I've been whizzing around the house making hummus and also trying to wipe tahini off of every single surface because for some reason when I make hummus tahini just flies into the air and graces the counters and cabinets with it's bitter gooey touch of love. Not complaining, just saying. Next to me is Matt, knee deep in a pile of what appears to be the beginnings of an Ikea cabinet, hacking away at it and using one piece of wood as a makeshift hammer because a friend borrowed ours.There's also rosé, afternoon light, a relatively steady succession of police sirens in the background, and curious little Fox, who has been staring at Matt this whole time - head fully cocked to the side - wondering what the hell dad is doing.

But anyway: lemon bars. Matcha green tea lemon bars that I, if I were a different kind of blogger, would refer to as Green Tea Lemonade Bars. But for some reason calling baked goods "lemonade" flavor really breaks my heart and makes me gag a little. But yeah whatever these do kind of taste like what I would imagine green tea lemonade to taste like. There's a nice mellow green tea flavor from the matcha that helps balance out the super high notes of lemon and sweetness. The crust is basically just a shortbread cookie, and it does that amazing thing of being both buttery and moist but also crumbly all at once. The recipe for the crust comes from here, and I had the pleasure of coming up with the gooey matcha lemon filling. It's not as gooey and fall-apart-in-your-hands as a lemon curd bar is, and instead relies on a little bit of flour to make it sturdier and a bit easier to eat, so you can eat more of them, faster. Find the recipe for it all below, I hope the rest of your week is filled with happiness and lemon bars! (and maybe lots of wine)

Matcha Green Tea Lemon Bars

prep time: 20 minutes / cook time: 1 hour (must also be chilled for ~ 4 hours) / makes 9 - 12

Shortbread Crust

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons confectioner's sugar (plus extra for dusting on top of finished bars)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Matcha Lemon Filling

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 tablespoons Aiya Cooking Grade Matcha
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 3 lemons)
1/2 tablespoon lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a 9" x 9" brownie pan with parchment paper, leaving a few inches hang-over on two sides to act as handles for pulling out the finished bars.
In the body of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, confectioner's sugar, salt, and lemon zest and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse to cut in the butter until a crumbly dough forms. Use your hands to press the dough into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until just lightly golden. Remove from the oven and set aside.*
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon juice, sugar, and lemon zest. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and matcha. Add the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Pour over finished shortbread crust and bake for 30 - 35 minutes, until the center is set.
Place the pan on a wire rack on the counter and let cool to room temperature before transferring to the refrigerator to finish setting. Once firm, remove the bars from the pan and cut into 9 or 12 squares before dusting with powdered sugar. Serve immediately. These will remain fresh for up to 3 days in an airtight container on the counter.

Notes

* If you don’t have a food processor, whisk the shortbread ingredients (excluding the butter) in a large bowl. Add the cubes of butter and use a pastry knife or two regular knives to cut it in, forming a crumbly dough. Follow the rest of the steps as listed.

* You can begin the filling while the crust is still in the oven - pouring the filling onto the hot crust is not a problem and will streamline the process of making the bars.

Tanks a ton to Aiya Matcha for sponsoring this post, all opinions are our own!