Lemony Glazed Shortbread Bars

(2)

These delicate butter cookies are packed with lemon flavor.

Lemony Glazed Shortbread Bars,
Prep Time:
40 mins
Bake Time:
40 mins
Total Time:
40 mins
Servings:
48

Ingredients

  • 3 cup all-purpose flour

  • cup cornstarch

  • 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar

  • ¼ cup finely shredded lemon peel (6 to 7 lemons)

  • 1 ½ cup butter, softened

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • ½ teaspoon vanilla

  • Lemony Glaze

Lemony Glaze

  • 2 ½ cup powdered sugar

  • 2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel

  • 3 tablespoon lemon juice

  • 1 tablespoon light-color corn syrup

  • ½ teaspoon vanilla

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with heavy foil, extending foil 2 inches over each end of the pan. Lightly grease foil; set aside.

  2. In a medium bowl, stir together flour and cornstarch. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar and lemon peel. Using your fingers or pressing against side of bowl with a wooden spoon, work lemon peel into powdered sugar until sugar is yellow and very fragrant.* Set aside.

  3. In a large bowl, combine butter, lemon juice, salt, and vanilla; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Gradually beat in sugar mixture. Beat in as much of the flour mixture as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour mixture. Continue beating or stirring until dough comes together. Gather dough into a ball.

  4. Press dough evenly into the prepared pan. Bake on center rack of the oven 40 minutes.

  5. Remove from oven. Immediately dollop glaze over top and gently spread to evenly distribute the glaze. Let cool completely. Using the edges of the foil, lift the uncut bars out of the pan. Cut into 24 squares. Cut each square in half, diagonally. Make 48 bars.

Lemony Glaze

  1. In a medium bowl, combine powdered sugar, finely shredded lemon peel, lemon juice, light-color corn syrup, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.

White Chocolate Shortbread Rounds:

Prepare Lemony Glazed Shortbread Bars as directed through step 4. Remove from oven; place baking pan on a wire rack. Let cool 10 minutes. Using a 1 1/2-inch round cookie cutter, cut into rounds. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Melt 8 ounces white baking chocolate over low heat in a small saucepan. Dip sides of rounds in melted white chocolate to coat. Roll sides of rounds in 2/3 cup finely chopped pistachio nuts to coat. Place on wire rack; drizzle tops with remaining white chocolate. Let stand until white chocolate is set (about 1 hour). Omit Lemony Glaze. Makes about 36 cookies.

*Test Kitchen Tip:

Rubbing the lemon peel with the sugar helps allow the lemon oils to be released.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

181 Calories
9g Fat
25g Carbs
Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 48
Calories 181
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 9g 12%
Saturated Fat 6g 30%
Cholesterol 23mg 8%
Sodium 98mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 25g 9%
Total Sugars 14g
Vitamin C 1.8mg 9%
Calcium 10.1mg 1%
Iron 0.5mg 3%
Potassium 19mg 0%
Folate, total 24.2mcg

*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

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