Tart Lemon Crumble Bars

Technically, there are no vegetables here, but this is still a yummy, fruity vegetarian dessert!

I'm about to show y'all the perfect summer bar. It's flaky, gooey, tart, and sweet, and the lemon flavor is just light enough for sunny days. The best part? They look super complicated, but they aren't at all. Recipe adapted from So, How's It Taste. I made way too many, so unless you're prepared to drop them off at all of your friend's houses like I did, I would half the recipe.

Ingredients

Makes about 20 bars.

Crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 tsp. grated lemon peel

Filling
4 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. grated lemon peel

Glaze
2 cups powdered sugar
4-6 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

• Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl with electric mixer, beat flour, sugar, butter, and peel on low speed until crumbly. Press mixture evenly in bottom of 13x9-inch pan (recipe says ungreased, but I sprayed a little Pam and I'm grateful I did. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown. 
• Meanwhile, in large bowl with wire whisk, lightly beat eggs. Beat in remaining filling ingredients except lemon juice and lemon peel until well blended. Beat in 1/4 cup lemon juice and peel.  
• Remove partially baked base from oven. Pour filling evenly over warm base. 
• Return to oven; bake 25 to 30 minutes longer or until top is light golden brown. Cool completely, about 1 hour.  
• In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and enough lemon juice for desired spreading consistency until smooth (I doubled the original glaze amount, there was almost none!). Spread glaze evenly. Let sit until glaze sets, then cut into bars.

See? So simple but it looks like you're a master baker! The original recipe said to store them in the fridge, but I've had more success with room temperature bars. I would also reduced the amount of flour, because my crust was a little too flaky. The recipe says you'll need two lemons, but I used three to get a really lemony flavor.

This could be made vegan with butter and egg substitutes. If you try it, let me know how it works out!