Lemon Lime Bars

Make the crust first. Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a 9×13 inch pan with tin foil, leaving an overhang so you can lift the bars out with it. Spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

In a food processor, mix together flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch and salt for the crust, pulsing a couple times to combine everything. Add the pieces of butter and pulse until mixture is pale yellow and looks like coarse meal. (If you don’t have a food processor, grate the cold butter into the flour mixture and rub it into the flour with your fingers.) Press mixture into the prepared pan, pressing it firmly with your fingers into an even 1/4-inch layer, and up the sides of the pan about 1/2 inch. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and then bake for 20–25 minutes or until lightly browned.

While crust is chilling and baking, make the filling. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, sugar and flour together. Stir in lemon and lime juice (2/3 cup juice total) and zest, heavy cream (or milk) and the salt.

When crust is finished, remove it from the oven and whisk the filling to recombine it. Pour it into the warm crust. Reduce the oven temperature to 325ºF and bake the bars for 25–30 minutes, or until filling feels firm to the touch. Cool the pan on a wire rack at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before lifting out the bars and slicing them. Dust the bars with powdered sugar to serve.

The bars keep well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3–5 days, but the cookie crust will soften a bit.

Note: I used Meyer lemons for this recipe, but I think it would be fine with regular lemons too, although the bars would be more tart. Also, for the lemon and lime juice, you should have 2/3 cup juice, total. That was 3 lemons and 3 limes for me, but that could be a bit different depending on how juicy your fruit is, so measure the juice before adding it in.