lemon bars

I made these lemon bars a while ago, but am only just getting around to posting them now.  I know this blog has been a little neglected lately (understatement), but there's just been no time for either of us to focus on it.   So to try and get back in the swing of things, slowly slowly, here's my version of an already delicious recipe from smitten kitchen.

What you'll need for the crust:
225 grams (or 1/2lb.) of softened butter
1/2 cup sugar (I used raw cane sugar, the blonde stuff in the US)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour (I used whole wheat, in a vain attempt to pretend that this is a healthy recipe.  Ha!)

Preheat the oven to 177˚C (or 350˚F).  In a large bowl cream the sugar and butter.

Add flour and salt and mix well.  It'll end up sort of like a clumpy crumble.

Form into a ball, and press it into a greased and floured baking sheet or casserole dish.

Pause by a sun-filled window to admire your handiwork.

Bake 15-20 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned.

Now get started on the filling, which is, in my mind, the best part.

What you'll need:
6 large eggs
2 cups sugar (less than the original recipe, I like my lemon bars very tart.  Again, I used raw cane sugar)
2 tablespoons lemon zest (I used about 4 lemons)
2/3 cup lemon juice (I used 6 lemons.  Again, I like them tart.)
2/3 cup flour (yes, whole wheat.  Laugh all you want, it's usually all I have on hand)

Grate and juice all your lemons.  Doesn't that smell good?  Here's to hoping you don't grate your finger and then squeeze lemon juice into it.  Yeah, I'm speaking from experience here.

Whisk eggs, sugar, and lemon juice, and then add the flour and lemon zest.

By now your crust is done and slightly cooled, go ahead and pour the filling over the top of it.

Back in the oven it goes, 30-35 minutes this time.  (It looks the same!  Only the bubbles have popped...)

Let it cool to room temperature.  I know.  It's hard.  It smells so good.  But seriously, this is one recipe that really does need to cool.  Don't touch it.  Do something else to distract yourself.  Ok, now, go ahead, cut it into squares or triangles or bunny rabbits, and dust with powdered sugar.

Dig in!  Granted, these don't look like your average lemon bars, all sunshine yellow on top and pale ivory on the bottom, but it's because of the darker sugar and flour that I used.  I promise they taste just as good, and while I can't say that they're actually good for you, I would venture to say that they're a little bit less bad for you.

serious chocolate cookies

yes folks, these chocolate cookies are serious in their chocolosity.  Chocoliciousness.  Chocolaciousness.  You know.  The recipe is adapted from the joy of baking website.  Theirs look good, but I can't actually judge how they taste because of course I'm not capable of following someone else's recipe without tweaking it.  So, like I said, theirs look pretty good, but mine?  Mine are insane.

What you'll need:
450 grams semisweet chocolate
1/4 c. butter
4 eggs
1 1/3 c. sugar (I use raw sugar, just because it's what I have on hand)
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract (if you're lucky enough to be able to find it where you live.  The cookies work without it too)
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Step 1: Melt chocolate and butter over low heat.  Lick spatula.  Grin.

Step 2: Beat eggs and sugar until pale yellow and thick enough to fall from the whisk in ribbons.  If you're doing this by hand, get tired and stop before you get that far.  Worry for a second, but then relax because you know these cookies are going to turn out stupendous anyway.

Step 3: Add the melted chocolate mixture and the vanilla extract to the egg mixture.  Stir.  Drool.  Grin.

 Step 4: Add the dry ingredients and mix gently until completely combined.

Change tools frequently so you have an excuse to lick the whisk, the spatula, and the spoon.  Grin.

Step 5: Here comes the hard part.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for minimum half an hour, ideally an hour or more so that it firms up.  That means no sticking your finger in for extra licking.  Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C) and try and distract yourself.

When it the dough comes out the texture will be much thicker, more mousse-like, and easy to scoop.

Step 6: Scoop it out with a small spoon onto a cookie tray with a silicone liner.  You could make them big, but they pack a pretty intense chocolately punch, so I like to make them really small.  That way also you can eat 10 and really it's only like you had 3.  If the dough is sticking too much, use a little warm water to moisten your fingers/the spoon.

Baking time varies a lot, so keep your eye on these guys.  I set the timer for 10 minutes and then watch like a hawk.  It'll depend a lot on how big you make them.  The tops will begin to crack and wrinkle, but they should still look very soft and doughy in the center.  We want these to come out chewy, not crispy like in the original recipe.

Step 7: Let them cool a little, otherwise they'll fall apart as you try to lift them.  Who are we kidding?  Just dig in!  And grin.

Note: even though you might not think it, with only 1/2 c of flour in them, this recipe will make a ton of little cookies.   Share them, give them away, eat them all yourself, I'm not judging.  Just saying. One thing I do is only bake half the batch, and save the dough for a day or two in the fridge.  It keeps pretty well, it hardens a lot more, but I don't think it has much effect on the final baked cookie.