Since I am kind of a hermit these days as a new mommy, I have been raiding my pantry in search of things I can cook or bake with instead of going to the grocery store.  I found a jar of lemon curd in there and so I made these bars.

My mom makes the BEST lemon bars, but these were pretty good and different enough not to be a competitor.  My mom’s are super simple with a buttery crust topped with a tart lemon filling and dusted with powdered sugar.  In contrast, these bars have a crumbly almond and coconut topping that makes them a little special.

I found the recipe on allrecipes.com.  Here is the link.  The recipe calls for a jar of lemon curd, but I think you could easily use any lemon bar filling as a substitute.  This basic filling would be a good one.

Lemon Curd Bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 (10 ounce) jar lemon curd
• 2/3 cup flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup toasted and chopped almonds

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large mixing bowl cream the butter. Add the flour, sugar and baking soda. Mix until the mixture forms coarse crumbs
3. Pat 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom of one 9×13 inch baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool slightly.
4. Spread the lemon curd over the baked layer. To the remaining 1/3 of crumb mixture add the coconut and the almonds. Sprinkle over the top of the lemon curd.
5. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F.  Bake bars for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.