Lemon bars don’t necessarily scream “Christmas,” but they are so good that it doesn’t really matter. These are simple to make, don’t take that long and taste way better than the boxed stuff. I promise.

The first step is making a shortbread base. You will need cold butter for this (which means you don’t need to take it out of the fridge until you are about to use it), and a food processor or pastry blender. You also can allegedly cut butter in using two forks, but that sounds kind of complicated to me. The goal is for the mixture to be crumbly with visible chunks of butter before you press it down into the pan/baking dish.

While the crust part is pre-baking, you make the filling. You will need a few lemons for this… and it really is better to use fresh lemon juice instead of that kind that comes in the lemon-shaped squirt bottle. Try to use room temperature lemons and roll them on the counter before you juice them — more juice comes out that way. You can throw in the zest of one lemon, too, if you’d like.

You can use any kind of citrus juicer, or even squeeze the lemons by hand — but don’t leave any seeds in the juice. No one wants a seed in their lemon bar.

I have made this recipe many times and have never been able to figure out how to get the flour into the lemon mixture without leaving little white blobs. I’ve tried sifting the flour and using all sorts of spoons and mixers and such, but nothing makes a difference. So I’ve had to accept that the filling will have tiny white blobs — and I am probably the only person who will notice them.

Let these cool before you eat them. And store them in the fridge. Serve with napkins!

Lemon bars (adapted from Gourmet)
Shortbread base
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350. Cut butter into small pieces. Pulse the ingredients together in a food processor until small lumps form (the butter pieces will be about the size of peas, but the mixture won’t look like dough).

Sprinkle mixture into a 13 x 9 inch baking pan and press it onto the bottom and a little bit up the sides, using a metal spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake the shortbread in the middle of the oven until golden, about 20 minutes (the shortbread may rise slightly). Make the filling while the base is baking.

Lemon filling
8 large eggs
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
zest of one lemon (optional)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
shortbread base (see above)
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Whisk together eggs and granulated sugar until well combined. Whisk or stir in lemon juice, flour and zest (if using). Pour mixture over hot shortbread. Reduce oven temperature to 300 and bake in middle of oven until set, about 30 minutes.

Allow to cool in pan, then cut into squares. Sift powdered sugar over bars before serving (it will be absorbed into the bars if you do this before bars are cool). Cover lemon bars and store in the refrigerator. They keep for about 3 days.