Lemon Cookie Bars

With the fourth of July just two days away, I’m in full-on food planning mode. I know some people will be enjoying their day off inside a cool air-conditioned room, but we’re sticking with the traditional BBQ at our neighbor’s house. I’m planning to bring a couple desserts and still working out the other details.

If you’re like me and trying to finalize plans for what to bring to your next get together, consider bringing these Lemon Cookie Bars. The lemon curd in the frosting provides a great subtle citrus flavor on top of a cookie bar base. The frosting is pretty liquidy as you can see in the pictures, so I would recommend making this a day in advance and storing them in the fridge so the frosting can set up.

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Lemon Cookie Bars

Yield: 16 bars

Ingredients:

For the Bars
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

For the Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup lemon curd
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp sprinkles

Directions:

For the Bars
Heat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together.

Mix in egg and almond extract; stir in flour, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt until soft dough forms.
Spread dough in bottom of a greased 8×8-inch square pan. Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown on the edges and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

For the Frosting
Place cream cheese and lemon curd in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in powdered sugar until smooth.

Spread frosting evenly over cooled sugar cookie bars and top evenly with sprinkles. Cut into 16 bars.

Recipe from Cake Batter and Bowl