Classic Lemon Bars

A not so secret thing about me: I'm not a huge lemon fan. Invariably, I would never pick lemon bars as my dessert of choice. So why the heck did I make them, then, you wonder? Well, I had a couple lemons sitting around, about ready to go to waste, and no, I was not going to stand for that! And, since certain people around here like shortbread and lemon, voila!

The craziest thing? I kind of like them! In small doses, ha. I mean eating a huge chunk of it is a little bit tart and whoa. Nonetheless, I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed these. The lemon flavor is really determined by your lemons. I would definitely recommend making sure they are nice and ripe and, if you can, organic is definitely best. Whatever you can get the most juice out of, for sure. 

Next confession: I kind of messed these up the first time I made them! Yes, it happens to everyone. The recipe I was following didn't say when exactly to pour the lemon topping onto the bars, just when they were warm out of the oven. Well, I did it too quickly!

Don't do it right when the crust gets out of the oven. I mean, you can, but the weirdest thing happened - my topping ended up being on the bottom. This seems like it would defy the laws of physics, but it happened. The lemon was on the bottom, the shortbread was on the top, and I was very confused. I assume it must've been able to pour straight through the shortbread while it was still very hot and not completely cooked together. So, I reflect this in my directions - let the crust sit for 5 minutes when you take it out of the oven, then pour your topping on before you put it back in the oven again. Got it? Good!

I definitely recommend these if you are a lemon fan. And even if you're a bit on the fence, you may give them a try, because I unexpectedly like them and am decidedly not a lemon fan at all! Also, they're really pretty easy. The only thing is that you do dirty a lot of utensils and whatnot with all of the zesting and juicing and whatnot. But so worth it.

Classic Lemon Bars
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 9 Pieces
Prep time: 00:10

Cook time: 00:18

Total time: 00:28

Printable Recipe

You can’t go wrong with classic lemon bars – sweet and tangy at the same time, perfect for even those who aren’t even huge lemon fans.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• pinch salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• zest and juice from two medium lemons
• 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

Instructions:

1. Place your oven rack in the upper third of your oven and preheat to 350°F. Grease an 8x8 baking pan and set aside for now.
2. To make the crust: In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in your flour and salt. Beat until it's incorporated, then press it down into your prepared pan. Pro Tip: get your hand wet so the dough doesn't stick to you. Bake for 15-18 minutes until the edges have just browned.
3. While that's baking, make your topping: In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until nicely combined and thick. Add in the flour, zest, and juice, and whisk until blended.
4. When the crust is done baking, let it sit for five minutes. Then, pour your topping on there. Stick that back in the oven and bake for another 18-20 minutes, until the edges have browned a tiny bit and it doesn't jiggle in the center when you move it.
5. Allow to cool completely in the pan. Slice into squares, and go to town. You can get fancy and dust with some powdered sugar if you like as well, but it's totally not necessary! 

Recipe adapted very slightly from Joy the Baker 

Shortbread Cookies

These cookies are no nonsense. For real, they don't take long at all to make, and use some very simple ingredients that most of you should already have available in your kitchen. You might call them...plain. Which is totally fine if all you want is a nice, sugary cookie with a bit of a crunch to it. Because that's what these Shortbread Cookies are - simple, easy, no fuss.

Of course, you can totally get fussy and dip them in some melted chocolate. That's totally up to you. You can also grind them up and use them as a base for a pie crust. Or even as a topping for something. Or you can just keep it simple and dip them in your tea or coffee, or just eat them straight up. They're pretty versatile that way.

To be perfectly honest, these cookies would not be my first choice when thinking up a cookie to make. However, certain people in my life like these plain jane type of cookies, with nary a drop of chocolate or fancy pants anything on them, so sometimes one must oblige such cravings. That's not to say that I don't like these or anything, or I wouldn't post about them here!

Also - have you noticed my new favorite plate to take photos with? Ha, it happens to be the plate that goes with a matching teacup, but it's perfect for pictures of small baked goods such as these cookies.

Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 scant cup cornstarch
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cooking Directions

1. Cream together your butter and sugar until thoroughly mixed. Sift in the flour, cornstarch, and salt, then blend that together using a pastry cutter until the mixture comes together. If it won't come together, you can add a couple more tablespoons butter.
2. Make that into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate that for 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 325F.
3. Roll your dough out on a lightly floured surface, and cut into rounds. Place a on a parchment or silicon-lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. They won't get brown, so don't overbake. You can get them pretty close together on the sheet as they don't expand a ton. 

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman 

Butter Tart Squares

I'm surprised I'd never really heard of these lovelies before. Apparently they are a Canadian invention, but in some ways they are a bit reminiscent of a pecan pie. The bars have a nice shortbread bottom and a gooey, caramel-like topping/filling. It's more like a filling, I guess, but it's weird for me to call it a filling when it's on top! 

Now, typically you also put raisins or even chopped walnuts in the top filling, but as I'm not a huge fan of either one, and did not have either one in the house when I decided to make these, I decided to just go with the plain filling. If you want something extra in the topping, definitely go ahead and add some raisins or nuts, probably around 2/3-1 cup would be a good amount.

These bars can be quite sweet. I didn't add any salt this time around, but adding about 1/8 teaspoon to both the shortbread and the topping might add an extra depth of flavor as well. They don't necessarily need it as they are certainly good on their own, but certainly it's not something I wouldn't consider and in fact did wonder if the recipe I was reading didn't add in salt because they had used salted butter instead of unsalted. Nonetheless, I decided to do it without salt this time, and they are definitely yummy.

What I like is that the bottom is a nice, firm, shortbread, but the top is straight out of gooey dessert heaven. Eating just the topping on its own, however, would be waaaaay too much, so this combo makes a lot of sense. Way to go, Canadians!

I would definitely make these again. They're super easy and with the way you can add different things into the topping makes it quite versatile. Certainly these are not the healthiest treat around, but that's why you only make a square pan of them instead of a 9x13 huge amount! I mean, duh.

Seriously, though, try these out if you enjoy a nice sugary dessert. I don't think you'll regret it!

Butter Tart Squares
Author: Jen @ Fresh From The…
Servings: 9 Pieces
Prep time: 00:10

Cook time: 00:35

Total time: 00:45

Printable Recipe

A delicious shortcake layer topped with what you might call a pecan pie filling without the pecans!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 ¼ cups packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
• 1 Tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a square 8 or 9 inch pan.
2. Mix together the flour, sugar and butter in either a food processor or with a pastry blender until nice and crumbly. Press that into your prepared pan. Bake for 10-13 minutes until light golden brown. Remove and let cool a few minutes while you get the rest ready.
3. Whisk together your eggs and brown sugar until well-blended. Stir in the butter, vinegar, vanilla and flour until it's all combined. Then, pour that over your base.
4. Bake for another 25-30 minutes until the bars are set and golden. To double check if they are set, you can jiggle the pan a bit. If the middle stays firm, you are good to go.
5. Take them out and let them cool completely. You can eat them warm, but they may seem overly sweet as compared to when they are cooled. Enjoy!

Recipe via Intimate Weddings

Brown Butter Cashew Shortbread

As soon as I said the name of this recipe out loud, my boyfriend said something like "that sounds amazing." And I have to agree, anything that has brown butter in cashews in it sounds pretty dang awesome. He is also a big fan of shortbread in general, and has been eating cashews with abandon lately. So is the recipe a winner?

Well, the glaze ended up being more like frosting than a typical glaze when I made these, as I only had heavy cream rather than milk. You would think that wouldn't make much of a difference, but as you can see, it was pretty thick! And, pro tip - adding water will not help matters! It won't incorporate and will just make the glaze stuff a bit weird. So, yes, milk. Get milk.

The shortbread itself is pretty crumbly, and a very simple recipe, as you can see below. Normally I would say shortbread on its own can be pretty good, but in this case I would say the frosting is actually really needed here. It adds some needed sweetness to an otherwise very pie-dough type shortbread. The frosting on its own seems way too overpowering, but the two together work quite nicely.

I apologize for the pictures not being hugely amazing. Been having some camera difficulties lately and was trying a different lense, which wouldn't zoom in quite so close as I am used to. I also was just not feeling up to going full-on food prettifier. Not that I'm the best at that in the first place, but oh well! Hope you enjoy anyway!

Brown Butter Cashew Shortbread

Prep time: 20 minutes, plus 1 hour for chilling
Cook time: 25 minutes
Yield: 24 bars
Ingredients

• 2/3 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 to 3 Tablespoons milk
• 2 Tablespoons finely chopped toasted cashews

Cooking Directions

1. Line an 8x8 inch pan with foil, extending the foil over the edges (makes it easier to pull it out later). In a medium saucepan, brown the butter. Remove from heat, and cool slightly. Set aside 2 tablespoons for later. Stir in vanilla into the remaining browned butter. Chill that for at least an hour until firm (easiest in the freezer).
2. Preheat oven to 325F. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and brown sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the chilled brown butter until it resembles fine crumbs. Press the dough firmly into the bottom of the prepared 8x8 pan. It will be pretty dry but the butter bits will expand as it bakes, don't worry.
3. Bake for about 25 minutes until the shortbread is firm but not brown. Immediately lift the bars out of the pan using the foil, then cut them into bars. Transfer the bars on the foil onto a wire rack to cool completely.
4. For the icing, stir together the 2 tablespoons of brown butter you saved from earlier (best if it is melted), the powdered sugar, and enough of the milk to make it more of a glaze. Drizzle that over the cooled shortbread, then sprinkle with cashews. Enjoy!

Recipe via Better Homes and Gardens: The Ultimate Cookie Book

Date Squares

So, I bought some dates. And I love dates, they are delish. But if I eat too many at once, my stomach does loop-d-loos. It's just not pretty. Also, incidentally, dates are crazy expensive. I didn't even see the price when I picked up the package, and then boom! Spendy little buggers, they are.

Anyway! So, I had all of these dates. And they don't keep forever, so I decided to find some way to use them up before they went bad. So I searched around the internet and found this easy recipe for some date squares, which are quite similar to those peach shortbread squares I made recently too. The main drawback here was that I had to cut all of them up myself by hand. They're sticky, it took a while. I stopped caring about large chunks. C'est la vie! They mostly got broken up when cooking anyway.

Date Squares

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch salt 

Date Filling:

• 2 packages (16 ounces) chopped dates
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or maple extract

Combine filling ingredients in saucepan; simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes, or until mixture is thick. Set aside to cool. Mix flour, oats, sugar, butter, soda, and salt; press about half of mixture in a greased and floured 9 X 13-inch pan. Spread filling over the oat layer. Add remaining oat mixture and press down lightly with hands. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Cool completely before cutting.

In pictures:

First up, making the filling. This is the chopped up dates ready to go with the water, sugar, and vanilla.

After 5-10 minutes simmering, it looks like this. My dates were chopped roughly and rather largely, so it's perhaps chunkier than yours might be. I chopped those babies by hand!

While the filling cools, whip up the crust stuff. This is what it should look like when all mixed together.

Add about half of the crust stuff to the buttered 9x13 pan and pat down.

Next up is the date layer. Splooge that all around. Some of the oats ended up mixing in from the bottom layer on mine. No big.

And then add the rest of the crust stuff on top. Pat it on down evenly.

And here it is, out of the oven. As you can see, it has browned a bit.

Ta-da! A date square.

Quite yummy, if you like this sort of baked thingy. I happen to enjoy them, so I have to ration myself, or I might still get sick from too many dates!

Peach Shortbread Crumble

I was in the mood for something kind of breakfast-y and fruity the other day, and after seeing this recipe for a peach shortbread thing on Smitten Kitchen that looked easy enough, I decided to go for it. I'm not even a big peach fan, but I can take them in small amounts. And baked into things usually means they don't taste too peachy. It sounds like reverse psychology or something! But seriously, eating what was left of the peach itself, I was on the verge of a gag. Yep. Peaches. Not my favorite fruit.

I'm calling this peach shortbread crumble because it does have a crumbly top. No, it doesn't have oats or even brown sugar like a normal crumble - but it counts! Because I say so! Her recipe is one that asks for a 9 x 13" pan, and since I am but one person, I decided to halve it. Below find the halved recipe! You can click above if you'd like to see the original.

Peach Shortbread Crumble

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/16 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened unsalted butter
1/2 large egg (or I suppose 1 small egg)
 1 peach, pitted and thinly sliced (between 1/8 and 1/4-inch thick)

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Butter an 8×8 inch pan, or spray it with a nonstick spray. In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, baking powder, flour, salt and spices with a whisk. Using a pastry blender, fork or your fingertips, blend the butter and egg into the flour mixture. It will be crumbly. Pat 3/4 of the crumbs into the bottom of the prepared pan, pressing firmly. Tile peach slices over crumb base in a single layer. Scatter remaining crumbs evenly over peaches and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until top is slightly brown and you can see a little color around the edges. Cool completely in pan before cutting into squares.

This would be all of the dry ingredients. Can you even tell there is cinnamon and nutmeg in there? It's there, I promise!

Here we've got the butter and 1/2 egg, which I used a fork to mix in. Yes, a half egg. I cracked an egg into a cup, beat it up, then poured half of it into the mix. I then microwaved the rest to eat as a bit of scrambled egg! 

Tip on softened butter: In this case you really don't want it melty. So, I heated mine in the microwave for 20 seconds at Power Level 6 (or 60, depending on your microwave). It had a tiny bit of melting, but not enough to disturb things.

Here it is patted down in the prepared pan. I just used the fork to pat it down.

And the layer of thinly sliced peaches.

The rest of the crumbly stuff goes on top. And into the oven!

Out of the oven. The edges are just starting to brown. 

Mmmmm....

So I may or may not have proceeded to eat four pieces. Um, what? That's normal. In fact, it's not so bad. I hadn't eaten breakfast, so that was basically my breakfast and lunch. In any case, it's very yummy. And if you like peaches, you'll probably love it all the more!