Buttery Lemon Shortbread Bars

• FOR THE SHORTBREAD:
• 1 cup Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 cup Granulated Pure Cane Sugar
• 1 pinch Sea Salt
• FOR THE LEMON FILLING:
• 1 whole Large Egg, Room Temperature
• 1/2 cups Granulated Pure Cane Sugar
• 1/4 cups 0% Fat Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1-1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• 2 whole Lemons, Zested
• 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 cups All-purpose Flour

1. Preheat oven to 350u0b0F and place racks in the middle of the oven. Lightly grease an 8x8" baking dish and then line a strip of parchment across pan so that it covers the entire bottom and goes up two of the sides, with a little overhang. You'll need these flaps on the sides to help remove the bars for cutting. Lightly grease pan and parchment again. Set aside.
2. For the shortbread top and bottom:
3. 1. In a large bowl add your butter, flour, sugar and salt. With a pastry cutter, fork or very cold hands, work the butter into the flour and sugar until a sandy mixture forms with pea sized bits throughout. Kind of like if you were making a pie crust.
4. 2. Sprinkle half of the mixture into your prepared pan and press gently into the bottom and corners to form a crust. I just used my fingers for this. You could also use a spatula or the bottom of a glass. Make sure to really get into those corners.
5. Reserve the second half of the dough for the top crust.
6. 3. Place pan in the oven and bake for 12 minutes, turning pan halfway through baking time. When done, remove it from the oven and set aside.
7. For the lemon filling:
8. 1. In another bowl, whisk together your egg and sugar until fully combined.
9. 2. Next, add the Greek yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract. Whisk together until completely mixed.
10. 3. Lastly, add the all-purpose flour and beat until just mixed and no lumps remain.
11. 4. Pour mixture over your pre-baked crust and spread it out so that it completely covers the bottom and gets into the corners.
12. 5. Finally, sprinkle the remaining half of the shortbread crust over the top, making sure to cover entire surface evenly.
13. 6. Bake the assembled dish in the center of your oven for 35-38 minutes or until sides and bottom are a light amber brown color and the top and middle are set. Make sure to turn pan halfway through baking to ensure even browning. Remove bars from oven and allow to cool to the touch before removing .
14. To remove bars from pan and slice:
15. Simply run a sharp knife around the two sides of the pan that did not have parchment, lift bars with parchment overhang, and place on a cutting board. Using a sharp large knife, make slices through entire width according to how many bars you want. 4 slices by 3 slices will make 12 total and 4 slices by 4 slices will make 16 bars total. We found that the smaller bars (16 bars per pan) were perfect for a serving.
16. Notes:
17. 1. Bars will store covered and at room temperature for up to 24 hours or covered in the fridge for up to 5 days!
18. 2. Eat bars at room temperature. Depending on the size of your cuts, you can get anywhere from 12 to 16 squares.
19. 3. Recipe adapted from Averie Cooks.

shortbread, butter, allpurpose, sugar, salt, egg, sugar, ubc, lemon juice, lemons, vanilla, ubc

Taken from tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/buttery-lemon-shortbread-bars/ (may not work)