Week 19: Lemon Bars

My kids and I ate ate an awesome little Italian place this week and my son said he was craving lemon bars. It made me think back to my high school days. I had a handful of recipes that I would make all the time and one of the was Lemon Bars from the 1969 Betty Crocker Cookbook. My mom gave me one of those books when I got married but I couldn't find it so I googled it until I found it. Here goes.

Lemon Bars

1 cup all purpose flour
1 stick butter or margarine softened
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest if desired
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
additional powdered sugar

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl mix flour, butter, and powdered sugar. Press in 8 or 9 inch square pan going up about 1/2 inch on the sides. Bake crust 20 minutes. Remove from oven.
3. In medium bowl mix remaining ingredients except additional powdered sugar with an electric mixer on high for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Pour over hot crust. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until no indention remains when touched in center. Cool completely on wire rack in pan for about an hour. Dust with additional powdered sugar. For bars, cut in 5 rows by 5.

Hope you enjoy them. They sure are yummy. If you like coconut you can add about 1/2 cup to the filling mixture or if you like lime you can substitute lime juice and zest for the lemon. God Bless your week.

Week 18: Easy Granola

Well, it's been too long I know. I really am back to finish this journey. My kids were requesting granola and I started out this journey with a fabulous recipe. I've actually concocted a new one that is super easy and super delicious. You can also be creative and have a different tasting granola each time you make it. Here is the recipe.

3 tablespoons olive oil
5 cups old fashioned oats
1 stick butter
dash of salt
a few shakes of cinnamon
1 cup slivered or chopped almonds or nut of your choice
4 tablespoons pure maple syrup or honey
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup or more of craisons or other dried fruit

1. Put oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add oats and stir until brown and toasty. Add the nuts and toast a few minutes more. Careful not to burn it. Spread on cookie sheet and let cool.
2. Put butter in pan and melt. Add syrup or honey, brown sugar, vanilla, salt and cinnamon and stir until bubbly. Add the toasted oats and nuts and the craisons or dried fruit of your choice and stir and cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat.
3. Pour on cookie sheet. (I line mine with parchment paper) Put into a 350 degree oven that has been preheated and bake for about 15 minutes. Take out and let completely cool and store in an airtight container.

I'm sure you and your family will love this. We like making parfaits with a low fat vanilla yogurt. It's also great as a cereal or sprinkled over ice cream. You change the flavor when you change the nut and fruit combinations. Leave out the cinnamon if you want or you can put lots of cinnamon and leave out the fruit or nuts. Be creative. It's cheap to make and good for you and the house smells great! Hope you enjoy! I'm glad to be back and excited to find some new recipes to share with you. I will be going back to my old posts and adding the recipes soon so go back and check them out if something sounded good. Also feel free to send me a message and let me know of something special you had growing up or if you can't find an easy recipe for something you like. I will try to find your answer. Bye for now and God Bless!