lovin' lemon.

 
There's something about spring that reminds me of lemons. I'm not sure if it's because of the yellow daffodils that are popping up everywhere this time of the year, or whether it's the lemony smell throughout the house as everyone begins their spring cleaning, but lemons and spring just seem to go together. Lemon is one of my favourite flavours!  I'm not big into really sweet desserts, so the tartness of lemons cuts the sweetness just perfectly and adds a fresh citrusy flavour that I've always loved. I'll openly admit to eating the E.D. Smith lemon spread right out of the jar.
This past week I started to page through some of my recipe books looking for a snack to bring to our family Easter get-together. My Opa (Dutch for grandfather) recently moved into a long-term care facility as his health is not what it once was. I knew he'd be coming over for dinner, so I wanted to make something a little special for him. His ultimate favourite is lemon-meringue pie, but I'm not quite ready to tackle that recipe just yet. I thought some lemon squares would be a good compromise.
I've experimented with other recipes for lemon squares before, but I was looking for the ultimate recipe. One that combines a good shortbread crust with a filling that is both gooey and super lemony. My search led me to a fellow bloggers site. This recipe for lemon squares is from Moira at Who Wants Seconds and in my opinion, is worthy of the "ultimate" title...I think my Opa would agree too :)
 
 

The "Ultimate" Lemon Squares

Crust

- (2) cups of all-purpose flour

- (1/2) cup of sifted icing sugar (Confectioner's Sugar)

- (1) cup of butter (frozen)

Filling

- (4) eggs, beaten

- (2) cups of sugar

- (1/3) cup of lemon juice (freshly squeezed tastes best)

- (2) tsp lemon zest

- (1/4) cup of all-purpose flour

- (1/2) tsp baking powder

- icing sugar for dusting

FOR THE CRUST:
Adjust oven rack to the middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and line the base and sides of the dish with parchment paper. Note that the sides of the dish in this picture aren't fully covered with the parchment paper, however, if you can cover the sides completely, the squares will come out of the dish MUCH easier.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Grate the frozen butter (using the large holes of a box grater) into the dry mixture. 

Toss the butter pieces to coat, then rub the pieces between your fingers for a couple minutes, until the flour turns coarse and the mixture holds together when you squeeze it. 

 
Pour the mixture into the lined pan and press firmly with your fingers to form an even crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

FOR THE FILLING:
Whisk eggs, sugar, flour and baking powder together in a medium bowl. Add the lemon juice and zest and stir well. Pour mixture into the pan on top of the warm crust.

 

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the filling feels firm when touched lightly. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 30 minutes. Grasp the parchment and carefully lift the bars onto a cutting board. Cut into serving size squares or bars, wiping your knife clean between cuts if necessary. Sieve confectioners' sugar over bars and serve.

chocolate chip cookies.

In my opinion, every food blog needs to have a good chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's a staple. And unfortunately (for my waist line) it's become a staple in our house as well. Once you've caught on to a great cookie recipe, it's really hard to go back to Mr. Christie, however good his cookies may be.

As with most of my recipes, this chocolate chip cookie recipe is an adaptation of several different recipes. Practice really does make perfect! These cookies are amazing right out of the oven (well to be fair, I'd wait a couple minutes...I don't need a Tim Horton's style law suit on my hands) and just as good a few days later. They have the perfect ratio of crunchy to flakey to chewy to gooey to all-around goodness. 

I tend to take my cookies out of the oven BEFORE they develop a good tan...while they're still slightly on the pale side. If you remove them from the oven at this point, but let them sit on the baking tray, they'll continue to cook throughout without getting too crispy on their tops and bottoms. These rules can apply to your summer sun-tanning as well :)

The nuts in this recipe are completely optional, so your cookies will taste great either way. Because the dough in this recipe is so versatile, feel free to experiment with other "add-ins" such as rolled oats, raisins, M&M's or butterscotch chips...remembering to keep the measurements the same.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

- (1) cup of butter or margarine
- (1) cup of white sugar
- (1/2) cup of packed brown sugar
- (2) eggs
- (1) tbsp. vanilla
- (2 3/4) cups all-purpose flour
- (1) tsp. baking soda
- (1/2) tsp. salt
- (2) cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- (1) cup of finely chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a bowl, beat together the butter and the two sugars until smooth. 

Beat in both the eggs and the vanilla. Set aside. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined.

Stir in the chocolate chips, the nuts, or whatever "add-ins" you've decided to use.

Drop by the tablespoonful onto a baking sheet, approximately 2 inches apart. I normally line my baking sheet with aluminum foil, but it can also be lined with parchment paper or dropped directly onto a greased sheet. Another tip when forming the cookies is to "form" them as little as possible. Rolled dough balls and pressed dough often create very plain, uniform cookies. If you simply drop a rounded mound of dough onto your baking sheet, you will end up with cookies with great character!

 

Pop the cookies in the oven for approximately 10-12 minutes (it varies with each individual oven). Remember that if you remove the cookies before they get too brown, you will end up with a softer, chewier cookie. Remove from the oven and allow to cool right on the baking sheet. Remember...Caution...Hot!