Eating From the Ground Up

MENUMENU
  • About
  • Recipes
    • By Category

      • Bites
      • Breads and Crackers
      • breakfast
      • drinks
      • Home Dairy
      • Mains
      • On the Side
      • Pickles and Preservation
      • salads
      • Sauces, Dressings and Spreads
      • snacks
      • soups
      • Sweets
    • By Ingredient

      • apples
      • asparagus
      • Beans
      • Beef
      • beets
      • Berries
      • Broccoli and Broccoli Raab
      • brussels sprouts
      • cabbage
      • carrots
      • cauliflower
      • celeriac
      • Cheese
      • Chick Peas
      • Chicken
      • chocolate
      • corn
      • eggs
      • Fish
      • garlic
      • Grains
      • Herbs and Flowers
      • kale
      • leeks
      • lentils
      • pasta
      • pears
      • peppers
      • Pork
      • potatoes
      • Quince
      • radishes
      • rhubarb
      • stone fruit
      • summer squash
      • Tomatoes and Tomatillos
      • winter squash
      • yogurt
  • Coaching
  • Not Recipes
    • Family
    • Politics and Activism
    • The Writing Process
    • travels
    • Kids in the Kitchen
    • My Berkshires
    • 1st of the Month
    • The Garden
  • My Books

    • Signed copies from my local bookstore
      From Amazon
      From B&N


    • From Amazon
      From B&N
      From Powell's

    • Front cover The Homemade Pantry
      From Amazon
      From Barnes and Noble
      From Indie Bound

  • Yogurt
  • contact
  • Blog

very tangy lemon bars

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 by alana

It’s snowing today.
And I got better after being sick last week, and I felt like a god for being so healthy. I made pink cupcakes for Sadie’s birthday using real red food coloring, and hosted all her favorite girls at a Chinese restaurant. I know it sounds like a disaster, but it was a great success. Here’s a glimpse:

Then the pendulum really swung from the self pity and sick feeling. Over the weekend, I had the oddest dream- where I was watching myself, and I was like, “I am so cute! Just look at me. I look great!” I kid you not. And I must say, I wish this dream on you, because I woke up feeling like a million bucks. I swaggered around all day, culminating in my evening trip to the local Big Y, where (and I can’t quite say why) I had my own personal supermarket party. I danced to the music, I spent ten minutes trying to find pickles without hfcs in them, I bought everything on sale- I was hot. I came back home singing.
And then on Monday I got sick again.
The lesson I should learn? Not quite sure yet. But I’m achy and grumpy again. And did I mention that it is snowing? So I’m reaching back a little to a recipe that just makes me happy and radiates the sun off the plate. I’ve been meaning to write about this one- I just haven’t needed it’s presence so much until now. So here you go- if you’ve never made lemon bars, they are way easier than you think.

Very Tangy Lemon Bars

from Pure Dessert by Alice Medrich

Makes 16 large or 24 small bars

For crust:

• 8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 c. flour

For topping:

• 1 c. plus 2 tbsp. sugar
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 c. strained freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Powdered sugar for dusting, optional

Directions

Position a rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of 8- by 8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil.

To make crust: In a medium bowl, combine melted butter with sugar, vanilla and salt. Add flour and mix until just incorporated. Press dough evenly over bottom of pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until crust is fully baked, well-browned at the edges and golden brown in the center.

To make topping: While crust is baking, stir together sugar and flour in a large bowl until well-mixed. Whisk in eggs. Stir in lemon zest and juice. When crust is ready, reduce heat to 300 degrees, slide rack with pan out and pour filling onto hot crust. Bake 20 to 25 minutes longer, or until topping no longer jiggles when pan is tapped.

Remove from oven to a wire rack to cool completely. Then refrigerate for at least one hour. Lift up foil liner and transfer bars to a cutting board.

Using a long, sharp knife, cut bars into 16 or 24 daintier bars and sift powdered sugar over bars, if desired. Stored in an airtight container, bars can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Filed Under: cookbooks, Sweets Tagged With: baking

« Seedy Wheaty Biscuits
laugh now »

Comments

  1. Beth says

    Friday, September 26, 2014 at 3:40 am

    Made these today, they are excellent, I will be retiring my former recipe! Thank you!

    • alana says

      Friday, September 26, 2014 at 11:22 am

      Glad to hear it, Beth- thank you!

Trackbacks

  1. Recipes Inspired by the Box! Fri/Sat, Feb 7-8, 2014 says:
    Tuesday, February 4, 2014 at 7:54 pm

    […] See original recipe here  […]

  2. Recipes Inspired by the Box! Fri/Sat, Feb 7-8, 2014 – Abundant Harvest Organics says:
    Friday, May 5, 2017 at 10:26 pm

    […] See original recipe here […]


Welcome!

I’m Alana, and I write about food, family and the wonderful chaos that ensues when the two combine. If you’re new to the site, here are a few good places to start, or learn more about me on my about page.

Follow me on Instagram.

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Become a Sponsor

One_Alana_Ad 2016

alanachernila

The Homemade Pantry, The Homemade Kitchen, Eating From The Ground Up 🍳

Instagram post 2337331591407595410_13442450 Sending off my taxes today with intention and prayer that they will be used to support programs for the most vulnerable, and that my little contribution will join with others to help move us towards the country I know we can be. #taxmagic ✨
Instagram post 2335726864949371764_13442450 Goodies en route to @north_plain_farm today for pickup! Word about town is that LOTS of moolah was raised for BRIDGE in this little #bakersagainstracism bake sale. Thanks to North Plain Farm and @raisinporpoise for the organizing, to everyone who bought and bid, and most of all to BRIDGE for the essential work they do. (Want to learn more about BRIDGE? Head to the link in my profile.)
Instagram post 2332756427273440195_13442450 So technically you’re not supposed to send food when trying to find an agent, but I did it it. 10 years ago, my granola helped seal that deal, and he insisted I send it to publishers when we were selling The Homemade Pantry (another general publishing no no) That Landed-a woman-with-no-platform-a-book deal Granola is up for grabs in this amazing bake sale, as well as goodies by some of my very favorite bakers (@madeinghent , @raisinporpoise , and @thedooryard to name a few). Oh and maybe my favorite item in there are the magical @susanspungen ginger chocolate cookies I mentioned a few weeks back, made by Sadie herself. All of this is to support the work of @multiculturalbridge , and the order form is up in my bio. Get to it! #bakersagainstracism
Instagram post 2330317921708403058_13442450 My friend @afgoldfarb has been part of a team of people working on this vital project. The link to learn more and help out is in my profile.
Instagram post 2330131706816229761_13442450 I’ll be baking up a storm for this! Local bakers- there’s still room for more! Let @north_plain_farm know that you want IN.
Instagram post 2324845496300301430_13442450 To those who ask here? In Great Barrington? YES. In Great Barrington.
Instagram post 2324091364266290851_13442450 I know there are so many resources out there right now, but I want to share one that’s been really helpful for me in the last several months. There are many seasons of this podcast, but I recommend Season 2 on Whiteness as well is Season 4 on Democracy. #sceneonradio
Instagram post 2322615811734696638_13442450 Black lives matter.
Instagram post 2319329508599466327_13442450 I did not bake these cookies, as I am no longer the cookie baker in this house. But this is the second time that  Sadie has made @susanspungen ‘s Triple-Ginger Chocolate Chunk Cookies (and also the second time I’ve talked about a recipe Sadie has made from the #openkitchencookbook), and I think these might actually be the best cookies I have ever had. I’m often looking for the perfect ginger cookie and this is it, and I’d also choose it over a chocolate chip cookie (or let’s be honest-any other kind of cookie) any day.
Instagram post 2316311882260313364_13442450 No matter how many rulers and pizza cutters and other magical tools I use, it seems that the straight line will always elude me.
Instagram post 2314127252740427104_13442450 Living it up. 💥
Instagram post 2312088043104000827_13442450 Every day my neighbor’s yard gets prettier.
Instagram post 2311325683330503572_13442450 @paulaperlis sent us @susanspungen ‘s new book and of course the first recipe Sadie picked is marked with the *project* heading. She’s been cooking all afternoon and the house smells like ✨✨✨ (With gorgeous images by @gentlandhyers ❤️)
Instagram post 2311141543964321092_13442450 When I took on a day job a few years ago, I found that the first thing to go was all the homemade stuff I’d been making and writing about over the years. I’m still going out to work most days, but I’m finding now with a full and captive house and more downtime in general that those things I love to make are back. For me, it’s granola, yogurt, bread. Hello, old friends!
Instagram post 2308503311808232748_13442450 All the things in the house pasta: roasted cauliflower, a few sad leaves of kale, one jar of fancy tuna saved for a special occasion (how about Wednesday?), Rosemary, homemade breadcrumbs from the freezer fried in butter, crispy sage leaves, pasta water, salt, so much pepper. Success!
Instagram post 2307412630968777107_13442450 @artbywoodgy made this beautiful thing for me for Mother’s Day. All the veggies are on Velcro so I can plan to my hearts delight.
Instagram post 2306345003953662730_13442450 Happy Mother’s Day to my brave and beautiful mom, who birthed two different humans in such different times in her life. With me she was so young, and she figured it all out just as she was learning how to be an adult. This picture was taken nineteen years later, when she was pregnant again and I was almost an adult myself. Thanks for keeping at it, Mom, and for always showing up with love. ❤️
Instagram post 2304888771283579843_13442450 What we do for cake.
Instagram post 2302665269449083186_13442450 It’s a magnolia year for sure.
Instagram post 2295808104927071821_13442450 A long time ago, Joey talked about his crush on this particular alien-like flower with a good friend of ours. Months later, little bulbs arrived in the mail. We put them in the ground last fall, and now they are everywhere. If that isn’t some kind of magic, I don’t know what is. ✨ (🙏🏻 to @wildflowers1 for the cool vase, too.)
Follow on Instagram
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: API requests are being delayed. New posts will not be retrieved.

There may be an issue with the Instagram access token that you are using. Your server might also be unable to connect to Instagram at this time.

Error: API requests are being delayed for this account. New posts will not be retrieved.

There may be an issue with the Instagram access token that you are using. Your server might also be unable to connect to Instagram at this time.

My books!

Signed copies from my local bookstore/Amazon/Barnes & Noble

Front cover The Homemade Kitchen

Amazon /B&N /Powell's


Front cover The Homemade PantryAmazon
B&N
Powell's


Tense moments

failed cornbreadPan shattered in the oven? Jelly didn’t set? Trying to find a solution for a problem in the kitchen? Let’s get through the tense moments together, starting here.

Classes and workshops

My latest book!

Learn more about my latest book, Eating from the Ground Up. It's perfect for all you vegetable lovers out there.

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

COPYRIGHT © 2025 EATING FROM THE GROUND UP.