Lemon Limoncello Bars

We had a fight this morning, the lemon bars and I. They didn't want to come out of the pan with the crust intact. So I will suggest one thing for this recipe that I did not do, please please use parchment paper on the bottom of your baking pan! It will make it so much easier to cut these kick-butt lemon bars into those cute little triangles.

I have to admit that I do not like lemon or lime flavored baked goods, just not my thing. So after making anything citrus flavored my husband has to try it and let me know how they turn out. He was more than thrilled to have to eat a lemon bar with breakfast this morning, so much so that I just had to try a little sugar dusted corner of one. These babies are gooooooood, I would eat more if I didn't make them for Father's Day.

My dad used to take me to this little town of Elsah, Illinois and we would go the town's restaurant and bakery and get some famous black-bottom pie and he would get lemon bars to go. Unfortunately this bakery closed after the floods in 1993, but I was lucky enough to score their cookbook on ebay, The Elsah Landing Cookbook. Unfortunately, again, the lemon bar recipe didn't make the cut for the cookbook! So I searched for a recipe similar to what I can remember as a kid. I found Smitten Kitchen's version of Barefoot Contessa's recipe and it sounded like a match, plus I added a little limoncello to mix it up. So Happy Father's Day to all you citrus loving dads!

Lemon Limoncello Bars

Crust:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt

Lemon Filling:

6 large eggs, at room temperature

2 and 1/2 cup granualted sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tbsp grated lemon zest

3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup limoncello

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and line 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper. For the crust, cream butter and sugar till smooth. In a separate bowl whisk flour and salt, then add to butter mixture just until combined. Dump the dough onto a floured surface and gather into a ball. Flatten dough into pan, building up on the edges. Chill if time permits. Bake the crust for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Let crust cool on wire rack.

For the filling, whisk together eggs, sugar, flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, and limoncello. Pour filling into cooled crust and bake for 35 minutes. The filling should be set at this point. Let cool at room temperature, cut, and dust with confections' sugar.

Those poor little abused lemons, skinned and drained.

I let my bars cool to room temperature and then left them in the refrigerator overnight to ease the cutting. If you want to make these without the limoncello, just replace it with additional fresh squeezed lemon juice or you might even try some lime juice. I think this has inspired me for more fruit inspired bar cookies. Anyone have a good Strawberry or Blackberry recipe they want to share?

I was able to use this morning's natural sunlight to take pictures instead of the usual late night ugly kitchen lighting. I think they turned out a bit better. I appreciate all the tips that everyone has offered towards making better photos, please keep 'em coming!