This afternoon I made these lemon squares from Eatingwell.com.  My mom makes the most incredible lemon bars.  I could probably eat an entire pan if no one stopped me and if I wouldn’t go into a sugar and butter coma afterward.  When I came across this recipe I had to see how it compared to my mom’s butter laden bars with tart and luscious filling.

Lemon bars must have a buttery, crunchy base, a smooth, lemony filling and a crunchy, sugary top.  I was hopeful that these bars would measure up.  There is a bit of butter in the crust to provide the richness, and the use of lemon juice and zest in the filling makes these bars incredibly flavorful.  The recipe calls for white whole wheat flour, but since all I had was regular whole wheat I opted for plain old all purpose flour.  I probably could have done half all purpose and half whole wheat, and will probably try that next time.

The verdict:  Yum.  Crunchy, sweet, buttery goodness topped with incredibly tart, sweet gooey lemon and a crunchy topping sprinkled with powdered sugar.  I will definitely be making these again.  Next time I will try to get some white whole wheat flour or use a mixture of all purpose and whole wheat.

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