Treats for a friend yesterday who likes lemon sugar cookies but I didn’t really have time to make those so thought I’d try these instead, they were delicious!

bars

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest

10 tablespoons butter, softened

1 egg

1 egg white

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 teaspoon lemon extract

1 teaspoon vanilla

frosting

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 teaspoons lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

yellow food coloring

yellow sanding sugar and lemon slices for garnish, if desired

1  For the bars, preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9 x 13″ pan.

2  Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

3  In the bowl of a stand mixer, add sugar and lemon zest and stir together until combined.  Add butter and whip until pale and fluffy.  Add egg and mix until combined and then add egg white and mix until combined.  Add sour cream, lemon and vanilla extracts and mix until combined.  Slowly add dry mixture just until combined.

4  Spoon mixture into baking dish then spray hands with cooking spray and press dough into an even layer in the pan.  Bake until toothpick comes out clean and bars are set, about 15 – 16 minutes.  Cool completely.

5  For the frosting,  whip butter until light and fluffy.  Mix in powdered sugar, lemon zest and juice until light and fluffy.  Tint with yellow food coloring if desired.

6  Garnish with small lemon slices and yellow sanding sugar.  (A tip for the lemon slices, after cutting make sure that you lay them on paper towels so that the juice is absorbed before putting them on the bars.  I put another paper towel on top of the slices and pressed gently to draw the juice out a bit.)

recipe from Cooking Classy