Lemon and Lime Bars

I’m not sure why I was on such a citrus kick this holiday season. For some reason I couldn’t get lemon bars out of mind. I don’t think I’ve ever made them before and probably the last time I had a lemon bar was like 10 years ago. But I was seriously craving that tart bite. I also thought making lemon bars was really complicated, but quite frankly, it’s not.

I decided to make both lemon bars and lime bars which just meant switching out lemon juice for lime juice (surprise!). I made both batches in less than an hour. After they were finished baking, I gave them a quick dusting of powdered sugar and then took great pleasure in cutting them into perfectly measured squares. In the end, they were exactly what I was craving. Each square was perfect balance of sweetness and tartness and were a bit refreshing amongst the piles of chocolate cookies and rich desserts of the holiday season.

Lemon or Lime Bars

adapted from Allrecipes.com

 For the crust

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour

For the filling

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup lemon juice or lime juice
• Food coloring optional
• powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 2 cups of flour. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 pan.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the crust is firm and golden. Remove from oven and set aside to cool a bit while you make the filling.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1/4 cup of flour. Whisk in the eggs and the juice. If making lime bars, you may want to add a few drops of green food coloring to make it a pale green. Pour the mixture of the crust.

Bake for 20 minutes. The bars will firm up as the cool. Dust with powdered sugar and cut into squares.