Food on Friday 2: Lemon Bars

This summer I was on a bit of a lemon bar kick.  I had a really good mini one at landmarc as part of their dessert sampler in February and that taste just haunted me.  It was sweet, but also tart, and refreshing, and just PERFECT.

 

On a subsequent trip to landmarc in late August.

Lemon bar on far left.

So as befits me, I used the interweb to locate a lemon bar recipe.  I found one called the "Best Lemon Bars."  Clearly, I had to try this.  I'm not a huge fan of mistakes or sub-par "best" so I actually read through ALL 700 or so of the reviews to see what tweaks were suggested and which ones worked.

The ingredients.

Tweaks I used in the crust:

1.  Used a total of 1/3 cup of flour and 2/3 cup of sugar

2.  Added 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp vanilla (also the leftover coconut flakes - less than 1/2 a cup?)

Tweaks I used in the filling:

1. Used 1 1/4 cups of lemon juice

 

Finished product

I thought the ratio of filling to crust (about 1:1) was just right.  But my mom preferred less crust.  I actually halved the crust the 2nd time I made this - but that proved to be disastrous for me.  I was using a springform pan and with the crust so thin and the filling so watery - it leaked through the bottom and I had to create a makeshift foilanyway it was a mess.  If I were to do it with half the crust again I'll just use a regular pan lined with too-big parchment paper (to make it easier to lift out).

I was surprised at how much my parents like this.  I thought it'd be for me and my sister only but they really liked how refreshing the combination of sugar and lemon was.

I also brought a whole box of these to a bridesmaid dress fitting and forgot I brought them.  And ate the whole box myself the next day... true confessions.

A teeny tiny snack for my sister who was studying for some cuh-razy exam.