I admit, in the ignorance of my youth, I turned up my nose on lemon bars and other lemon-based desserts. I mean, it's a baked treat, for goodness' sake, why muck it up with tartness? [Silly me, what's sugar for?!] I remember buying a tiny bar in the office cafeteria, you know, try-try lang. Boy, was it SOOOO GOOD!!! So good that I bought four or five more. Okay, fine, aaminin ko na, seven bars! Seven more bars of happiness and sunshine! But it was pretty expensive for something that was smaller than a matchbox. Fifteen pesos, if I remember it right. I saw a recipe in a local daily and tried it. It was by Crukitchen, and it was so easy to bake, and delicious, of course.
Crukitchen Lemon Bars
2 c all-purpose flour
1 c powdered sugar
1 c butter, melted
4 medium eggs
2 c white granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
¼ c all-purpose flour
½ c lemon juice
Additional powdered sugar for dusting
1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and line with waxed paper. Grease waxed paper. (Or use nonstick baking paper.)
2. Combine flour, powdered sugar and butter in a bowl. Mix until very smooth and evenly yellow in color. Pat into prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until slightly golden.
3. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, white sugar, baking powder, flour and lemon juice until fluffy. Pour over the hot crust.
4. Return crust to oven and bake for 20-25 minutes more or until light golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack. Dust the top with powdered sugar then cut into bars.
