Lemon Bars With Olive Oil and Sea Salt

🥘 Ingredients

• all-purpose flour 1 ¼ cups
• granulated sugar ¼ cup
• confectioners' sugar 3 tbsp
• finely grated lemon zest 1 tsp
• fine sea salt ¼ tsp
• cold unsalted butter 10 tbsp
• lemons 4-6
• sugar 1 ½ cups
• eggs 2
• egg yolks 3
• cornstarch 1 ½ tsp
• fine sea salt
• butter 4 tbsp
• fruity extra-virgin olive oil ¼ cup
• confectioners' sugar
• flaky sea salt

1. 1

   Heat oven to 325 degrees and line a 9-by-9-inch baking pan with enough parchment to hang over two of the sides (to be used as handles later to lift the bars out of the pan).

Shortbread base

1. 1

   To make the shortbread base, pulse together the all-purpose flour , granulated sugar , confectioners' sugar , finely grated lemon zest and fine sea salt in a food processor , or whisk together in a large bowl . Add cold unsalted butter and pulse (or use two knives or your fingers) to cut the butter into the flour until a crumbly dough forms. Press dough into prepared pan and bake until shortbread is pale golden all over, 30-35 minutes .

Lemon curd

1. 1

   While the shortbread is baking, prepare the lemon curd: Grate 1/2 tablespoon zest from lemons and set aside. Squeeze lemons to yield 3/4 cup juice.
2. 2

   In a small saucepan , whisk together lemon juice, sugar , eggs plus egg yolks , cornstarch and fine sea salt over medium heat until boiling and thickened, 2-5 minutes . Make sure mixture comes to a boil and stays there for 30 seconds or so; you should see it thicken up before you take it off the heat. But once it boils do not cook for longer than 1 minute or you risk the curd thinning out again. Remove from heat and strain into a bowl . Whisk in butter , fruity extra-virgin olive oil and the reserved lemon zest.

Assembly

1. 1

   When the shortbread is ready, take it out of the oven and carefully pour the lemon curd onto the shortbread base; return the pan to the oven. Bake until topping is just set, 10-15 minutes more. Allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold before cutting into bars. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and flaky sea salt right before serving.