Lemon Squares Part 3

I'm coming to the end of my lemon square marathon - two more squares today and the container is full to the brim.  My dad will be eating lemon squares until his next birthday! ;)

The first squares come from Kitchen Treasures by PrairieView Press.  The filling is very much like lemon pie filling.

Lemon Bars
Ingredients
Crust
10 double salted crackers (or 20 unsalted singles like I used)
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c melted butter or marg
1 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 c coconut OR 1/2 c coconut and 1/2 c oatmeal (I used the latter)
Filling
1 c sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 eggs
1 c water
1/2 c lemon juice
1/4 c butter or marg

Crust
Crush crackers and blend with brown sugar and melted butter.  Add rest of crust ingredients and blend until crumbly.  Spread 3/4 of this in a 9x9 pan.
Filling
Blend sugar and cornstarch in a pan on the stove.  Add in beaten eggs, water and lemon juice.  Cook until thick stirring constantly so lumps don't form.  Remove from heat and add butter.



Pour into pan and top with remaining crumbs. 

Bake for 25 minutes at 350F.  Makes 25 squares.

These squares are very smooth and tangy.  They remind me of lemon pie without the meringue.  I think my dad will like them alot.

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I think I saved the best until last.  This square is light and fluffy and the graham crust adds to the overall flavour.  It melts in my mouth.

I got this recipe from Company's Coming - 150 Delicious Squares by Jean Pare.

Lemon Slice
Ingredients
Crust
1 c graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c butter or marg
1/2 c sugar
Filling
3/4 c sugar
1/3 c flour
1 Tbsp water
3 eggs, separated
1 lemon - juice and rind
handful of graham cracker crumbs

Crust
Crumble together crust ingredients and press into 9x9 pan.  Bake for 10 minutes at 350F.
Filling
In a double boiler combine sugar, flour, water, egg yolks, lemon juice and lemon rind.  Cook and stir until thick.  (You can use a heavy pot, as I did, just stir constantly so the mixture doesn't stick or forms lumps.)



Beat egg whites until stiff and then fold into hot thickened mixture. 

Spread over crust.



Sprinkle with rest of graham crumbs and bake at 350F for 3 minutes or until set.



Cut into squares when cool.  I got 25 squares but the original recipe said to cut into 36 squares.

Now its up to you to decide which one to try first.  Enjoy!  ;)

Lemon Squares Part 2

The next two recipes are quite similar.  They have the same shortbread crust and the fillings are similar as well.

The first recipe comes from http://www.betterhensandgardens.com/2010/01/23/luscious-lemon-bars/ .  The only tweaking I did to the recipe was to put it in 2 9x9 pans instead of 1 9x13 pan.  My reasoning was that the ingredients for this recipe was basically double my regular lemon squares so I should be able to get twice as much instead of 1 1/2 times as much.  If you like thick squares - go with the 9x13 pan otherwise go with two pans like I did.

Luscious Lemon Bars

Ingredients
Crust
2 c flour
1 c butter or marg
1/2 c icing sugar
Filling
4 eggs       
2 c sugar
1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 c lemon juce

Icing sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2 - 9x9 pans . 
Crust
Combine flour and icing sugar and cut in butter or marg.   Pat into pan.  Bake 20 minutes.
Filling
I combine the dry ingredients with the sugar so I don't have to worry about lumps.  Beat the eggs and add the rest of the ingredients.  Pour over hot crust.  Bake 25 minutes.  Cool then sprinkle with icing sugar, if desired.  Cut into squares. I cut each pan into 25 squares to get a total of 50 squares.

In the original recipe she cuts her 9x13 pan into 24 squares.  I prefer smaller squares because you can always have two if you want or you might want to try several different kinds.  If the squares are smaller, you can sample more varieties. ;)

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This recipe is my regular lemon square recipe.  I received it years ago from a friend and it is an old standby in my house.

Lemon Squares

Ingredients
Crust
1 c flour
1/4 c icing sugar
1/2 c butter or marg
Filling
2 eggs
1 c sugar
4 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 c coconut

Crust
Mix together until crumbly.  Pat into a greased 9x9 pan.  Bake for 20 minutes in a 350F oven.
Filling
Beat eggs and add sugar, lemon juice and coconut.  Pour over baked crust and bake for 25 minutes more.  Sift icing sugar on top when cool.  Cut into squares.  Again I get 25 squares from a 9x9 pan.

Trying these two recipes, I think I'll stick with my regular one because I like the addition of the coconut.  Otherwise, as I previously mentioned, they are very similar in taste and appearance.



Lemon Squares Part 1

My dad loves lemon and he loves desserts.  He especially loves lemon meringue pie but also likes other baked goodies that combines the tartness of lemon with the sweetness of sugar.  His birthday is next month so I am going to make him a number of varieties of lemon squares.  I have done this in the past and he thoroughly enjoyed having different kinds to choose from.

I will post all the lemon squares here over several days and you can then decide which is your favorite.

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I got the first recipe from a Robin Hood recipe that I cut out of a magazine and adapted slightly.
Lemon Almond Cranberry Squares
Ingredients
Crust:
2 c flour
1/3 c icing sugar
1 c marg or butter
Filling:
4 lemons
7 eggs
2 1/4 c sugar
1/4 c melted marg or butter
1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 c chopped or ground almonds
1 1/3 c dried cranberries (1 - 170 gm pkg)

Crust: Combine all ingredients until crumbly and press into 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is light golden in colour.

Filling:  Reduce oven to 325F.  Beat eggs and sugar until light and slightly thickened.  Notice how lovely and yellow the beaten eggs are.  My girls lay delicious eggs!! 

Grate rind from 2 lemons.  Squeeze out 3/4 c juice.  Add with the rest of the ingredients to egg mixture and beat well. 

Pour over baked crust. 

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until set and golden.  Cool and cut into squares.



You can sprinkle the tops with icing sugar before serving, if desired.  Makes 3 to 3 1/2 dozen squares.  (I cut mine 5 rows by 9 rows and got 45 squares)

These squares are very nice and tart and remind me slightly of the filling for lemon pie.  The cranberries swelled up and were very plump.
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I got this recipe from the November 2005 Canadian Living Magazine.
Lemon Almond Bars
Ingredients
Crust:
1 c flour
1 c rolled oats
3/4 c brown sugar
3/4 c butter or marg
Filling:
5 eggs
1 c brown sugar
3/4 c lemon juice
1/3 c corn syrup
1/4 c melted butter or marg
1 Tbsp corn starch
2 c sliced almonds

Crust: Combine all ingredients until crumbly and press into greased 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350F for 15 minutes.

Filling: Beat all ingredients except almonds until well combined.  Pour over crust. 

Sprinkle on almonds. 

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and set. 

Cool and slice into bars.





Makes 36 bars.  (Again I cut it into 9 rows by 5 rows and got 45 squares).

NOTE:  The next time I make these bars, I will mix the cornstarch with the brown sugar before adding it to the wet ingredients so it doesn't lump up like it did this time.  I have to work the lumps out of the filling before I could pour it onto the crust.

I loved the oatmeal/brown sugar in the crust instead of the "normal" shortbread-type of crust.  The squares were more difficult to cut prettily with the almonds on top.  I enjoyed the larger almond pieces in these squares as opposed to the chopped almonds in the last ones.