This week the Sweet Melissa group made Toasted Almond Lemon Bars. I didn’t get around to making the bars until today and I had one of those weeks where procrastination really paid off: I benefited from the tips of other bakers and yesterday at my family’s annual ladies lunch, I ended up going home with at least five pounds of Meyer lemons. And pears. I really have my work cut out for me this week. I do love the challenge of using produce before it goes bad, though.
The main issue with the recipe this week seemed to be the dough being incredibly soft, so since I made my bars so late, I knew to freeze my dough a bit before baking, which worked well. The dough was so soft and buttery that I was worried the shortbread would be greasy, but it turned out to have a nice texture and the hint of almonds gave it a splendid depth of flavor. Since Meyer lemons are a bit sweeter than regular lemons, I reduced the sugar in the lemon filling by a couple tablespoons. I forgot to line the edges of the baking pan with the dough, so I was a bit concerned the filling would seep underneath the bars. It did make it over the sides a bit, which made the edges carmelly and chewy, so no complaints!
These are fantastic lemon bars; I'd never made lemon bars and I'm happy I now have a good recipe. I’m glad I’m sending them to work with Josh so I won’t be tempted to eat too many. We rated them a 9 for Deliciousness and I gave them a 3.5 for Effort, for and EDR of 2.57. Many thanks to Rebecca of Indecisive Baker (that’s how I feel a lot of the time: so many recipes so little time) for a yummy selection. You can find the recipe here on her site and visit the Sweet Melissa site to see what the rest of the group thought.
I also did a rewind this weekend and made the North Fork Peach Raspberry Pie, selected by Rebecca of Beurrista (the recipe is posted here). I was out of town the weekend the group made it, but had been looking forward to it and wanted to be sure to make it while peaches were in season. I didn’t get a slice photo, but it was delicious and my family enjoyed it!
Hi Margot. Your lemon bars look perfect! Glad to hear they were a hit.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on pressing the crust up the sides of the pan. I'm so not doing that next time. If I try these again I would add more sugar.
Nice score on the lemons and pears from your family! I just book marked a recipe a couple of days ago for Bittersweet Chocolate Pear Cake that you might be interested in. http://tastingspoons.com/archives/6015.
Looking forward to seeing your lemon and pear creations!
Never made lemon bars before? Well, these look great regardless!
ReplyDeleteLove the pie as well.
I look forward to the pear recipes. I love pears, but I've never really baked with them before.
Everything looks amazing. I made mine last minute too :)
ReplyDeleteKatie xox
Beautiful baking! I would love to take one of those bars to work for my lunch treat.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful bars Margot! I love the thick ones like yours that I've been seeing. For some reason mine were pretty thin. Regardless, they were still fabulous!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the produce! That's a good problem to have :). Can't wait to see what you come up with.
Margot, your bars look divine. So does your pie- glad you got to make the it as well.
ReplyDeleteYour bars turned out absolutely perfect Margot. Great job.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful bars! Everyone's comments are so helpful when making the recipes. The pie looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteThis must have tasted yummy with meyer lemons...great job with your lemon bars!
ReplyDeleteYour bars and your pie both look beautiful! You know, I've eaten a lot of lemon bars in my life, but I've never made them either.
ReplyDeleteWoW! You "have" been busy and you even scored with Meyer lemons! We have not had any available to us in our area. I have been looking for them too.
ReplyDeleteYour lemon bars look delicious! It is nice hearing that you enjoyed the lemon flavor but the dough was pretty persnickety.
Both te pie and the lemon bars look very good indeed - I'd love one of those bars for dessert right now.
ReplyDeleteI love lemon bars and I'll have to break down and try those. Minus the almonds, of course.
ReplyDeleteI've missed your blog!
For a second there I thought I had wandered to the wrong blog!! I'm digging the new look!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked these, they look fantastic! Next time I think I'll just skip pressing the dough up the sides as I ended up chopping the overhang and eating it.
For the pears... I vote making a french pear tart. Or simple poached pears. They look so elegant!
Your lemon bars look perfect!We had a pear tree at our last house and it was really a challenge to use all those pears before the went bad. We gave them away by the bagfull. I have a pear pepper pie on my blog that you might like.
ReplyDeleteMimi
Great lemon bars!
ReplyDeleteCan you please email me at sweetmelissasunday@gmail.com re your hosting date for SMS. Thanks, Karen