LEMON BARS: Lemons are increasingly popular in Amish kitchens. The sweet citrus is squeezed into lemonade - a perfect summer treat - and baked into bars and breads. Many Amish cooks make a delicious homemade lemon, but there is a bit of a method to it...they'll heat a up a sugary syrup on the stove-top before infusing the lemon juice and it really makes for a wonderful homemade lemonade that will make your thirst go bye-bye fast on a hot summer day! So below we have The Amish Cook's recipe for lemon squares, a Paula Deen recipe for lemon bars, and a recipe from my archives for homemade lemon. Yum! The picture below is of homemade lemon bars that my wife Rachel made. They are as good as they look!:)
- 1 cup flour
- 1 /4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 / 2 cup butter or margarine
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- Dash of salt
- 2 1 /2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 /2 teaspoon baking powder
- In a small bowl, combine flour, butter, and powdered sugar.
- Press into 8 X8 inch pan.
- Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.
- Beat together eggs, sugar, salt, lemon juice, and baking powder.
- Pour over crust and bake 20 -25 minutes more.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
AMISH LEMONADE
- 1 cup sugar
1 cup water (for the homemade syrup)
1 cup lemon juice
3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)
Make syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely. While the sugar is dissolving, squeeze juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice. Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.
PAULA DEEN’S LEMON BARS
Crust:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting
Pinch salt
2 sticks butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing
Filling:
4 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch pan.
Make the crust by combining the flour, confectioners’ sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter to make a crumbly mixture. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. You may need to dip your fingers into a little flour or confectioners’ sugar to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers. Bake for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, to make the filling, mix the eggs, granulated sugar, flour, and lemon juice. Pour this over the baked crust and bake for 25 minutes longer. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, if desired, when the bars are done.
Leave a Reply