This is the recipe for the BEST. LEMON BARS. EVER. My dad got it from some cookbook years back and we have never looked back! You can get a nylon nut grinder at food specialty stores, or I got mine at a yard sale. It gives a better texture but if you don't have one use a food processor to grind the nuts or chop them finely with a knife. The reason it makes 25, which means they turn out small, is that they are SO rich! But if you really want to you can cut them bigger– just be warned they're calorie-laden!

Ingredients

• Crust:
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (or margarine)
• 1/4 cup ground (or chopped) macadamia nuts
• Filling:
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice (fresh; from Meyer lemons is the best)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. grated lemon peel (zest the lemon BEFORE juicing!)
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. ground (or chopped) macadamia nuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 deg. F.
2. Mix crust ingredients in a medium bowl until they are the texture of fine crumbs.
3. Press into an ungreased 9" square pan; build up 1/2 inch edge.
4. Bake 20 minutes.
5. Beat together all remaining ingredients EXCEPT nuts, until light and fluffy.
6. Pour over hot crust.
7. Sprinkle nuts on top.
8. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until no indentation forms when lightly touched in center.
9. Cool completely at room temperature. When cool, cut into 25 squares.

This recipe was submitted by ketchupqueen on August 25, 2008.