Lemon Bars

What the? How the? I am confused. How on earth did these end up being the tastiest squares that I have made in forever??? I only made them because a) I love lemon, b) I had all the ingredients  and c) they were fairly easy.

They are amazing. The shortbread base melts in your mouth with buttery goodness, the middle filling is so chewy and lemony it brought tears to my eyes, and the icing is tart but sweet.

First Layer
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine

Second Layer
2 eggs
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup coconut
1/4 teaspoon salt

Icing
2 1/4 cups icing sugar
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
5 tsp of lemon juice

First, you do the crust ingredients.

Once the butter is cut in, press the mixture into a 9×9 ungreased pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven until its browned around the edges, about 15-20 minutes.

Beat your eggs, then add everything else for the filling and mix it all together.

Once the crust and filling are done, pour the filling on top of the baked crust.

Bake at 350 degrees until its set in the middle, and a light brown on top, about 20 minutes.

Take your butter and icing sugar and start mixing them. Add in your lemon juice one teaspoon at a time, until you get the right consistency for spreading it on the top.  The amounts listed above were just perfect. It took  about 6 tsp of lemon juice to make it perfect for me.

Spread the icing on top of the cooled squares, let them set for a while, then cut and serve and enjoy!