Lemon Squares
Ingredients
For the crust
12 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. table salt
For the lemon topping
2 eggs and 2 egg yolks, room temp.
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
*Powdered sugar, if desired
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Using a hand or stand mixer, whip butter for a couple minutes so it will combine better with the other ingredients
Mix the sugar, flour, and salt together, then add to the butter and mix together until your mixture resembles the texture of wet sand
Place the shortbread dough in a 8x8 inch baking pan lined with parchment paper
Spread the dough out with your hands and press into the pan
Poke the dough with a fork in several places so that it doesn’t puff up too much in the oven when baked
Bake crust for 20 minutes or until lightly browned
When the crust is baked through, place pan on a wire cooling rack to fully cool
Place the pan with the cooled shortbread crust on top of a baking sheet. This will make it easier to handle when sliding it in the oven
For the lemon topping, add eggs, egg yolks, and lemon juice to a mixing bowl. Whisk to combine
In a separate bowl, combine flour and sugar. Add eggs + lemon juice mixture to the dry mixture, and whisk together to combine
Pour lemon topping onto the cooled shortbread crust
Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. This will keep your lemon topping from overcooking
Bake lemon squares for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for an additional 10 minutes
Remove lemon squares from the oven and place baking pan back on the wire cooling rack for a half hour, then place the pan in the refrigerator for another hour
Remove pan from the fridge and dust with powdered sugar