Made-From-Scratch Lemon Crunch & Jesse Hart

Welcome to Jesse Hart's music. Love, love his voice and the music sticks in my head all day (in a totally good way, not annoying like some songs, ya know?). He's played at The Grove Theater and Guru's and I've been both places before, but not when he was playing. Hopefully I'll get to hear him live sometime. Until then, I'll keep listening to his music while I'm baking up stuff like the bars below.

So while you are being entertained with great music, remember this cookbook I got from my parents for my birthday?

I finally tried a recipe from it and now it's my favorite lemon bar recipe. I only had a little tiny piece since I made them to give away so now I wanna make more to eat more of it. Dangerous! The topping wasn't crunchy on mine. Since it's on top of the lemon filling, it is soft. But the crunch does come from the bottom crust. Coconutty and lemony and super-delish.

Made-From-Scratch Lemon Crunch
1/2 c. sugar
2 1/2 T. cornstarch
1/4 t. salt
1 1/3 c. milk
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. fresh lemon juice
1/2 t. lemon zest
1 T. butter
1/2 t. vanilla

Coconut Crust:
1 1/4 c. shredded coconut
3/4 c. fine graham cracker crumbs
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400º.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in milk and cook until thick, stirring constantly.

In a bowl, whisk the egg into lemon juice. Stir a little of the thickened milk mixture into the eggs to temper, then pour everything back into the pan, mixing as you go. Cook and stir over low heat for 2 minutes; add lemon zest, butter, and vanilla; set aside.

Mix all crust ingredients together and press half of mixture into bottom of 8-inch square pan. Pour in filling; top with remaining coconut mixture. Bake for 25 minutes, or until top is golden brown; chill and then cut into squares.