Lemon Ginger Bars

For the crust, mix together the softened butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or with a handheld mixer) until smooth and creamy. Add in the flour, salt and ground ginger. Mix until a dough forms. Cover the dough and chill for 30 minutes.

Generously dust a piece of parchment paper with flour and place the chilled dough on it. Add another piece of parchment over the dough and roll it out to about 14x10 inches. Line a 1/4 sheet pan with parchment and spray with nonstick spray*. Press the dough into the sheet pan, making sure the dough goes all the way up the sides (this will prevent the filling from oozing underneath the crust while baking). Poke the dough all over with a fork and chill for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake the crust for 15 minutes or until it's just starting to brown (this is called parbaking).

While the crust is baking, mix your filling by combining all of the ingredients and whisking vigorously until smooth. You can use an immersion blender here if you have one.

Sprinkle half of the crystalized ginger over the parbaked crust then pour in the filling. Bake the lemon ginger bars for 25 minutes or until the filling is completely set. Let the bars cool on the counter for 30 minutes then place them in the fridge to cool completely, about 2 hours (or overnight).

When the bars are fully chilled, use a hot knife to trim off the edges then cut the bars into 24 squares. Dust generously with powdered sugar and sprinkle on the remaining crystalized ginger.

Expiry: 5 days tightly wrapped in the fridge.

*If you don't have non-stick spray, you can use butter and flour the pan.

If you have a silicone baking mat, place it under the parchment paper when rolling out the dough so it doesn't slide.

When cutting the bars, it's helpful to place a knife in a pitcher of hot water and wipe it off with a paper towel after every cut.