4/26/11

Laurie's Lemon Bars







These two have been best friends for a long time.  We are neighbors, belong to the same church and they went to the same schools- elementary through high school. Now the one on the left is getting married. We love Lauren. She and Brookie have spent hours sitting at my kitchen counter laughing, talking and eating. Lauren's parents Mario and Karen have been our friends for years as well.  Mario is a high adventure kind of guy. Wired. Intense. Up at the crack of dawn, flies helicopters,  loves extreme skiing in the winter and water skiing in the summer. His closet looks like he's in the military, every shirt in place, all the hangers facing the same way (just like my closet :)  Karen is a mom, wife and has her PhD in psychology.  Karen is calm, pensive, patient, loving, an amazing teacher and always willing to listen.  Lauren is the perfect blend of both. She's kind, thoughtful, organized, smart, bright, cheerful, funny, hard working, sincere, charitable, honorable, down-to-earth, naturally beautiful and filled with light! Lucky Brayden.  
So, what do you do when one of your favorite kids gets married?  Have a shower, of course. We served mostly sweets, since it was from 7-8:30 PM. Laurie (click here to read about her chocolate cake and carrot cake) called and offered to make lemon bars.  No skimpy thin layer of lemon here. One full cup of fresh lemon juice. I've tried a lot of lemon bars in my day. These have to be one of the best.  If you love thick, chewy, tangy-sweet bars, they're calling your name. 
Congratulations Lar and Brayden!  We love you.







Laurie's Lemon Bars
print recipe

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
For the crust, cream together:
2 sticks (1/2 lb) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar


Add:
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Mix until just blended and then press into bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of a 9x13 pan. Chill for about 30 minutes.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned. 


For the filling, whisk together:
6 extra large eggs, at room, temperature
3 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons grated lemon zest
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
Pour over hot crust and bake 30-35 mintues or until set (not liquid in the middle when jiggled). Let cool and dust with powdered sugar. 





11 comments:

  1. Sweet tribute to Lauren.....the shower was lovely and the lemon bars delicious!

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  2. Thank you Si! It was a fabulous shower and I love you more than you know. Hope you don't mind if I take your Maui books to Maui. Love you so much.

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  3. Aww. I love this- made my day!

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  4. Mmmm... yummmy.. my mouth is watering. I can't wait to make these. I love lemon bars so much we had them at our wedding!

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  5. The lemon bar I had at the shower made me so happy! I love lemon bars and Si is right, it's prob the best one I've ever had!

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  6. Thanks for dropping by today and for your comment! I'm glad I wandered over here. You have such a lively, cheerful blog with lots of delicious-looking recipes! (I especially love the picture of the kitchen on your sidebar. I added it to my Pinterest when I saw it!) I look forward to seeing more of your posts!

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  7. Lemon bars are one of my favorites too. Can't wait to try this version.

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  8. Lovely tribute to Lauren and her parents who are leaving us. These were super delicious. The bottom pic is my all time favorite of these two, my two favs!

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  9. ha. what a perfect description of my parents. sad that i couldn't make it to the shower. i heard it was great.

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  10. Have you ever tried Halving this recipe?

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    1. I have not, but I'm sure it would be easy to do. I would use an 8x8 pan. Let us know if you try this...thanks!

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