Raspberry Lemon Bars

Now, normally I see a recipe with raspberries that's mouthwatering and I reluctantly move on from it since, if we were to get fresh raspberries, I'd feel wasteful to use them in cooking instead of enjoying them for what they are.

We used to have a raspberry patch in the backyard, with blackberry plants mixed throughout, so raspberries have always seemed much more valuable to me than other fruits.

Why is it that in flavored candy, raspberry is never as sweet as strawberry? When in reality, strawberries are half as sweet as raspberries. I just don't get it. 

Anyway, you have to love sales. My mom bought a ridiculous amount of raspberries (more than we could eat), so I made perfectly shaped lemon bars from The Spiffy Cookie.

"The Great Escape" Boys Like Girls

Ingredients

For the base:

• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ tsp lemon zest
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1 cup flour

For the filling:

• 1 cup raspberries
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 1/3 cup flour

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Grease with butter or cooking spray.

For the base, pulse together the sugar, lemon zest, and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until it is evenly distributed throughout the dough. Add in the flour and pulse until just combined and crumbly. Press into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until starting to brown.

Let cool while you make the filling.

In the same food processor, puree the raspberries. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl to get rid of the seeds.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice. Add in 3 tbsp of the raspberry puree. Stir in the flour until just combined. Pour the filling on top of the crust and bake until just set, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.

Microwave Blueberry Lemon Bars

 I know, I know, microwave lemon bars?!?

What will they think of next?

But they actually came out! (Shocking, right? I'm amazed by what you can microwave)

 I won't claim these are the best lemon bars ever (I'll leave that to these)

However, they are perfect for summer when its 90 degrees and the last thing you want to do is turn on your oven.

 And we now have 60 dollars worth of blueberries, picked from Rouster's Apple House.

I see: blueberry lemon bars, blueberry cheesecake, blueberry frozen yogurt, blueberry shakes, blueberry, blueberry, blueberry.

Yeah, it's July, and you can tell.

  

So here you have July blueberry lemon bars. I (well, my mom) found this recipe in the Costco magazine.

"Build Me Up Buttercup" preformed by the Temptations

Ingredients:

Base:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 TB confectioner's sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/2 cup butter 

Filling:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 TB lemon zest 
• 3 large effs
• 1 TB flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
•  1/3 cup lemon juice
• 3/4 cup blueberries

Directions:

Grease 9 by 9 inch microwaveable pan.

To make the base: Mix the flour, confectioner's sugar and lemon zest. Melt the butter and combine with flour mixture. The mixture will be crumbly. Pat it into the greased pan. Microwave for 3 minutes at power level 8 until the base is firm (depending on the strength of iyr microwave, it may need an additional minute).

To make filling: Combine the sugar, lemon zest, eggs, flour, baking powder, salt and lemon juice in a medium-sized bowl. Beat for 2 minutes. Pour over base. Return pan to microwave and cook at power level 8 for 3 minutes until the filling is set but has a slight wiggle (like prepared Jell-O). Depending on the strength of your microwave, it may need another minute. Cool completely. Refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours or over night.

Grace's Lemon Bars

This is the perfect lemon bar recipe. 

But then again, I am a lemon bar person... it's my favorite dessert, so I may be a little biased.


Nah, it's the best.

Corinne Bailey Rae- Put Your Records On

 Perfect for lemon bar making (and eating).

 
 

Ingredients:

 1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 

cup butter or margarine, softened

1/4 

cup powdered sugar

1 

cup granulated sugar

2

  teaspoons grated lemon peel, if desired

2

  tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 

teaspoon baking powder

1/4 

teaspoon salt

2

  eggs

Powdered sugar 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350ºF.
2. Mix flour, butter and powdered sugar. Press in ungreased square pan, 8x8x2 or 9x9x2 inches, building up 1/2-inch edges.
3. Bake crust 20 minutes.
4. Beat granulated sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice, baking powder, salt and eggs with electric mixer on high speed about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Pour over hot crust.
5. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until no indentation remains when touched lightly in center. Cool; dust with powdered sugar. Cut into about 1 1/2-inch squares.