I love anything lemon, so when I saw @Molly O’Neill’s Pistachio-Lemon Bar recipe on New York Times Cooking, I had to make it. Pistachios and lemon...check! But, I also love almonds with lemon, so I substituted chopped, sliced almonds for pistachios in the crust. I’m no baker, but this recipe is easy even for a non-baker like myself. It takes less than an hour. Sweet and tangy lemony richness with pieces of pistachios along with a chewy, buttery almond inflected crust, all bathed in powdery white confectioners sugar! This is a lemon recipe to go nuts over!

Yield 16 servings
Ingredients:

The crust:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• ¼ cup confectioners' sugar

• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

• ½ cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

• ¼ cup sliced almonds roughly chopped

The filling:

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup sugar

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

• 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• ⅓ cup shelled unsalted pistachios

• Confectioners' sugar, for garnish

Preparation:

To make crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper (if using foil, lightly butter it). (See *Note below)

2. Place flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times. Add butter and process until well combined. Stir in chopped pistachios.

3. Firmly press mixture into the bottom of the lined pan using the flat bottom of a glass or measuring cup (if it sticks, place a piece of parchment paper on the dough before pressing).

4. Bake until lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the filling ingredients.

5. When the crust is baked, pour the filling into the pan and bake until set, about 20 minutes.

6. Let cool completely. Sprinkle with Confectioners' sugar and cut into 2-inch squares.

*Note: to use parchment paper, cut two pieces of paper 8 x 11” inches and place one at a time covering the length, and overlapping to cover the width of your 8 x 8 inch baking dish. You should have about 1 ½ inches of paper overlapping each side of the baking dish.

Adapted from: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/6960-pistachio-lemon-bars