A Love Affair

I love lemon. Anything lemon. I love it enough that 9 times out of 10 I will choose it over chocolate. Yes, you read that right. It is so refreshing and lemon desserts are usually lighter than their chocolate counterparts. I love the pop of the tartness on my tongue mixed with the sweetness. Basically, you can throw anything lemon at me and I’m going to love it.

Enter lemon squares. I want to hug the person that came up with lemon squares. Delightful, buttery shortbread morsels topped with lemony goodness. How can you go wrong? Place a lemon square on a plate alongside a cup of Lady Gray tea and I’ll call it the perfect teatime. After dinner with a glass of milk and you’ve got the perfect light dessert after a rich meal. Heck, put one on a plate all by itself first thing in the morning and I’ll call it breakfast!

Did I mention I love lemon?

Once I decided to go on the quest to create gluten free replicas of “regular” food, I knew lemon squares would be on that list somewhere. It’s not as easy as you think. Mostly, the shortbread is the tricky part. I don’t like the shortbread of a lemon square to be so crispy that is snaps… although there is nothing wrong with a plain old piece of butter-laden shortbread. Nothing at all. A lemon square, though, is a delicate, almost fragile dessert that melts in your mouth. (Are you drooling yet?)

This recipe does a pretty good job of fitting that drool worthy description. Tart-sweet lemon curd on top, melt in your mouth buttery shortbread on the bottom. I highly suggest keeping them in the fridge. A cold lemon square is as refreshing a tall glass of lemonade on a hot summer day!

Did I mention I love lemon? Just want to make sure the subtle theme of this post came through.

I love lemon.

Gluten Free Lemon Squares

2 sticks cold butter

½ cup powdered sugar

2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour (I used King Arthur)

4 eggs

1 ½ cups sugar

1 ½ Tbsp grated lemon zest

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)

1 Tbsp corn or tapioca starch

½ tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray.

Cut sticks of butter into tablespoon size pieces. In the food processor, pulse together the butter, powdered sugar and flour until the butter is broken down into pea size pieces. Dump the mixture into your prepared pan and press it down with a flat spatula until flat and even. Bake for 20 minutes.

While the shortbread is baking, whisk the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, juice, cornstarch and baking powder until smooth. When the crust comes out of the oven, immediately pour the lemon mixture over the crust and return to the oven. Bake 20-25 minutes until the center jiggles just slightly but is set.

Do not cut until completed cooled. I recommend cooling completely on the counter, then refrigerating until chilled. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.