It’s no secret that moms are often amazing chefs. After all, they don’t spend years (or even decades) churning out filling and flavorful home cooking without seasoning their culinary skills.
Katie’s own mother was no exception — in fact, we’ve previously covered a delightful jello concoction that Elinor Couric crafted each year to complete the family’s Thanksgiving meal. But today, we’re celebrating a dessert that’s a touch more timeless: her legendary lemon bars.
Katie once shared the recipe for these tried-and-true bars in a TODAY Show cookbook, and the recipe also appeared in a 2012 edition of People. To get started, you’ll need a handful of super simple pantry ingredients like confectioners’ sugar, flour, and butter. You’ll pulse these staples in a food processor before baking for about 20 minutes. Then, you’ll pull baking dish from the oven and top that baked crust with a mixture of punchy lemon juice, eggs, sugar, and flour. After 25 more minutes in the oven, your gooey, sweet-and-sour confections will be ready — the hardest step is letting the bars cool before slicing.
Katie Couric’s Lemon Bars
Ingredients
- 1⁄4 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup butter, room temperature, sliced into 8 pieces
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 6 teaspoons flour
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 lemon, rind of, grated
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly grease a 13-by-9-inch baking pan and set aside.
- In a food processor, blend confectioners’ sugar, 2 cups flour, and salt.
- Add butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly.
- Press into baking pan and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven.
- Meanwhile, beat the eggs, 2 cups sugar, 6 teaspoons flour, and lemon juice until well combined.
- Stir in lemon rind.
- Pour this mixture on top of baked mixture; bake an additional 25 minutes.
- Cool completely and sprinkle with sifted confectioners’ sugar.
- Cut into squares.
