I know I know. The most coherent thing would be barsbut… squares It sounds louder, doesn’t it? hahahahah
Continuing with the dishes made with Sicilian lemon (yes, there will be at least one more), I decided to try this one by pure chance. I caught a glimpse of his name and looked for other references. It couldn’t be bad: lemon + butter + sugar + eggs, it’s a promising combination.
I made some changes to the quantities of some ingredients, especially sugar. I reduced a lot and everything worked fine. If you want a stronger lemon flavor, add more zest. It’s not light at all, but it’s worth every gram of butter! 🙂 I suggest you serve it warm.
Lemon Squares: Sicilian Lemon Bars
Makes: 18 bars, depends on how you cut
Ingredients: BASE
- 226 g butter without salt (ambient temperature 25-30ºC)
- 95 g (⅔ cup) powdered sugar (may be the impalpable)
- 280 g wheat flour
Ingredients: FILLING
- 250 g crystal Sugar
- 3 Sicilian lemons (zest)
- 130 mL lemon juice (about 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon)
- 4 eggs
- 35 g (¼ cup) wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon chemical baking powder
- powdered sugar (to end)
1 cup: 250mL | 1 tablespoon: 15mL.
Mode: BASIC
- Heat the oven to 180ºC and prepare a 20x30cm baking tray by lining it with baking paper, leaving excess paper around the edge.
- Start with the base, beat (mixer or by hand) the butter until creamy, add the sugar and little by little the wheat flour. My dough was very creamy and not in lumps, no problems. Spread the dough onto the baking paper, leveling it well, using a spatula.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until it starts to brown.
Mode: FILLING
- Beat the eggs and sugar until smooth. Add the lemon juice and zest, beat. Then, wheat flour and baking powder. Transfer the filling onto the still hot base.
- Bake for another 25-30 minutes, the surface should be lightly golden and the center firm. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before slicing. Then, sprinkle the icing sugar using a sieve. Store in the refrigerator.
- make: depending on which knife you use, it could hurt the creamy surface of the dish, so be careful. Personally, I preferred to slice it after sprinkling the sugar.