Lemon Squares

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ¾ cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes (not too small)
• ½ cup icing (confectioner's) sugar*
• ½ teaspoon salt

Lemon filling

• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• Icing sugar to dust (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
2. Line a 9 x 12 baking pan with parchment so it overlaps the edges of the baking pan and grease the bottom lightly with butter.
3. Prepare the crust by putting the flour, icing sugar and salt into a medium bowl.
4. Cut the cold butter cubes into the mixture by using either 2 knives or a pastry blender until you have a coarse crumb-like mixture. Make sure that there are still small pieces of cold butter throughout as this is what keeps the crust tender and flaky.
5. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the parchment-lined pan.
6. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for approximately 20 minutes until lightly golden.
7. Remove from oven and set aside (keep oven on).
8. Make the lemon filling by placing all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and mixing well.
9. Pour the ingredients over the hot crust and place back into oven for an additional 20 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Once cooled, lift the lemon bar out of the pan by using the parchment paper.
11. Cut into squares and dust with icing sugar (optional).

Enjoy!