Lemons!

It seems that spring has sprung.  The wildflowers have come (and almost gone), we have great greens in the farmers market, along with good tomatoes (OK, so the seasons are a bit odd compared to most the world).  It’s also the time when everyone with lemon trees are trying to unload lemons.  If you are fortunate enough to have friends, neighbors, or anonymous people at work leaving bags of lemons around, grab some while you can.  You can use in salads and dips (see some recipes from last spring), but if you have more, try some lemon bars.  This is based on a recipe from epicurious.com, but based on the many reviewer comments, I increased the amount of filling, and added the zest.  They go together pretty quickly. Make this and you will be very popular - there's much too much to eat it all yourself!

Lemon Bars

Shortbread base:
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter
2 cups flour
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt

Topping:6 eggs
2 to 2 ¼ cup sugar
Zest (finely grated) from 3-4 lemons
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice (4 to 6 lemons)
½ cup flour
¼ cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line bottom and sides of 9x13 pan with parchment paper. (Easiest to use 2 pieces, one lengthwise and one cross wise, OK if corners are not quite covered.)
Cut butter into ½-inch pieces. In food processor, process all shortbread ingredients until mixture begins to form small lumps. Sprinkle mixture into prepared pan and with a metal spatula press evenly onto bottom.  Bake shortbread until golden, about 20 minutes. 

While shortbread is baking, prepare topping:  whisk together eggs, granulated sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl until well combined. Stir in lemon juice and flour.   Pour topping over the hot shortbread, turn down oven to 300F, and bake for about 30 minutes.  Topping should be set (i.e. not jiggle if you gently shake the pan… cook a few more minutes if it does).  Cool completely in the pan, then keep in the refrigerator (covered).  To serve: you should be able to pop the entire bar out of the pan (loosen the corners if needed, consider these the cook’s share).  Place on cutting board, and cut into squares.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.