#lemon square

Pancake Cookie - Cookie Run - Requested by Anon

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I tried a Food Experiment last night that was, according to at least two sources I made eat these, pretty successful!

Concept: an amaretto sour is delicious as fuck. Components: amaretto, lemon, simple syrup, egg white if you’re really trying (I have never once tried that hard while making an amaretto sour).

Concept: I bet if you added an amaretto flavor profile to lemon squares that would be bomb as hell.

Problem: I have never made lemon squares and don’t really know how.

Solution: I conceptually know how to custard and I can make a stable pecan pie filling and can probably cantilever this into a lemon-solution NO RECIPES WE DIE LIKE MEN.

Or, okay, I die like men, y’all get a recipe, because I am providing it to you, right now, on this blog. Onward! (Makes like 12 bars if you’re stingy (read: reasonable) about serving size)

Hardware:

9x13 baking ban of some description

Whisk

Spatula

Like, so many bowls

Tin foil/parchement paper if you love yourself

Food processor if you love yourself

Software

1 cup of all purpose flour

1 cup of almond flour (or a second cup of all purpose flour)

2 sticks (1 cup) of butter

1/2 cup-ish of powdered sugar (for crust)

1 cup (ish) of powdered sugar (for lemony goodness)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 healthy shots of amaretto (go ahead and use the cheap stuff)

Juice of three lemons

Zest of 1 lemon

4 egg

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons corn starch

1 cup heavy whipping cream

another like 1/2 tablespoon corn starch

another shot of amaretto

one more 1/2 cup of powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Regret everything because it’s 95 fucking degrees outside this was a mistake.

In food processor (or large bowl) cut the butter into your flour, almond flour, and first 1/2 cup of powdered sugar until it forms a coarse, crumbly dough. 

This is your crust. Take it and press it firmly and evenly into either a) a well-greased 9x13 baking dish or b) a 9x13 baking dish lined with tinfoil or parchment paper.

Insert into oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until it’s just getting golden. It won’t look “””done””” and this is fine; if you cook it til golden-brown, then the bottom will burn when you bake it with the topping.

While that’s running, in a bowl combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, corn starch, granulated sugar, remaining powdered sugar, baking powder, first shot of amaretto, and all four eggy. Whisk until homogenous and you’re no longer seeing translucent globules of egg white floating around. It should be at least a little frothy/bubbly. *Note: cornstarch is a whiny child. Add it to the lemon juice and whisk that until the cornstarch is totally incorporated, then add the rest of everything. It avoids Chewy Cornstarch Gel Lumps later.

Once the crust is solid and the color of a sugar cookie, pull it out of the oven and add your lemon mixture directly on top of the hot crust, then pop it back into the oven for another 25-30 minutes. It’s done if you pull it out and how have to seriously work to make it jiggle.

In your (cleaned out!) food processor or with an electric eggbeater or with a whisk (godspeed), you’re going to make some amaretto whipped cream to put on top of these. Place your 1 cup of heavy whipping cream in your Frothing Vessel (either the bowl of the food processor or just Yet Another Bowl) and pulse/beat until it juuuuuust starts to thicken and froth. At this point, dissolve your remaining half tablespoon of cornstarch into your amaretto and add that slurry and the last 1/2 cup of powdered sugar to the cream and whip until stiff peaks form. If it is hot, this will be harder. Since there’s booze in it, it’s not going to be like Reddi-whip firm, but it should be obviously Not Liquid.

Cover and refrigerate until the lemon squares are cool enough to touch for like 10 seconds.