Tom Burrows
Version 2.0
1 cup soft butter 1/2 cup powdered sugar 2 cups flour
Mix well and pat out in a 13x9x2 inch ungreased pan lined with non-stick aluminum foil. (I use a de-handled and sawed-off rolling pin that fits the pan in the 9" direction.)
The filling will swell up somewhat during baking; so don't use a pan that's too shallow. (It settles back down after cooling.)
Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes, one level higher in the oven than the middle.
4 eggs 2 cups sugar 1 tsp. salt 4 Tbsp. lemon juice (2 lemons should provide enough) 4 Tbsp. flour
Combine eggs, sugar and salt; and whip/whisk until fluffy. Add lemon juice and flour. When the crust is done, immediately pour the filling onto it. Bake for about an additional 30 minutes. It shouldn't get too browned.
After cooling, remove the whole thing from the pan, place it on a cutting board and slice it into bars using a long knife.
Note: Some lemon bar recipes (including an earlier version of this one) call for leavening. After considerable experience and experimentation I have decided that this (possibly aggravated by high altitude) is a frequent cause of failure. It foams up while baking; and the surface of this foam burns and carmelizes before the filling has fully cooked. Parts of the filling may end up stiff and tarry while the rest remains semi-liquid.