Lemon bars check all of the boxes for a summertime dessert.

• Lemony? Check
• Sweet? Check
• Crisp bottom? Check
• Gooey top? Check
• Sticky fingers? Triple check (ok, that might not be a requirement, but it is going to happen so let’s just enjoy it)

You will be surprised at how easy these are to make, and the addition of thyme makes them sound very fancy.

Makes: however many pieces you can cut from an 8″ x 8″ square

Ingredients:

• Bottom crust
  • 1 cup AP flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• Lemon layer
  • 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
  • 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp lemon zest
  • 1 tbsp AP flour
  • 1 cup sugar
• Decoration (optional)
  • 1 tbsp powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Prepare crust
   • Preheat oven to 325 degrees f
   • Line 8″ x 8″ pan with parchment (this is important, these things like to stick!!)
   • Stir together flour (1 cup), sugar (1/4 cup), salt (1/2 tsp) and fresh thyme leaves (1 tsp)
   • Stir together vanilla extract (1 tsp) and melted butter (1/2 cup)
   • Stir flour and butter mixtures together
   • Press batter into the prepared pan, it is going to be thick
   • Poke a few holes into the batter with a fork
   • Bake for 20-25 minutes, until slightly browned around the edges
2. Prepare lemon layer
   • Stir together all ingredients thoroughly
   • As soon as the crust is baked, pour the lemon layer ingredients over top and return to the oven
   • Bake for about 15 minutes, until mostly set but still a little wiggly when you poke the side of the dish with the oven mitt
3. Decorate
   • Once cooled, dust evenly with powdered sugar.

Notes:

• If you aren’t sure if the crust is baked before adding the lemon layer, bake it more. No one likes a soggy bottom!
• Prepare the lemon layer in a glass bowl rather than a metal one, unless you like the taste of metal.
• You may get a bit of white stuff appearing on top of the lemon layer when you cook it. Don’t worry, it is just the eggs doing what eggs are going to do. A little extra powdered sugar will hide any problems if you don’t like the look of it.
• No last minute panics with these lemon bars – they are best served cold so you can make them in advance and store them in the fridge for a few hours (or a day) until they are ready to eat. You can also freeze them, just freeze them in a single layer and then put them in a container so you don’t end up with a delicious, lemony mess.