Lemon Bars for Kathy Griffin
In my first Secret Life of Cookies podcast, I tried to teach the amazing Kathy Griffin how to bake lemon bars and she tried to convince me she was too famous to have to know how to bake.
These lemon bars are from a recipe I learned in cooking school, c/o the great pastry chef Cara Tannenbaum. Whether you’re famous or not, you’ll enjoy them.
Please enjoy the podcast as well. She’s a new podcast, so if you could help her make her way in the world and leave a kind review on Apple, and share it with your friends, we would all be grateful. Thank you.
LEMON BARS for Kathy Griffin
What you need:
A 9 x 13 x 2-inch pan
Ingredients for the cookie base:
16 tablespoons (2 sticks/8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (50 grams) confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (256 grams) all-purpose flour
Ingredients for the lemon topping:
4 large eggs
2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar
6 tablespoons strained lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
Confectioners’ sugar for finishing
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
For the base, with a stand/hand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and continue beating a minute or two, until light. Lower the speed and beat in the flour.
Sprinkle the dough over the bottom of the prepared pan, and using a small offset spatula, or your Emmy, or a spoon, or your fingers., pat, pat, pat the dough across the bottom of the pan. Bake the base for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and baked through.
While the base is baking prepare the topping. Be careful not to overmix the topping, or it will have a coarse-textured foam on the top when baked. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs just to break them up. Whisk in the sugar, then the lemon juice and zest.
As soon as the base is baked, remove it from the oven. Give the lemon mixture a quick whisk to make sure everything is well-blended, and pour it on the base. Immediately return the pan to the oven without sploshing the topping everywhere. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the topping is set and firm.
Cool on a wire rack until set. Cut into squares and sprinkle confectioners sugar over before serving.
