Lemon Bars

A friend recently introduced me to the Smitten Kitchen and I have quite a few recipes bookmarked to try. Michael isn't big on lemon but I love it. I remember growing up I didn't like cake for my birthday because I wasn't really a cake person. It was texture and frosting thing. There were 2 cakes my Mom made that I liked sour cream cake and chocolate chip oatmeal cake. But there was this bakery that my Mom would get cakes from for special occasions. They had a lemon filling cake. It had a sweet tart lemon filling between layers of moist white cake and whipped cream frosting. Usually decorated with candied lemons.

I celebrated my 40th birthday this past year and didn't want a cake but I briefly thought of that cake my Mom used to get because I haven't had in about 20 years. I moved away from the area so haven't had a chance to have anything like it since.

But I still enjoy lemon in baked goods. So seeing the recipe and photos over on Smitten Ktichen of these lemon bars made me decide to try them out.



The only thing I would change is cutting the baking time for the crust. It was over cooked by the time the lemon filling set. The crust came out a little too hard which made it difficult to cut through. But the filling came out quite good.



Lemon bar recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

I made the thick version although mine don't look quite as thick as hers which is probably again altitude. I did grease my pan because I always do as I found when cooking in high altitude it is a MUST.



They were so good! The lemon bars are tart but the crust is sweet so it is best of both worlds.