Lemon Bars on the North Fork

It would appear that I stalk the Barefoot Contessa. Lately, it seems she is really my "go to" chef. When my friend from work, Sam, told me about his wife, Lisa's yummy lemon bars, I was intrigued. I'm not much of a lemon curd kind of girl, but I trust Sam's taste and it was a safe call since Ina has no bad recipes. I was so excited to whip out my new white Artisan KitchenAid mixer that my mom & dad bought me on E-Bay for my shower! I made these lemon bars to take out to Lee's CEO's house in Southold on the Eastern end of Long Island for his annual 4th of July party. We hung out all day on a beautiful patio overlooking the water and ate yummy hot dogs for lunch and 1 lb lobsters for dinner ! When I got to dessert, I found my lemon bars on the buffet, VICTORY ! Amongst all the chaos, my lemon bars found their spot among many berry cheese pies. Thanks to Lisa & Sam for a great recommendation !

Lemon Bars

For the crust
1/2 lb unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/8 tsp kosher salt

For the filling
6 extra large eggs at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tbsp lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup all purpose flour

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (the white flat one). Combine the flour and salt, and, with the mixer on low, add the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well floured board and roll into a ball.
Flatten the dough with floured hands and press into a 9 x 13 x 2 inch deep baking sheet, building up a 1/2 inch edge on all sides. Chill. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. Leave the oven on.

For the filling, whisk together eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into triangles (makes 40 triangles or 20 squares) and dust with sifted confectioners' sugar (this is icing sugar if you're Canadian).

My favorite tool for this recipe is the Microplane Zester, a $10 tool that is so easy to use.
It zests limes & lemons, minces ginger and garlic, etc....If you have a juicer, use it...I didn't, but I will use it next time.

The crust is so yummy.