Strawberry Lemon Bars

Strawberry Lemon Bars--Adapted from a recipe on norecipes.com

makes about 12 lemon bars

for crust:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 tablespoons of softened salted butter, cut into 1/4″ cubes (1 1/2 sticks)



for filling:

1 cup halved then sliced strawberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs lightly beaten
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2/3 cup lemon juice

powdered sugar for dusting

Line a 9″ x 13″ pan with enough parchment paper to go about 1″ up on all sides. In a bowl mix the flour, rolled oats, powdered sugar, and salt. Then add the vanilla.  Next, cut in butter with a fork until the dough looks like pea sized gravel. Sprinkle the dough evenly over the parchment lined sheet and use your fingers to press the dough into a uniform sheet of dough that goes about 1/2″ up all the sides. Put it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, place the oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and 1/4 cup of sugar and toss to coat. This will release excess moisture and sweeten the strawberries. To prepare the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and flour. Add the lemon juice and whisk to combine.

Remove the crust from the freezer and put in oven and bake for around 25 minutes, or until it is golden brown and fragrant. When the crust is done, take it out of the oven, then immediately scatter the strawberries around the crust, pour any juice from the strawberries into the lemon mixture and whisk to combine. Pour the lemon mixture over the strawberries.

Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F, then put the pan in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the center of the lemon bars doesn’t jiggle anymore. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely.

Refrigerate overnight (or for several hours).

Slice, then dust with powdered sugar and serve.

The powdered sugar will disappear into the bars after a few minutes (see picture above...I swear I dusted them). So only do it right before (or not at all--it really doesn't need it).