Liqueured Lemon Bars

So I was shopping in a market they have in Atlanta with exceptionally fresh, and exceptionally expensive produce, and they had a basket of beautiful lemons - ON SALE! So at 98 cents/lb., I couldn't resist.

A great way to showcase beautiful lemons is with lemon bars. I'm not going to lie and tell you that lemon bars can only be made with really fresh, beautiful lemons such as those pictured left. But if you can, look for thin-skinned lemons that are round and clean looking. A lot of standard grocery store lemons have a really thick skin and pith, and will probably be more sour. It might have something to do with the variety that is available but that extends beyond my lemon knowledge. You should be able to find these types of lemons at a specialty food store, like Whole Foods or something similar. Or maybe your regular grocery store. I don't know.

The following is a recipe I developed to help cut down on the acidic taste a lot of lemon bars have. I thought if I added a bit of orange liqueur, the lemon flavor wouldn't be so potent and acidic. I may or may not have succeeded, but they came out pretty good anyway so whatever. If you really don't have orange liqueur and don't want to buy any, just add more lemon juice. It doesn't really matter (especially if you have good lemons!). But really, though, these lemon bars are rich. Small portions are completely sufficient.


Lemon Bars with Orange Liqueur

For the crust:
1.5 sticks butter (chilled)
2 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg yolk

For the filling:
3/4 c. fresh lemon juice (about 4 good lemons)
3 tbsp orange liqueur
2 tbsp lemon zest (from 4 lemons)
1 3/4 c. sugar
4 eggs
1/4 c. flour

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the butter into cubes and mix with dry ingredients to form moist crumbs. Mix in the egg yolk to form dough. (Can use stand mixer, egg beater, or hands. Whatever works for you.)

2. Press the dough into the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 casserole dish, and bake about 25-30 mins, or until the edges begin to brown. Let cool about 30 mins. Leave the oven on.

3. Whisk together the lemon juice, liqueur, zest, sugar, eggs, and flour. Pour onto the cooled crust, and bake about 25 mins or until the filling looks set and a light "crust" has formed.

4. Let cool, then place in refrigerator. Dust with powdered sugar when bars have cooled completely. Store in the refrigerator, sealed, for no more than one week.

Yields: about 15 bars, depending on how big you cut them.