These are so creamy and delicious without the effort of a lemon meringue pie!    It’s a quick easy dessert, and easy to take along anywhere.

These look perfect, and I haven’t even dusted them with powdered sugar!

Line an 8×8 inch square pan with parchment paper, lightly greasing the pan first, then lightly grease the parchment.  Make sure you leave some overhang, it will make it much easier to remove when the bars have cooled.

Preheat oven to 350.

SHORTBREAD BASE

• 3/4 cup plain all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 110g / 1 stick unsalted butter , cold, cut into 1cm / 1/2″ cubes

• Base – Place Shortbread Base ingredients in a food processor fitted with the standard “S” blade. Pulse 5 to 10 times until it becomes like sand. (I didn’t feel like washing my processor, so I just worked it with my fingers like I do any shortbread)  Pour into the tin, spread, then press firmly into the base, pushing it right up to the edges.

It’s not very often I bake with all purpose flour any more, but with just the two of us here, I went the traditional route.  I will be sure to try this again with 1/1 Gluten Free Flour and I will update with those results!

LEMON CURD TOPPING

• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp lemon zest (do this before juicing)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (2 – 3 lemons) – don’t use anything other than fresh lemons!

• Bake base for 20 minutes or until golden on the edges and pale golden in the middle. Remove from oven. ( Note: don’t let it cool, pour in curd immediately).
• Lemon Curd – While the base is baking, place Lemon Topping ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined.
• Bake 20 minutes – Pour Lemon Curd onto base, then bake for 20 minutes until the topping is set but still soft.
• Cool – Remove from then oven and cool on the counter for 1 hour, then fridge for at least 2 hours. Slice into 16 squares. Dust with icing sugar (confectionary sugar) and serve!

This recipe came from Nagi at Recipe Tin. Her recipes are always sure winners, and I wanted to make sure I got this one down right away so I don’t keep searching. Many recipes call for making a separate lemon curd on the stove top, and while I am sure they are fantastic, I don’t think I lost any flavour by doing it this way and it was so easy! I didn’t have enough lemon to make Grant’s favourite lemon meringue pie, but this was a close interpretation, and it’s delicious.