Lemon Drop Sugar Cookie Bars

Cody is on day one hundred and ninety. The twenty-second visit was Saturday. He is on his second story for the chapbook now, this one shorter, a half-page sketch about a man at a coffee maker who notices the steam coming off the carafe and remembers something. The piece is, Cody told me at the table, a kind of writing exercise more than a story — the volunteer Mrs. Davis had asked the workshop students to write a half-page in the form of a moment of noticing. Cody had picked the coffee maker.

Mrs. Davis told Cody on Wednesday afternoon at the workshop that she wanted to submit one of his pieces to a small literary journal called the Tulsa Review in addition to the chapbook. The journal accepts unsolicited submissions four times a year and has a small reading committee. Mrs. Davis told Cody she thought one of his pieces would have a real chance. He has not decided which one. He is leaning toward The Sister at the Stove. I still have not read it. The chapbook prints in late August.

And the recipe is lemon drop sugar cookie bars, which I made Sunday because the recipe was bright and summery and because I had been wanting to try cookie bars instead of individual cookies. The cookie bar is, I have decided, the busiest-week-of-the-year version of a cookie — the dough gets pressed into a single pan and baked as a single thick cookie, and you cut it into bars after cooling. No scooping, no spacing on multiple sheet pans, no rotating between batches. One pan, one bake, sixteen cookies.

The recipe was Averie Cooks’. The math: a stick of butter softened, a cup of sugar, an egg, vanilla and almond extracts, two cups of all-purpose flour, a teaspoon of baking powder, a half teaspoon of salt, the zest of a lemon. The glaze: powdered sugar, the juice of two lemons, a teaspoon of butter melted, a pinch of salt. Total: about $4.20 for sixteen bars in a 9-by-9 pan, with a few pantry staples.

The technique is the press. You cream the butter and sugar with a fork in a bowl until smooth. You whisk in the egg, the extracts, and the lemon zest. You stir in the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) until just combined. The dough is stiff, almost shortbread-like. You press the dough firmly into a buttered and parchment-lined 9-by-9 pan in a single even layer. You bake at 350 for twenty-two minutes, until the edges are golden but the center still looks slightly underdone (the residual heat finishes the center).

You cool the pan on a rack for fifteen minutes. While it cools, you whisk the glaze: about a cup of powdered sugar, the juice of two lemons (about three tablespoons), a teaspoon of melted butter, a pinch of salt. You pour the glaze over the still-warm cookie surface and spread it with the back of a spoon to cover. The glaze sets in about thirty minutes into a glossy crackable lemon layer.

You let the whole pan cool completely before cutting. You lift it out using the parchment overhang. You cut into sixteen bars with a sharp knife.

Mama said, when I cut her one Sunday night, baby, this is sunshine. Cody, when I told him about the bars at Saturday’s visit, said, save me one for the chapbook reading in August, Kay. The chapbook reading is at the unit on August 26th. Family is invited.

The recipe is below. The trick is the press-into-the-pan technique — do not scoop individual cookies, just press the dough firmly into a single layer. The lemon glaze sets while warm and crackles. The bars keep three days in an airtight container.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes (plus cooling) | Servings: 24 bars

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
For the glaze:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2–3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Pinch of salt
Sprinkles or sanding sugar, for topping (optional)

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the long sides so you can lift the bars out cleanly.
Mix dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together with a hand mixer (or stand mixer) on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Add eggs and flavor. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest until fully combined.
Combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low just until no flour streaks remain — don’t overmix or the bars will be tough.
Spread and bake. Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan — it’s thick, so use damp fingertips or the back of a lightly greased spatula. Bake for 18–22 minutes, until the edges are just lightly golden and the center looks set. Do not overbake; a slightly underdone center will firm up as it cools.
Cool completely. Let the bars cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before glazing. Rushing this step will make your glaze melt right off.
Make the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice (start with 2 tablespoons and add more for a thinner consistency), lemon zest, and pinch of salt until smooth and pourable.
Glaze and set. Pour the glaze over the cooled bars and spread it to the edges. Scatter sprinkles or sanding sugar on top if you’re feeling festive. Let the glaze set at room temperature for at least 20 minutes until it firms up shiny and smooth.
Cut and pack. Use the parchment overhang to lift the whole slab out of the pan onto a cutting board. Slice into 24 squares with a sharp knife, wiping the blade between cuts for clean edges. Layer in a tin between sheets of wax paper.

Nutrition (per serving)

Lemon Drop Sugar Cookie Bars — The Bright Summer Bake That Skips the Scooping