Meyer Lemon Bars

I've been on the search for meyer lemons for such a long time. For years I kept hearing about them, reading about them, seeing them on tv, but I just couldn't find them! For a lemon lover, this was torture. I had just about given up when I saw a box at Wegman's a few weeks ago. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them!

(Ross is such a good hand model, isn't he?)

Lemon bars are kind of like chocolate chip cookies for me. I am always looking for that perfect recipe. The crust needs to be buttery and firm, not too soggy and not too crisp. The filling needs to be tart and not too sweet. I want a lemon bar that will make my mouth pucker. It should have plenty of lemon juice and lemon zest! And most important, the filling needs to be plentiful. I like a lemon bar with a high filling to crust ratio. This recipe definitely fits the bill! The ratio of sweet to tart is perfect. The only thing I may change next time is to increase the filling recipe by 50% to get a taller bar. Whether I'm using meyer lemons or regular lemons, this is officially my go to lemon bar recipe!

Recipe: Meyer Lemon Bars
The Crust From: My Baking Addiction
Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
  
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter -- (1 1/2 sticks) at
• very cool room temperature, cut into
• 1-inch pieces, plus extra for greasing pan

The Filling
Ingredients:

• 4 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
  
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/3 cup flour
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. For the crust: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 13-by-9-inch baking dish and line with one sheet parchment or wax paper. Dot paper with butter, then lay second sheet crosswise over it.
2. Pulse flour, confectioners’ sugar, cornstarch, and salt in food processor workbowl fitted with steel blade. Add butter and process to blend, 8 to 10 seconds, then pulse until mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse meal, about three 1-second bursts. (To do this by hand, mix flour, confectioners’ sugar, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl. Freeze butter and grate it on large holes of box grater into flour mixture. Toss butter pieces to coat. Rub pieces between your fingers for a minute, until flour turns pale yellow and coarse.) Sprinkle mixture into lined pan and press firmly with fingers into even, 1/4-inch layer over entire pan bottom and about 1/2 inch up sides. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
3. For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
4. Dust with Confectioners’ sugar and cut into squares.

Chocolate Chip Banana Walnut Bread

...and I'm back. After taking a longer than expected break from blogging, I'm back, with the only banana bread recipe that you will ever need. The last few months have been pretty busy for me so blogging and baking have taken a back seat, but the other day I saw some overripe bananas on my counter and I knew what needed to be done.

I set out to find the best banana bread recipe and narrowed my search down to 2 recipes: This highly rated recipe from AllRecipes.com and a recipe from Baking Illustrated. As luck would have it, I found an awesome blog that made and compared to two recipes and the Baking Illustrated bread was the clear winner. After doing a bunch of reading about banana bread I learned a few important tips:

1. Use very, very, very ripe bananas. The ugly brown spotty ones.
2. If you're using walnuts, toast them before putting them into the bread. It gives them a great flavor.
3. Use yogurt over buttermilk or sour cream.
4. Melt the butter as opposed to creaming it with the sugar.

Overall, I was very impressed with this bread. It had great banana flavor, a perfect crumb, and lasted for days without getting too dry or soggy.

Chocolate Chip Banana Walnut Bread
Recipe: Adapted from Baking Illustrated, seen here
Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup of sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas, mashed well (~3 bananas)
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt
• 2 large eggs, beaten lightly
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled (3/4 stick)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped coarse (optional)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease the bottom/sides of a 9 by 5 loaf pan. If your walnuts aren’t toasted, spread them on a baking sheet and toast them until fragrant for 5-10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside
3. Mix the mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl. Lightly fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in the nuts and chocolate. The batter should look thick and chunky. Scrape into the loaf pan.
4. Bake for about60 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes then eat! You can keep this bread for up to 3 days if properly wrapped in plastic wrap.