The lemon bars to end all lemon bars... homemade Meyer lemon curd, coconut shortbread crust...Wow

I have come to the conclusion that I can not make lemon bars anymore, unless I am having friends or family over or am giving them away...I can easily eat several bars at a time, for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack etc... you get my drift! They are addicting! If you would have asked me 3 months ago if I liked lemon curd I would have said no way, too eggy, too fussy, just no.... but a good friend gave me lots of Meyer lemons and I decided to fiddle with an easier, less fussy method of making lemon curd. I was the microwave lemon curd kind of curd maker when I needed it for a recipe...our microwave broke and hasn’t been replaced so I had to face the reality... lemon curd made the traditional way on the stovetop...anyone who knows me knows I will push the boundaries of traditional methods and ingredients to the point of breaking and THIS is honestly the easiest (no double boiler!), tastiest, most amazingly thick and luscious lemon curd recipe... (and it’s not eggy! 👏👏👏)... making the curd is step 1 for these lemon bars. Double the recipe, trust me!

As for the coconut shortbread crust, there is just something so yummy about the combo of the tart and smooth lemon curd and the crunchy slightly sweet shortbread with the added taste of toasted coconut. These bars are a dream....

Lemon Curd Ingredients:

1/2 cup of lemon juice, Meyer or regular

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 tablespoon of fine cornmeal

1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch

4 large eggs

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Shortbread Crust Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups AP Flour

1/4 cup white sugar

4 tablespoons powdered sugar plus more for dusting after baking

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into cubes

1/2-1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted

Directions For Lemon Curd:

1. Melt butter, set aside

2. In a bowl whisk together the lemon juice with all the ingredients. Whisk until well combined. It may look like it won’t come together but it will. If it stays a little lumpy it’s ok, it will come together as it cooks.

3. In a medium saucepan pour the lemon curd mixture and set the heat to medium. You will have to whisk the entire time so that the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. It will take 5-10 minutes to thicken visibly.

4. Once it’s the consistency of a thin pudding or pastry cream, take off the heat and pour the mixture through a sieve to remove any lumps or bits. Set aside.

Directions for Crust:

Before starting preheat oven to 325 degrees and line an 8 X 8 baking pan with enough parchment to hang over 2 of the sides. Spray lightly with cooking spray. The parchment will serve as handles to lift the baked bars out of the pan once cooled.

1. In a food processor pulse together the dry ingredients. (I use this Breville Chef Food Processor)

2. Add the butter and vanilla to the food processor and pulse until the butter is mixed in and the mixture looks like sand or cornmeal

3. Add the coconut to the food processor, 1/2-1 cup depending on how strong you want the coconut flavor, I use 1 cup. **To toast the coconut place the coconut on a parchment lined baking sheet and place in a 325-350 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it because coconut burns quickly. 4. Pulse the mixture in the food processor until the dough comes together in a ball. If it seems dry add water 1 teaspoon at a time pulsing several times before adding more water. 5. Put the crust dough in the prepared pan and push down to cover bottom on the pan. 6. Bake crust for 30 minutes or until golden.

7. Remove the crust from oven and carefully add all the lemon curd over the crust, spread evenly.

8. Put the pan back in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the lemon curd is just set. Remove from oven and cool on rack.

9. Once the bars are completely cooled (I like putting mine in the refrigerator for a couple of hours), dust with powdered sugar and slice. *for the cleanest slices, wipe down knife between each cut. Enjoy!!!

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