Lemon Thyme Bars

“Summer”, is a word with many connotations. For many, summer means s’mores and swimsuits, hot dogs and hot days, fresh fruit and fireworks, and water in any form. For Arizonans, it means clustering around pools and trying to keep cool with buckets of ice and refreshing citrus.

Last year, a friend and I were hanging out on a sweltering day in September (yes, in the desert it’s still summer in September. In fact, it’s summer all the way til Halloween and sometimes the better part of November.), looking for something to do. Finally we settled on a simple enough dessert recipe to experiment with, knowing that the next day was labor day and that lemon-flavored anything would be well received by our guests. What transpired next was a meandering trip to the store, several hours of kitchen messes, and a dessert that would spoil us for any summer treat from then on.

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Lemon Thyme Bars

Ingredients:

Crust:

1/2 lb. unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups flour

2 tablespoons fresh thyme, finely chopped*

1/4 teaspoon salt

Lemon Layer:

7 large eggs

2 1/2 cups sugar

3 tablespoons grated lemon zest

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup flour

Fresh thyme sprigs, for garnish

Lemon Glaze:

2 cups confectioner's sugar

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (around the juice of 2 lemons)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking pan.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until light. Combine the flour, thyme and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into the greased baking ban, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.

For the lemon layer, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or about five minutes beyond the point where the filling is set. Cool to room temperature.

For the lemon glaze, whisk together the confectioner's sugar and lemon juice. Add more or less sugar and/or juice for desired consistency. Pour glaze over lemon bars and spread with a spatula to cover evenly. Allow the glaze to set for at least 20-30 minutes. Cut into squares and garnish with fresh thyme, if desired. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten

Recipe credit goes to http://dmrfinefoods.blogspot.com

*I’ve used dried thyme as well, which works to much the same effect. Be sure that it’s ground or crumbled well before incorporating into the dough.

**A note from my own experience, I like to let it sit overnight before serving. If you cut into it right away it gets messy and the tart of the lemon is almost overwhelming. The night-long sit helps the lemon layer settle and calm the flavor. But if you like ultra tart, I’m not your mom, go for it! Serve it with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side and melt into sweet, rich bliss!

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There’s something special about this recipe that really elevates it above and beyond any other lemon bar I’ve tried. Is it the thyme? The abundance of lemon? The balanced ratio of shortbread to filling? Who knows. All I know is that every time I make them, they disappear as quickly as I can divvy them out, usually snatched up by fingers still wet from the pool and into sunburnt lips that offer me smiles of thanks. And that is a summer tradition that I will always love.