Lemon Squares

Someone asked me the other day for my lemon squares recipe.  I panicked for a moment, because I have tried about 10 different recipes and it took me a while to figure out which one she was talking about.  There are 8 different variations of lemon bars in "150 Delicious Squares" alone!  My Dad's favorite was always the recipe from the old Joy of Cooking (again with the old editions!).  But finally, here are the lemon squares I have made the most often in the last year or so. 

(From Company's Coming "150 Delicious Squares")

Lemon Squares

Bottom Layer:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

Second Layer:
2 eggs
3 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup coconut
1/4 tsp salt
grated lemon rind to taste  (I like to use about 1/2 - 3/4 of the lemon for a fairly tart square)

Icing:
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 Tbsp butter
4 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

1. (Bottom Layer) Mix flour and sugar together.  (And now this is the tricky part... ) 

Making sure your butter is at room temperature so its nice and easy to work with, drop it in small pats evenly over your dry mixture.  Take two butter knives and "cut" the butter into the flour by chopping the butter into smaller and smaller bits and working the dry ingredients into it gradually.  You want the end result to be mealy and crumbly.  This is a difficult procedure to explain and I am going to try and post a video up soon.  The secret to a good shortbread is in how you mix the ingredients together.

Press this mixture into a greased 9 x 9" pan.  Bake at 350F for 15-20 mins until dry and golden around the edges.

2. (Second Layer) Beat eggs slightly.  Stir in next 6 ingredients.  Spread over first layer.  Bake at 350F for about 30 mins until set in centre and light brown in colour.  Cool.

3.  Combine icing sugar, butter and lemon juice.  Beat well, adding more lemon juice a bit at a time as needed for an easy spreading consistency.  Spread over cooled bars.  Allow to set before cutting.