Someone at work was highly generous and brought in a near tree’s worth of Meyer lemons. Of course I grabbed some up and in return made lemon bars to share with my coworkers. Since then, everyone has been asking me for the recipe and here it is!

This is a recipe I’ve been making for years and years and years and years. A friend of mine loves them and I always bake him a batch when we meet up. A coworker’s picky daughter ate it and loved it, so that’s like an extra thumbs up of approval!

I call them Electric Lemon Bars because of the bright yellow coloring. And with a shortbread crust, it feels like you get two desserts: a cookie and a pie! Sort of. Okay, enough rambling, here’s the recipe…This is for an 8×8 or a 9×9 square pan, but can easily be doubled to make a 9×13 pan.

Electric Lemon Bars

Ingredients for the crust:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup confectioner’s (powdered) sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 pinch salt

Ingredients for the filling:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup white sugar (add 2 more tablespoons if using regular/sour lemons)
• zest and juice from one medium sized lemon
• ¼ of a cup all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch salt

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the powered sugar, flour, and salt. Then using your hands, mix in the butter and vanilla extract until the dough comes together and sticks easily.
3. Press the dough into an even layer on the bottom of a greased 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to turn slightly brown.
5. Remove the pan from the oven and set aside to cool for at least 10 minutes.
6. While the crust is cooling, place the eggs in another mixing bowl and use a whisk to mix them for about a 1 minute.
7. Add in the white sugar and whisk together for about 5 minutes or until frothy.
8. Mix the lemon juice and zest into the egg mixture until well combined
9. Whisk in flour, baking powder, and salt until combined and smooth with no lumps.
10. Pour the egg mixture over the cooled crust.
11. Gently place the baking dish back into the oven and continue to bake (at 350° F) for another 25 minutes. The top should be a nice golden brown and there should be no wiggling when the pan is moved.
12. Let the bars cool in the pan.
13. Optional, but extra delicious step: Let the lemon bars chill in the fridge overnight.
14. Once cooled, cut into pieces and top with additional powdered sugar.
15. Eat it because it’s not for decoration!