Lemon Bars with Blueberries and Coconut.

I've been wanting to make lemon bars for a while now. I've seen many recipes online and in books for them and they always look sooooooo good! I love lemons, anything lemons really so...And it just so happens I bought fresh lemons at the grocery store earlier. Perfect timing. So I looked in my "healthy oven" book for a healthy version, but there was none in there, so I turned to a "regular" recipe (from a book called "basic baking"), with lots of sugar and real butter... but hey, a girl deserves a treat once in a while!
I tweaked the recipe a bit from the original by adding blueberries and coconut. I actually got THAT idea from the coffee house I used to work at in Whistler, we were making lemon bars similar to these with cranberries. But since I didn't have cranberries I settled for blueberries. Turned out great! And they're very easy to make. And even more easy to eat...



Ingredients:

for the bottom layer::
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 TBSP dark brown sugar
Grated zest of one lemon
1/2 cup unsalted butter

for the top layer::
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 TBSP flour
3/4 cup frozen blueberries
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut(plus 1-2 TBSP for the top)

Directions:

-Preheat the oven at 350F and set the rack in the middle.
-Make the bottom layer: mix flour, salt, both kinds of sugar and lemon zest. Cut the butter in small pieces and add to the flour mix. With a pastry cutter or two kinves, or in the food processor if you have one(i do, but I like to do it by hand...my grandma never had a food processor...), blend until the butter is about the size of little peas. Transfer to an UNGREASED non-stick 8inch square pan and press with a spatula and get everything even. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
-Make the bottom layer: beat the 3 eggs, add sugar, salt, lemon juice and mix well. Add the blueberries and coconut and mix in( the color will change, obviously...). Incorporate the flour (here because I used frozen fruit I added 1 1/2 TBSP of flour...).
-Pour the lemon mixture in the pan over the bottom layer, sprinkle a bit more coconut on top and bake for 45-50 minutes. When it's done, the top will be golden brown and the middle will be firm when you jiggle the pan.
This picture is not the clearset but here's what it looks like when just out of the oven:



-Let it cool on a rack and wait until completely cooled before cutting into bars.

*If you make these for a special occasion, or if you feel fancy, sift some powdered sugar on the top. This always masks the imperfections. I didn't bother with this because...well I just couldn't be bothered really.
These are SO GOOD! It's very lemony; sweet and tangy perfect for spring!



Enjoy!!