Lemon Bars

I really like lemon bars.  They are so refreshing and are not heavy at all!  (at least not to me).  The shortbread-like crust with the moist top layer is such a perfect combination.
I can't bet enough lemon bars, but sadly, its quite hard to find!  When have you seen lemon bars sold at a bakery?

I guess I am stuck making them myself!
It just so happened that I had 1.75 lemons leftover in my house from when I was sick with a cold last week and was living off of hot lemon water.  This is the perfect way to use up the extra lemons!

For my lemon bars, I made a small batch (I used a small non-standard baking dish, that is roughly the dimensions of 5"x4") because I am the only one in the house that eats lemon bars!  If you plan on having at least 2 people eat lemon bars, then you should probably double the recipe and use an 8x11 baking pan. 

I prefer my lemon bars extra "lemony", so I used a lot of juice and a lot of zest.
Here were my proportions:

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
  
• 2 eggs
• ~3/4  cups white sugar (I used a big, heaping, 3/4cup (not a flat 3/4cup) to offset all the lemon juice! :))
• 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 1.75 lemons, juiced  (or use 2 small lemons).
  (Did you know:  You can get more juice out of your lemon by microwaving it for 30 seconds, then pressing + rolling the lemon on the countertop using the palm of your hand.))
• Zest of 1 lemon
  (Please do this properly and use a zester or microplane to zest the lemon.  It pains me to see zesting go wrong)
• Powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a bowl, blend together softened butter, 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar. Press firmly into your baking pan.
3. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden.  I like my crust extra crispy!
4. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 3/4 cups sugar and 1/8 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs, zest, and lemon juice. 
5. Pour the mixture over the baked crust.
6. Bake for an additional 30 minutes in the preheated oven. 
7. Let the lemon bars cool, and it will firm up.  Cut the lemon bars when its completely cooled and sprinkle powdered sugar on top.