Meyer Lemon Madness!

We were lucky enough to get some Meyer lemons in our CSA share this week. Since I’ve never used them before, I was incredibly excited! I’ve seen this variety of lemons featured on many of my favorite blogs, and people are always raving about them. Meyer lemons are a cross between a lemon and an orange, so they have a slightly sweet taste and an orangish hue.

I’ve been wanting to make lemon bars for a while now, and this was my opportunity! I brought these to work today and they disappeared before lunchtime. Usually, some of the goodies stick around until late afternoon when people need a sugar rush. These lemon bars were so good that they had to be eaten right away. Although I may have seen a few people squirreling them away for afternoon snack.

Since it was our first time with Meyer lemons and we had nine of them to experiment with, we sampled more than one treat. My boyfriend baked me the best damn Meyer lemon cake for my birthday. Since we don’t have lemon extract he substituted Meyer lemon zest, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. He’s a very talented baker, and I’m still hoping that he’ll write a blog post here someday!

I highly recommend both the cake and the lemon bars. The bars are so easy to make. The crust comes together quickly. I had a slight moment of panic when it appeared that the volume of crust and area of the pan would not match, but I pressed and pressed to fill the pan with crust. It ended up being the perfect thickness.

While the crust bakes, the filling is a cinch to whisk together. The most difficult part comes after you pour the filling into the crust. It looks like it will overflow, but in reality it fills the crust just perfectly so that it is nearly impossible to transfer the pan back into the oven. I watched as the filling dangerously sloshed over the edge of the crust only to be stopped by the slightest lip on the edge of the pan.

When the bars come out of the oven, it’s challenging to let them cool completely before digging in. I waited patiently, only because I wanted to dust them with powdered sugar before sampling one.

Meyer Lemon Squares
From The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
Yield: 24 bars

For the crust:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs

For the filling:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornmeal
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice (I used the juice of 3 lemons)

Preheat the oven to 350°.

To make the crust:
In a large bowl, or the bowl of your mixer, cream the butter until it is fluffy. This should take two or three minutes. Stir in the sugar, salt, and vanilla extract. Add the flour and eggs, and mix well. The dough will be very stiff.

Grease a 10 by 15 inch jelly roll pan with butter. Transfer the dough to the pan and press until the dough covers the entire pan. Make sure to press the dough up the sides of the pan as well, so it will hold the filling. Use a fork to prick the dough all over. Bake for 8 minutes. It won’t necessarily brown, but it will look dry and set.

To make the filling:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, cornmeal, cornstarch, salt, eggs, and lemon juice.

When the crust comes out of the oven, carefully pour the filling in. Return it to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. The top and edges should be slightly brown. Place the pan on a cooling rack, and cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar.