Lemon Bars

Lemon - YUM!  I have found that people are hot/cold when it comes to lemon, hardly ever do I come across a warm.  I am a HOT lemon-er!!  I love anything and everything lemon related!  From lemonade to actual lemons, to candied lemon peels, love it all!  Therefore I always like to try new lemon recipes.  Now I have a lemon bar recipe, it was probably a from someone in my family, and it is good but it is NOT low calorie! It has lots of butter, flour and eggs.  It is delicious, but it has the calorie content of an entire meal (275+ for 1 bar).  Enter the new lemon bars.  The recipe still make 16 bars (an 8x8 pan), but it uses less butter, less flour, less sugar and less eggs.  All things that will bring the calorie count down!

Lemon Bars

• 3 T Butter or Margarine
• 1 c Sugar, divided
• 1/4 t Baking Powder
• 1 3/4 c Flour, divided
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Egg White
• 1 T Water
• 1 T Lemon Zest
• 1/2 c Lemon Juice
• Pinch of Salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Prepare your 8x8 baking pan by lining with foil and spraying with non-stick spray.
2. In a small bowl beat together the eggs and egg white.  
3. CRUST:  Combine the butter, 1/4 c of sugar, 1 T of the egg mixture, and 1 T of water in your mixer.  Cream together.  Slowly add in 1 cup of flour and 1/4 t of baking powder until a dough forms.  Press the dough into the prepared pan, be sure to press a little up the sides of the pan as well, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until edges are browned.  Remove from the oven and allow to slightly cool.  Reduce the oven temp to 300 F.
4. Filling:  While the crust is slightly cooling combine the remaining 1/3 c of flour, 3/4 cup of sugar, the rest of the egg mixture, the zest and the lemon juice.  Mix well.  Pour over the crust and bake in a 300 F oven for 25-30 minutes or until the filling is set. 
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool.  Once room temperature is achieved, place in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours or overnight.  
6. Dust with confectioner's sugar, if desired, and cut into 16 bars.  
7. ENJOY

Im comparison to my original recipe, these lemon bars are about 150 calories less per bar.  They come in at about 108 calories per bar and are wonderfully lemony.  If you like lemon, or just like lemon bars, give them a try!  I promise you won't notice the missing butter, flour and sugar!  (Caution: they are just as addictive as any other lemon bar - I had to stop myself from eating the whole batch!)

MMM... yummy goodness!!!!