It’s hard to resist the lemon squares from Euro Pane

With a custard topping that uses more than a cup of lemon juice, there’s no shortage of bright, fresh lemon flavor in these wonderful bars from the talented Sumi Chang of Euro Pane in Pasadena. Neither too tart nor too sweet, they’re baked atop a crisp but tender shortbread crust, making for a snack that’s hard to resist. Just try to eat only one of them.

EURO PANE’S LEMON SQUARES

Total time: 1 hour and 45 minutes plus cooling time for the crust | Serves 24

Note: Adapted from Euro Pane.

CRUST

2 cups (8.5 ounces) flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled butter, cubed

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl by hand, mix together the flour, powdered sugar and butter until they come together to form a dough.

2. Press the dough into a greased 9-inch-by-13-inch baking dish. Bake the crust until golden-brown, about 20 minutes. Remove and cool. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees to bake the bars.

FILLING AND FINAL ASSEMBLY

8 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups lemon juice (from 12 to 13 lemons)
1/2 cup (2.1 ounces) flour
Prepared crust
Powdered sugar for dusting

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and flour. Pour the filling into the prepared crust.

2. Place the dish in the center of the oven and bake at 300 degrees until the custard is set, about 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature, then dust with a light coating of powdered sugar before serving.

Each lemon square: 253 calories; 4 grams protein; 40 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 9 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 91 mg. cholesterol; 25 mg. sodium.

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