Gluten Free Lemon Bars

Lemon bars.  Sweet, tangy, buttery, and indulgent.  A perfect dessert for spring.  I've always loved lemon flavored desserts and lemon bars have been a favorite since I was a little girl.  A few years ago I tried my hand at gluten free lemon bars and it was a disaster.  The lemony top was okay, but the crust was gummy and raw.  Yuck!  Recently I've been doing some experimenting with xanthan gum, or maybe I should say WITHOUT xanthan gum.  I've found that my banana bread doesn't need it, the scones I made last week didn't need it, and lemon bars most definitely don't need it!  I'll continue to use it with cakes and whenever I use yeast, but I've enjoyed the experimenting and the anticipation of how the finished products texture will be.

Cheryl Bullock, my neighbor growing up, made the best lemon bars on the block.  I've adapted her recipe to be gluten free.  They're as delicious as I remember!

Creamy lemon top with a buttery crust.  Delicious!

Gluten Free Lemon Bars

Crust:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup gluten free flour mix

5 Tablespoons cold butter cut into 5-6 pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine crust ingredients and mix on medium until dough is crumbly (kind of like sand) for about 1 1/2 minutes.  Use your hands to press the dough into an 8x8 square pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.

While the crust is baking, mix the lemon filling.

Filling:

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

3 1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons gluten free flour mix

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

In the same mixing bowl that you used for the crust (no need to wash it), combine all of the filling ingredients and mix on medium for 1 minute.  Pour onto the hot crust and immediately put it back into the oven.  Bake for another 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and allow to cool.  Cut and serve.  Enjoy!