Weddings are for the birds.
Well, really, they’re for … hmmm, i’m not entirely sure WHO they’re for. The bride is a ball of anxiety. The groom is worrying about the bride. And the parents are worrying about all the family coming in from afar.
This week, the wedding of Chris’ elder daughter marks the end of the Year of Weddings for the two of us. And Chris’ house is getting busier by the day as relatives arrive and to-do lists grow.
(I’m truly happy to see everyone for such a joyous occasion. Truly. But it’s still a lot.)
Throughout the season, we both have taken solace in baking … sometimes complicated, technique-driven delectables that demand focus help to keep us from completely losing our shizzle. Other times, being able to present a plateful of tasty treats at the snap of a finger is just what we all need to keep our sanity.
This is one of the latter.
Whether you’re baking for a bridal shower, for your family or best friends, or just for your own peace-of-mind, these sweet treats are dead-easy and perfect for every occasion!
Lovely Little Lemon Bars
A dead-easy pickmeup any time of year!
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Cooling 30 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr
Shortbread Crust
- 2 cups almond flour
- 6 Tbsp sugar
- 3 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 Tbsp butter cold, diced
Lemon Filling
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp salt
- powdered sugar for dusting
For the crust:
Preheat your oven to 350 (adjust for your oven -- my convection oven runs a bit hot, so I actually drop it by about 10 degrees or my crust gets a little dark ... and as you can see, i forgot to do that this time....they're still tasty as can be, but just a little uneven.)
Prepare an 8x8 baking pan ... butter, non-stick spray, buttered parchment...you do you. I use avocado oil spray because it's neutral-flavored, i'm lazy, and it works great.
Mix all the dry ingredients for the crust together. If you're feeling strong, do it in a bowl. If you're feeling lazy, blitz them together in the food processor with the blade attachment.
Cut in the COLD butter ... with a pastry cutter if you're feeling invincible and with really short blitzes in the food processor if you want the easy route -- just don't run it long enough in the processor for the butter to warm up too much. You want it to be kind of a crumbly meal texture.
Press the mealy mixture into an even base in the bottom of the pan and working it up the sides of the pan about a half inch, creating a shell for the filling.
Blind-bake the crust about ten minutes until it starts to brown.
For the Filling:
While the crust bakes, combine the filling ingredients until everything is smooth. (super-hard, this step.....)
When the crust comes out of the oven, pour the filling misxure into the hot crust, then pop it back in the oven until it sets ... somewhere around 15 minutes, but start checking early.
If the crust is getting too brown before the filling is set, you can make a little shield of aluminum foil and gently wrap the crust edges with it. (I clearly did not do that, hence the tip. 🤗)
When it's done, cool the bars to room temperature on a rack, then cut them into 16 squares. (4x4 is easy and creates loads of yummy edge pieces that can be picked up and eaten over the kitchen sink not that I'd ever do that, right? but again, you do you.)
Dust them with powdered sugar for that extra little touch of class.
If somehow you manage to have some leftover, keep them in the fridge, covered with saran wrap. They'll keep a few days, although I can't say i've ever had them last long enough to know how long.
