The Best Lemon Bars Evar!

Lemon Bars

I know, I know, he’s posting another lemon recipe, but this is the best of the best. The piece of resistance. The cream of the crop! Jonna over at Just Get Off Your Butt and Bake has created the best lemon bars ever! The best part of the lemon bars is they have a shortbread crust. The crust gets all of its flavor from brown sugar and some lemon zest, oh and butter, lots of butter. These are a hit every time I take them to family dinner, people even request them for their birthday dessert.

Lemon Bars

Best Lemon Bars Evar!

Adapted from Just Get Off Your Butt and Bake

Crust Ingredients (The best part)

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, cold (2 sticks)
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 lemon, zested

Lemon Filling

  • 4 extra-large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 large lemons)
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 lemon, zested
  • Confectioners’ sugar

Crust Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch pieces and in a food processor or using a hand-held pastry cutter, process all the shortbread ingredients until the mixture begins to form small pea-shaped lumps.
  3. Sprinkle the dough into a 13x9x2-inch baking pan and press dough firmly and evenly onto the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan to form a 1/2-inch layer of shortbread.
  4. Prick all over with a fork.
  5. Bake the shortbread in the middle of the oven until golden, about . Remove it to a cooling rack. (Cover with foil to keep warm if necessary.)

Filling Directions

  1. While crust is baking, in a large metal bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until well combined and a light yellow color.
  2. Stir in the lemon juice, flour, and zest.
  3. When the shortbread crust is ready and still hot, pour the lemon mixture evenly over it.
  4. Lower the oven temperature to 300°F. When it has reached the lower temperature, bake the bars in the middle of the oven until set, about .
  5. Let the bars cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack. Lightly sift confectioners’ sugar over the cool bars right before serving.

Salsa of Awesomeness

Salsa of Awesomeness

I am a Mexican food fiend. It’s my favorite food group. Yep you read that right. Salsa is my test bed for whether or not a Mexican food place will be good or not. More often than not if the place has good salsa it will have great food.

That being said I have a lot of jalapeños and serrano chiles growing in my garden this year. I have had to figure out something to do with them. My usual go to is salsa. Sometimes I add them to salads and other fun things.  This recipe makes a lot of salsa so you may want to share with your neighbors. It’s a good welcome to neighborhood or housewarming gift. My kids love this salsa, lately they have been taking it for lunches. I feel it’s much healthier than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Have fun with it, it’s pretty forgiving if you want to add things too it.

Salsa of Awesomeness

Salsa of Awesomeness

Ingredients

  • 1 28oz. Can Diced tomatoes
  • 2 Cans Rotel hot chiles and tomatoes
  • 1 Small onion chopped
  • 5 Cloves garlic
  • 1 t. Garlic powder or to taste
  • 2 t. Kosher salt or to taste
  • 1/4 t. Freshly ground pepper
  • 1/2 t. Cumin
  • 1 Bunch Cilantro, cut off stems
  • 2 Jalapeños Peppers roughly chopped (less or more depending on how spicy you want it. If you want it less spicy remove the ribs and seeds)
  • 2 Serrano peppers roughly chopped (less or more depending on how spicy you want it.)
  • Juice of 1 Lime
  • 4 Green onions

Directions

  1. Put all ingredients, except for green onions, in a blender.
  2. Pulse until everything is mixed and chunky, don’t overmix or it will be salsa soup. Adjust flavors and pulse again
  3. Pour into containers
  4. Chop green onions thin and stir them into the salsa.
  5. Eat up or put in the fridge for the flavors to marry for a few days.

Crunchy French Toast

Crunchy French Toast

I love breakfast foods. Most of them are like desserts, but you can have them for a whole meal! You have a sugar rush to start your day. Isn’t that the best thing ever? This crunchy french toast is a fun twist on french toast. I have had some frosted flakes in my pantry for a while. The girls haven’t wanted to eat it whatsoever, not sure why not but whatever. I figured I would try to use some of it up. I had seen some recipes where people used Captain Crunch or corn flakes as a kind of batter or outside. I figured I would give it a try. The end result was fantastic. The kids really enjoyed it and thats good enough for me. I hope you try it.

Crunchy French Toast

Crunchy French Toast

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf Challah bread cut thick or 8 slices thick cut bread
  • 4 Eggs
  • 2 T. Brown Sugar
  • 1/2 C. or more Heavy whipping cream
  • 2 T. Honey
  • 1/4 t. salt
  • 1 t. Cinnamon
  • 1 t. Vanilla
  • 2 C. Corn Flakes or Frosted Flakes

Directions

  1. Mix everything together except corn flakes and bread.
  2. Pour corn flakes in a ziplock plastic bag and roughly crush with bottom of measuring cup. You could do it with your hand but it will feel like 1000 little cuts. Pour into shallow dish.
  3. Working 1 at a time, dip bread into egg mixture, then place soaked bread in corn flakes and press into the corn flakes, repeat on other side.
  4. Heat griddle or pan, melt some butter and add bread and cook per side or until browned.
  5. Serve with syrup and butter