Sicilian Lemon Bars

Hello!

Today's recipe is for those who love Sicilian Lemon, because here we will fully experience the flavor of this ingredient. It is practically a pie, but with a dough that is much thinner than that of a pie. It is sour, and of course made with lemon juice and zest. Although lemon bars seem to be a 20th century invention, they probably appeared in 1963 in the recipe book "Betty Crocker's Cooky Book".

The base is a combination of wheat flour, butter, and powdered sugar, and they are so popular in the United States that many families have their own recipes that are being passed down to new generations. When done right, lemon bars have a perfectly brittle base, covered with a sticky, almost custard-like lemon topping, and a thin layer of icing sugar.

All this to say that it is a perfect marriage of this crust dough perfectly balanced with the citrus of the lemon.

At the end, you will see that in some photos the lemon cream has a more intense color, in these photos, besides the Sicilian lemon juice, I also added Sicilian lemon jelly, obviously it's not necessary and it's also obvious that the flavor is more intense, but don't worry, make your recipe with the lemon juice, I'm sure you'll love it and make it countless times, it's simply

irresistible.

Without further ado, let's get to the recipe, which is made with basic ingredients that I'm sure you have all in your house.

SICILIAN LEMON BARS

Ingredients - dough

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp salt

Filling:

2 large eggs

¼ tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

Juice of 2 Sicilian lemons

zest of 1 sicilian lemon

1 cup powedered sugar

Instructions - dough

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Line a 22cm x 15 cm baking pan with Premiun Paper

Beat the flour and icing sugar in the mixer at high speed until creamy (approx. 2 min).

Add the vanilla, flour, and salt and whisk again for a few more minutes.

The result will be like that of crumble dough or wet sand.

Place the dough into the baking pan by pressing it against the bottom.

Bake for approx. 18 to 20 min. or until the edges begin to turn golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let it cool.

Filling:

In a bowl, beat the eggs with the lemon juice and zest lemon.

Add the sugar, flour and yeast and beat again.

If using Sicilian lemon jam or other citrus jam, add 2 tablespoons. Make sure the jam has a good consistency (not too soft).

Pour this filling over the cold dough and bake again for 30 to 32 minutes or until the center is firm.

Remove from oven, let cool, cut into squares and sprinkle with icing sugar.