Strawberry Lemon Shortbread Bars

Hope everyone is having a great Labor Day! I spent the first part of the day at work, but luckily have the afternoon off. We had a big cookout this weekend and made a ton of great food! My parents came in town and my sisters came over so I was glad to get to spend some time with them. I will be posting some of the dishes we made over the weekend in the next few days but wanted to put my dessert up first. I knew I wanted to make something kind of summery since this is the last official holiday of the Summer. Something light and citrusy sounded good to me. I thought about regular lemon bars but when I saw the recipe for Strawberry Lemon Shortbread Bars I knew I had to try it.  They were pretty easy to make which was good since we had been busy cooking all day. I thought they turned out really well. Not to heavy and not too sweet. A great ending to a great meal!

Saturday night we had sweet and sour tilapia, grilled veggies over couscous, and homemade french bread. My sister thought my presentation needed something so she added "fins" to my fish with the orange balsamic sauce.

Sunday we grilled/smoked some pork and chicken (I actually did try some of the pork and it was good!), homemade coleslaw, salad, baked beans (which I did not eat since I don't like them), sangria, and more bread. My husband actually made his own barbeque sauce which was great. He also decided to try and make mayonaise for the coleslaw and it actually turned out better than I thought it would. We had never tried it before, but he saw it done by chef Alton Brown and wanted to try it.

Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon zest, divided
3/4 cup cold butter
2 (8oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar (organic/natural if you have it)
2 large eggs (cage free/vegetarian fed is what I always buy)
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (fresh juice is best- the bottled stuff usually has preservatives and other additives)
1 cup strawberry preserves
fresh whipped cream and strawberry slices for topping

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Stir together flour, powdered sugar, and 1/2 tsp. lemon zest in a medium bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender until crumbly. Press mixture onto bottom of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan.
2. Bake at 350° for 20 to 22 minutes or until lightly browned.
3. Meanwhile, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and beat just until blended after each addition. Stir in fresh lemon juice and remaining 1/2 tsp. lemon zest, beating well (note: original recipe only used a total of 3/4 tsp lemon zest and added 1/4 tsp to batter. I like a stronger lemon flavor so I added 1/2 tsp to the batter. Adjust according to your personal tastes)
4. Spread preserves over shortbread. Pour cream cheese mixture over preserves, spreading to edges. Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until set. Let cool 1 hour on a wire rack. Cover and chill 4 to 8 hours. Cut into bars; garnish, if desired.



Recipe source: Southern Living (April 2011) via myrecipes.com