Sunny Citrus Squares: Girls night in!

Tonight I am having the girls over for a relaxing evening of food, fun and of course a whole lot of visiting!  I am keeping a light menu with shrimp and cocktail sauce, ham and asparagus roll ups, grapes and Sunny Citrus Squares.

I went to the kitchen to bake, rolled up my sleeves (well actually I had on a tank top) and got to work.  Of course, since I didn't plan ahead, I soon realized I was out of powdered sugar.  So, I grabbed my food processor, put in a cup of organic sugar and in no time at all I had organic powdered sugar.  I really don't think I will spend money on powdered sugar again when this was so easy.  It took a little longer than I thought, maybe 5 minutes or so, but I let it process while I mixed the other ingredients.  It worked out very well. A quick tip that I learned really really fast was to tape a Ziploc bag over the top of the feed tube on the food processor.  If not, the powdery sugar flies all over. 

These bars are light and perfect for summer gatherings.  They are very much like the classic lemon bars that we know and love.  I prefer these because there is not much white flour but whole spelt flour instead and there is less butter. 

Sunny Citrus Squares

Crust
1 1/2 cups whole spelt flour
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons orange juice

Filling
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon or lime juice or a combination
1/4 cup unbleached flour
2 tablespoons grated citrus zest (the rinds of 1 large lemon and 2 medium limes)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Confectioners' sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9-inch square pan.

To prepare the crust:  Mix flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.  Cut the butter into pats and work it into the dry ingredients until the mixture is evenly crumbly.  Add the orange juice and mix until large clumps form.  Press the mixture into the pan, covering the bottom completely.

Bake the crust until it's beginning to brown, 15-20 minutes.  Remove it from the oven.

To prepare the filling:  Beat the eggs, sugar and juice in a medium bowl.  Stir in flour, zest and salt.  Pour the filling over the baked crust.

Return the bars to the oven and bake until they look set all over, 25 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature.  Cover and refrigerate overnight. 

Remove from the refrigerator one hour before serving and dust with confectioners' sugar.  Cut into squares and serve immediately. 

*Recipe is from Whole Grain Baking