Lemon Zucchini Bread

I don't know about you, but when our zucchini plant starts producing we have a couple of frantic weeks that we have way more zucchini than we possibly know what to do with.  I have to get creative quick! So when I saw this lemon zucchini bread pop up on Pinterest I knew I had found a winner!  I mean lemon?! Zucchini?! Sweet bread?! Yes, Yes, YES! It did not disappoint! Although I have to say, the lemon dominates! The zucchini was just there as my justification that I was eating healthy! Add in the bonus of using one more of these fast growing, fast producing veggies and this bread is a keeper! Original recipe found here.

Lemon Zucchini Bread
(1 loaf)

2 cups flour
3/4 t salt
2 t baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup avocado oil (or canola)
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 T lemon juice
zest of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 c grated zucchini

Glaze:

1 1/3 cups powdered sugar
2 T lemon juice
1 T milk

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.  In a large bowl beat the eggs.  Add the oil and sugar and mix until blended.  Add the lemon juice, buttermilk, and lemon zest to this mixture and mix well.  Stir in the shredded zucchini.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until well combined.  Grease a loaf pan and pour the batter into it.  Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.   While the bread is cooling, mix up the glaze.  Pour the glaze over the warm bread.  Let the glaze set before slicing.

Lemon Drop Cookies

I LOVE lemon!  Anything lemon! So when my dear friend made these for a luncheon and I ate half the plate, I knew I was in trouble!  {Thanks Ashley ;) }They are soft and chewy and tart and sweet!  I know, perfect, right?! Just wait until you make them, I dare you to not eat half the plate! The original recipe is found here.

Lemon Drop Cookies
about 4 dozen

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 t vanilla
1 t lemon extract
4 cups flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
zest of 1 lemon
6 oz. lemon drops, crushed (NOT lemon heads)

1  1/2 cups powdered sugar
juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and flavorings and blend well. Sift the dry ingredients together and slowly add to the wet ingredients. Add the lemon zest and crushed lemon drops and mix until combined.  Drop tablespoonfuls onto a cookies sheet covered in parchment paper** and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand or a fork.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  While they are baking whisk together the lemon juice and powdered sugar to make the glaze. Let the cookies cool for 1 to 2 minutes and then brush the glaze over them with a pastry brush. Let them cool completely.  After they were cooled, I drizzled a little more glaze over the top to make them look striped.

*Lemon drops can be hard to find, I found them at my speciality grocery store and I also saw them at Michaels Craft store

**Make sure you don't skip this step!  The little candy bits will totally stick to the cookie sheet and make it hard to get your cookies off! Plus, when you are brushing the glaze on, it tends to drip and this makes cleaning the pans or starting another batch a snap!

Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

I love scones and I love lemon!  These come together so fast and are so beautiful and delicious, you just can't go wrong!  Such a great way to start a beautiful, sunny morning! I found this recipe at Our Best Bites.

Lemon Poppy Seed Scones

(8 scones)

2 cups flour, lightly spooned into the measuring cup and leveled with a knife
1/3 cup sugar
1 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1 t poppy seeds
8 T frozen butter
1/2 cup sour cream, I used light
1 egg
zest of 1 lemon

Glaze


1/4 cup lemon juice
2 T melted butter
1 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, poppy seeds and salt.  Add the lemon zest and whisk to combine.  Grate the frozen butter (or used a food processor) and toss it into the flour mixture.  Combine it with your fingers until it resembles coarse meal.  set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream and egg.  Add this to the flour/butter mixture and toss with a fork until it comes to a ball and all the flour is moistened.

Lightly flour a surface and place the dough on it. Press the ball into an 8 inch disk and cut into equal wedges using a butter knife or pizza cutter. Place them evenly on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes or until lightly golden.  Remove from the oven and let them cool.

While the scones are cooling, whisk together the glaze.  Drizzle over the scones. IF you do it while they are still warm, it will spread over the top and drip down the sides, my favorite! Or you can do it when they are cool and drizzle squiggles on the tops.

My Favorite Lemon Bars

I usually don't start into my citrus kick until closer to Spring, but call it the SUPER mild winter we are having or the fact that I am just so giddy that this is my LAST Michigan winter, I have been craving lemon bars for a few weeks now.  I finally gave in and turned to THE BEST recipe I know for these! I know that I already have a lemon bar recipe on here but this one totally trumps the first one.  I thought about just replacing the other one but I was afraid that someone out there LOVES the other one and didn't want to take it away from them.  With that said, I would replace the other one in a heartbeat with this one.  The ratio of lemon to crust is perfect, the lemony flavor is perfect, the crispy crust is perfect.  I really just can't say enough about these!  So, hands down this is the recipe you want if you are craving lemon bars or Spring, or sunshine (because these literally scream sunshine to me!).  I got this recipe out of this cookbook (it is one of my favorites!)

Lemon Bars

2 cups flour
1 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 t salt
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
1/2 t baking powder
powdered sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 9x13 in pan. In a medium bowl, combine 2 cups flour, butter, powdered sugar and salt until crumbly.  Press the mixture into the prepared pan, making sure it is even.  Bake for 15 minutes until light brown on the edges.  In another medium bowl, Beat together eggs, sugar, lemon juice, 1/4 cup flour, and baking powder.  Pour the lemon mixture over the crust and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until set in the middle.  You will know it is set as it will not jiggle.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cool completely before serving.

Lemon Berry Trifle

I have had this recipe on my "to make" list for about a year! It is from My Kitchen Cafe, so I knew it would be amazing. But it also has a few steps so I wanted to wait and make it for a special occasion. So when we were trying to decide what to have for Easter dessert (the best part of any dinner, in my opinion!) I thought of this first. I made it again a week later for a baby shower.  Now, let me just tell you, it is worth the time and the many steps! Which, if you make the different parts a day or two in advance, which I did, it comes together lickity split! Just remember to let the finished product sit for a few hours in your fridge to blend together and saturate each other!

Lemon Berry Trifle
(serves 8-10)

Berries (can be made the day before and refrigerated)
4 cups berries (any triple berry combination works, fresh or frozen (if frozen thaw and drain before using)
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup sugar
2 t cornstarch

Combine the berries, sugar lemon juice, and cornstarch in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Bring to a simmer and cook until the berries start to break down, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Lemon Curd (can be made unto 3 days in advance)
4 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons), strained
8 T butter (1 stick), cut into pieces
1 T grated lemon zest (about 1 lemon)

Strain the yolks and whole egg through a fine mesh strainer into a heavy medium sauce pan. Add the sugar and lemon juice and whisk to combine.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon.  This takes about 10-12 minutes.  Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in the butter, one piece at a time, until fully incorporated.  Stir in the lemon zest.  Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.  Store in an airtight container until chilled through or for up to 3 days.

Lemon Cream
3 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 t vanilla
1 recipe Lemon Curd (see above)

In a bowl, whip the cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form.  Whisk 1/4 cup of the whipped cream into the lemon curd to loosen it up.  Add the rest of the whipped cream to the curd and fold in gently.  Cover and refrigerate if not using immediately.

Lemon Pound Cake (can be made the day before or made and frozen for longer)
(this makes two rounds and I only used one for my trifle, I froze the other one for later use)
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
3 cups flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 t lemon zest
2 T fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325.  Butter and dust with flour 2 round cake pans.  Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Place the butter in a large bowl and beat until soft, using a hand mixer. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy (1-2 minutes).  Add the eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one.  Add the flour mixture alternating with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour mixture.  Mixing well after each addition.  Stir in the lemon juice and zest.

Pour the batter into the 2 prepared pans.  Bake until a toothpick comes out clean 35-45 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan and cooling completely on a wire rack.

The Assembly


To assemble the trifle, spoon a layer of lemon cream on the bottom of a trifle bowl.  Add a layer of pound cake. You may need to break the pound cake slices into smaller pieces and jigsaw them together to fit.  Then drizzle on about 1/3 of the berry syrup.  Don't worry if it doesn't completely coat the pound cake - just drizzle it across and let the berries fall where they may.  Spoon a layer of lemon cream over the top, smoothing to the sides.  Repeat all the layers 2 more times finishing with a layer of lemon cream.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  It is best to let this set for several hours before serving.

Lemon Bars

I had some leftover lemons from a punch I made and as I saw them sitting on the counter for 2 days I began to get an immense craving for lemon bars. So I did a little research online and most of the hits I got said that Ina Garten's (Barefoot Contessa) were the best. So I got busy right away. And I must say I have been taking "bites" every half hour since last night. Ridiculous! What have I gotten myself into!

Lemon Bars

For the crust:

1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:

6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.
Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners' sugar.