Lemon Bars

When life gives you lemons…

… make lemon bars!

Life has been throwing lemons at me left, right and center. Jokes on you because I’m going to use the lemons to make more desserts! Ha!

I’ve been on “summer vacay” for a week now, but I don’t feel relaxed at all. This has probably been the longest week of my life. Job hunting is soooo tiring, it drags my days into weeks. I swear I’ve been at it for a month! I started to feel really discouraged when I didn’t hear back from all the places that I applied to. But yesterday, I decided to take a break from interviews and handing in resumes and that’s when I finally realized I’ve only been looking for a job for a couple days! I’m impatient like that 😛 And I thought that I must’ve applied to at least 10 different places by now but turns out I’ve only applied to 6 jobs and I heard back from 5 of them! I don’t know what my deal was, but I was just so busying prepping Q&A for interviews, writing resumes and looking for jobs that I lost track of time. I was consumed in it. 

I got a job offer today (finally!) and it felt so good! I may or may not have skipped my way out of the place after my interview. And I may or not may have called my sister and twinner as soon as I was out of sight from my future boss. I couldn’t even make out words because I was so excited, all I did was squeal and laugh uncontrollably. Sadly, the laughter continued even when I went on the bus, now even more people think that I’m weird 😛

I have yet to accept the job because I’m waiting for another. Don’t you hate it when this happens? What if the second job never gets back to me and I end up losing the first job?! What if I accept the first job and then the second job gets back to me the next day?! I can’t quit the one I just accepted, it’s so unprofessional! Oh and besides these two, I have a third employer who wants an interview tomorrow. I have weaved a very tangled web, and I need to make some decisions asap! If you’ve been reading for awhile, you’ll know that I’m the best at being indecisive. 

Okay so maybe these aren’t life ruining problems, but I’m a perfectionist and I expect life to always work out for me. So whenever I encounter a tiny problem, it feels like the END OF THE WORLD for me. Another problem of mine is that I’m never satisfied with what I have. This morning, before the job offer, I told myself that I needed to rock the interview because I HAVE TO HAVE THAT JOB. Now that I got accepted for the position, I don’t really want it anymore. I have issues 🙁

Sorry for the essay, I guess I just needed a lame excuse to explain my absence from the blog 😛 Without further ado, I present to you LEMON BARS!!!!! These were super easy to make and so good! Warning: the lemon custard topping was SUPER sour. I swear, my mom’s face stayed wrinkled up for about 10 minutes.

Lemon Bars

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar (2 oz/55 g)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (7 1/2 oz/215 g)
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (6 oz/170 g) (I used salted)
• 1/2 cup pine nuts (2 oz/55g) (optional)

For the filling:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (2 1/2 oz/70 g)
• 2 1/4 cups sugar (1 pound/455 g) (I used 1 3/4 cups)
• 1 cup plus 2 tbsp lemon juice (9 oz/28o ml) (I used 1 cup)
• lemon zest, grated from 1 small lemon (I zested 2 lemons)
• 6 large whole eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• salt pinch
• confectioners’ sugar for topping

How To

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and butter/spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

2. To make the crust: sift the confectioners’ sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Stir in the flour. Add the butter and pine nuts (if using) and beat on low speed just until a smooth dough forms.

3. Press the dough evenly into the pan and allow it to come up about a 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan. 

4. Bake the crust until it is a deep golden brown, about 25-35 minutes.

5. To make the filling: While the crust is baking sift the flour into a mixing bowl and whisk in the sugar until blended. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir to dissolve the sugar. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the whole eggs and egg yolk with the salt. Add the eggs to the lemon juice mixture and whisk until well mixed.

5. Once the crust is ready pour the filling directly into the pan. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. and bake just until the center of the custard is set, about 30 to 40 minutes.

6. Let cool completely on a wire rock, then cover and chill well before cutting. Cut into squares and dust the top with confectioners’ sugar, if desired. They will keep in an airtight container or well covered in the baking dish in the refrigerator for up to 4 days

Source: Lemons and Anchovies