The Ultimate Lemon Butter Bar

These are wonderful- more intensely lemon than most and not overly sweet.

When you're making them, it's easy to think that there isn't enough of the lemon topping, as the proportion of lemon to shortbread is different than many recipes (the lemon layer is thinner than the shortbread layer). This is because the curd is more intensely flavored than the thicker toppings. When eaten, they are perfect.

Be careful to bake the shortbread long enough, once when I made these the base wasn't as crispy as it should have been because I didn't bake long enough. The top should begin to color, but not darkly.

When making the curd, the author has an update on her blog: stir in the softened butter before adding the lemon juice, and you'll get less stuff left behind in the strainer. Works like a charm.