Lemon-coconut bars

Pity the poor lemon. Linguistically, that is. When a car gives you trouble from day one, it’s a….? Look up “lemony” in the Encarta thesaurus and you find, not much except Antonym: sweet. And how many times have I read variations of “lemon” to describe a sourpuss?

Well, I love lemons. I think they’re delicious and so beautiful I bought a lemon cookbook years ago for the photography. I still haven’t made a single recipe from it. But I did make this one today, which is from Bon Appetit’s April, 2004 issue. I’ll be making these bar cookies again, and not just because they’re refreshing and full of flavor.

Things I like about this recipe: it’s made in the food processor so it’s lickety-split. Because of the processor, I didn’t bother grating the lemon rind separately; I simply put strips of peel (no pith!) into the work bowl with 1/4 cup of the sugar (to prevent the peel from becoming pasty) and whirred away, allowing for further grating when the other ingredients were added. Finally, this recipe’s a good way to make use of coconut on hand for macaroons.

Reviewers at the website have rated it 3 1/2 forks out of 4 and 93% would make it again. One thing in the reviews baffles me, though. Many people said they doubled the filling, while keeping the bars in the original 8×8 pan. Why? Have we really developed a national sweet tooth to that extent? These are small but rich and plenty sweet for me. If you make these, please give them a try as written, then decide if you want to double up on the filling if you make them again.

Lemon-Coconut Bars

Serves 16

Crust:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted, cooled *
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon (packed) finely grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar

* I toast coconut — and nuts — in a dry skillet on top of the stove and transfer to a baking sheet to cool.

For crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 8×8x2-inch metal baking pan with foil, leaving overhang. Butter foil. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in processor; blend 5 seconds. Add coconut and butter; process until mixture resembles fine meal and begins to clump together. Gather dough into ball. Press dough evenly over bottom of prepared pan. Bake crust until golden at edges, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare filling:
Combine 3/4 cup sugar, eggs, lemon juice, lemon peel, flour, baking powder, and salt in processor. Blend filling until smooth.

Remove crust from oven. Pour filling evenly over hot crust. Return to oven and bake until filling begins to brown at edges and is just set and springy to touch in center, about 30 minutes. Transfer pan to rack; cool lemon bars completely.

Using foil as aid, transfer lemon bars to work surface. Flatten foil edges. Cut into 16 bars. Sift powdered sugar over. (Can be made 5 days ahead. Store airtight in single layer in refrigerator.)

Bon Appétit, April 2004

Tagged as: easy, quick