Meyer Lemon Bars

Greetings!

I've become quite enchanted by Meyer Lemons lately, they're less sour than a regular lemon, and have a unique flavor that I have fallen in love with! They are wonderful when sliced thin and added to tea, and even more delightful when used in recipes such as this one... and then served with tea!

This recipe is a recipe that came from joyofbaking.com originally, and was posted to my tea group as a recipe to try... and am I glad I did. Of course, I substituted Meyer Lemons in the recipe so I altered the recipe slightly for the change up in lemons, as well as some improvements that I felt the recipe needed. Before trying this recipe, the only lemon bars I had made were from a mix, and let me tell you, if you liked the bars from the mix, you're going to LOVE making them from scratch! So much better! No contest! Even if you don't like the bars from the mix... try them from scratch, you won't be disappointed! Yummy!!!

Meyer Lemon Bars

Crust:
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup unbleached, all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8x8 square (or similar) pan with non-stick spray. In the bowl of your mixer, cream butter until fluffy, and then add the sugar, creaming the two together until very light and fluffy. Add flour and salt, and mix until the dough comes together.

Press dough into square pan, working up the edges a little.

Bake about 20 minutes, until edges start to become golden brown. Remove crust from oven, and allow to cool slightly while you work on the filling.

Filling: (note: wash lemons, and remove zest before juicing the lemons. Only remove the zest, not the white pith)
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/8 tsp salt
Zest & Juice from 4 Meyer Lemons
2 tbsp unbleached, all purpose flour

In a clean bowl of your mixer, beat together the sugar and the eggs until light and the sugar has dissolved. Add the salt and the zest and juice from the lemons, and mix until blended. (Note: the zest from the lemons tends to cling to the beaters, so, be sure to clean them off well with a rubber spatula). Fold in the flour.

Pour filling over the slightly cooled crust, and put into the oven for 20 minutes, or until the center is set. I usually turn the oven off after the 20 minutes, and allow the pan to sit in the oven for another 5 minutes to ensure a set custard.

Remove the bars from the oven, and allow to cool.

Sprinkle cooled bars with a little confectioners sugar or with a little extra lemon zest, if desired.

Cut into bars, and serve. The crust is a bit crumbly, so be careful getting that first bar out!

Hope you'll try this recipe... let me know how yours turn out! I've made this recipe twice now, and my family devours them! Make them an extra special treat by serving them with some of your favorite tea!

~Anne

My favorite cookies

When I was young, my best friend, Paula, introduced me to her favorite cookies, and they quickly became my favorite too. They were Chocolate Chip Meringue cookies: slightly crisp, airy, light, and delicious!

I still love these cookies, and now that I have a new stand mixer, I can make them easily. Here's the basic recipe:

Meringue Cookies

3 Large Egg Whites (don't use the pasturized egg whites in the carton)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 c superfine sugar (or Baker's Sugar)
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line cookie sheet with parchment (easy cleanup!).

In the bowl of your stand mixer, with whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until it begins to look foamy. Add the cream of tartar, and continue to beat on medium speed until you reach the soft peak stage. Add the sugar gradually, and continue to beat until the meringue forms stiff peaks. Add vanilla extract and continue to beat until sugar is completely dissolved. (you can test this by rubbing a small amount of the mixture in between your fingers, if it feels gritty, it isn't dissolved completely yet)

Now, I drop the meringue onto the parchment lined cookie sheets in mounds using two spoons. You can use this method, or you can put it in a pastry bag and pipe it into little peaks if you want to make them fancy. They don't need a lot of room in between cookies because they don't rise, but you do need enough room to allow proper air circulation.

Bake the meringues for about 1 1/2, and then turn off the oven. Leave the cookies in the warm oven to cool (I usually leave them in there overnight, but, 2 or 3 hours will be enough time). This allows the meringues to dry out and crisp up.

You're probably wondering what happened to the chocolate chips... well, one thing that I've discovered is that you can put all sorts of flavors into these cookies, and they'll turn out great.

• At Christmastime I'll add crushed candy canes and mini chocolate chips after I've beaten in the vanilla extract and I'll put these out for Santa.
• Instead of Vanilla Extract, I'll add Orange Extract and add mini chocolate chips. These make a delightful treat with tea!
• Chocolate chips, or mini chocolate chips, added after the vanilla extract step makes for a great fat-free alternative to the classic chocolate chip cookie.
• Try sprinkling on some almond slivers before baking.

These are just a few ideas.

What makes these so great is that they're fat free... so you can indulge a little bit without feeling too guilty about it!

A great Tea Time Treat!

~Anne