doing, and you're very clever, mentioning things so that *I* then make them!) I think I started drooling at the mere thought of lemon bars.

When the idea of Lemon Week was born, I wanted to find a heavenly lemon bar recipe.

And find it I did.

My coworkers enjoyed these lemon raspberry bars last week at work. I HAD to get them out of the house before I devoured them all. One coworker called them "decadent" and said he could taste the butter in the crust. My husband has been asking for an entire batch for himself since he first tasted them. Coming from the guy who doesn't really partake in my baked goods (again, how did I end up with the one guy who is always watching his weight and doesn't want to eat all of my baked goods?), this was big.

Lemon Raspberry Squares

Ingredients:
1 3/4 c. plus 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp salt
16 Tbsp (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 tsp ice water, if needed
1 c. jam, such as raspberry
2 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp grated lemon zest
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 c. fresh lemon juice (oops, don't tell - mine wasn't fresh!)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

Place the 1 3/4 c. flour, 1/2 c. confectioners’ sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to blend. (I was tricky and just did this with my mixer - my new food processor is not close to big enough to handle these ingredients. The mixer did the trick!)


Add the butter and process until the dough begins to form a ball, adding the ice water if necessary.

Press the dough evenly over the bottom of the prepared baking pan.

Bake until the crust is lightly golden, about 20 minutes.

Let cool for at least 30 minutes, then evenly spread the jam over the crust.

In a bowl, whisk together the granulated sugar, the remaining 1/3 c. flour and the lemon zest.

Place the eggs in a large bowl and slowly add the flour mixture, beating with an electric mixer until well blended, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the lemon juice and mix to combine.

Pour the lemon mixture carefully over the raspberry jam layer, making sure to keep layers separate.



Bake until the lemon topping is just set, 25 to 30 minutes.

Let cool completely in the pan.


Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cut into squares with a serrated knife.

Place in a covered container and keep cool until ready to serve.

Source: Williams Sonoma via Good Things Catered