Lemon or Lime Bars

Lemon (or Lime) Bars
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2/3 cup lemon (or lime) juice (2-3 lemons, juiced)
Zest of one Lemon
Powdered Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. It should look something like sand. Gently Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.It does not need to be very neat, just evenly spread. Mixing or playing with it will result in an overly hard shortbread crust.

3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden.

4. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/12 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest. Pour over the baked crust.

5. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. Dust the top of the lemon/lime bars with powdered sugar. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.