Citrus Bars

Mouthwatering! Very tart with a nutty crust. 

My 7 year old LOVES lemon bars and wanted to help make them. I was torn between the MOMMY ME that wants to create Beaver Cleaver memories and the Perfectionist Baker. Don't get me wrong, I love the Notion of teaching my daughter the trade of baking but this it MY TIME. Baking is my soak in the tub with bubbles, my girls night out, my spa day, my curl up with a good book by the fireplace. I let her help. She squeezed the limes and lemons and  said " Call me when they're done" as she went to watch The Suite life of Zack and Cody.

The crust uses wheat germ which gives it the grainy texture. The dough was sticky which made it harder to press into the baking pan (Side Note: Where in the world did Martha find a 17 1/5 by 12 1/2 baking pan? The people at William and Sonoma looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if they had one. I had to show them the Handbook for them to believe a recipe called for it!). I used the pan Martha sells at Macy's: 18 by 13''

Make sure to strain the lemon and lime juice before measuring the 3/4 cup. I did not add the Tbsp of lime zest because I thought it would be too tart for the kids.

Question: What kind of range is 20-30 minutes? That creates too much anxiety. I can only handle a 5 minute margin of error. (I baked the crust for 20 minutes).

The lemon mixture almost overfills the pan which makes it very difficult to transfer to the oven so be careful (Forget rotating it!). My daughter saved the day as I yelled for help by pushing the tray in (I know, I see the irony).  It baked for 29 more minutes.

Best served after refrigerating.

164 to Go!