Ina Garten’s Lemon Bars

Ingre­di­ents

Crust:
1/2 pound unsalted but­ter, at room tem­per­a­ture
1/2 cup gran­u­lated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 tea­spoon kosher salt

Fill­ing:
6 extra-large eggs at room tem­per­a­ture
3 cups gran­u­lated sugar
2 table­spoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
Con­fec­tion­ers’ sugar, for dusting

Method

Pre­heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the crust, cream the but­ter and sugar until light in the bowl of an elec­tric mixer fit­ted with the pad­dle attach­ment. Com­bine the flour and salt.  With the mixer on low, add to the but­ter until just mixed.   Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flat­ten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch bak­ing sheet, build­ing up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 min­utes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the fill­ing.  Whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 min­utes, until the fill­ing is set. Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into desired sized bars or tri­an­gles and dust with con­fec­tion­ers’ sugar.