Lemon Bars with Lemon-Ginger Cookie Crust

Ingredients:
for the custard
4 eggs at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
zest of 3 lemons

for the crust:
10-12 lemon-ginger cookies
4 tablespoons butter, melted

to serve:
confectioners' sugar


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Place the cookies in a food processor (or if you are lucky, your Vita-Mix) and pulse until it forms coarse crumbs. It should yield about 2 cups.



Remove to a small bowl and stir in the melted butter. Press firmly into the bottom of a well-greased 8x8 inch pan. Bake for 5 minutes.


Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the cookie crust.



Return the pan to the oven and bake 35 minutes or until set and no longer shiny in the middle. Cool completely then sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

My thoughts:

Bar cookies have been popular since the 1930s but it wasn't until the 1963 publication of the Betty Crocker Cooky Book that lemon bars became popular. While this isn't the recipe that was published in that book, it is similar in spirit. There are a little more tart than the super sweet originals (which only called for 2 tablespoons of lemon juice!) and instead of crushed Nilla wafers or shortbread crust, I used crushed homemade lemon-ginger cookies which added an extra layer of flavor. Matt loved them and they were a perfect addition to our yearly decade-devoted night.