Old-Fashioned Lemon Bars

Crust:
6 T. unsalted butter, melted and then cooled to room temperature
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1 t. finely grated organic lemon zest
1/2 t. kosher salt
1 c. all-purpose flour

Filling:
3/4 c. plus 1 T. sugar
1/2 c. lemon juice
3 T. mild-flavored honey
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. kosher salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3 T. all-purpose flour

To make crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper so that paper extends beyond rim of pan. Stir together butter, brown sugar, lemon zest, and salt in medium bowl. Stir in flour. Pat mixture into bottom of pan. Bake 25-30 min. or until bottom is golden brown.

To make filling: Whisk together sugar, lemon juice, honey, vanilla, salt and eggs in medium bowl. Whisk in flour, then pour over hot crust.

Return pan to oven and reduce heat to 300 degrees. Bake 15-20 min. or until filling barely jiggles in center when pan is shaken. Remove pan from oven and set on wire rack until completely cool. Lift square out using parchment paper and slice into bars.

Makes 18 bars.

From Vegetarian Times magazine, Dec. 2013, p. 65.