Lemon Cornbread Shortbread Bars Week #6

Lemon Cornbread Shortbread Bars

1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup or 12 T.) unsalted butter, room temp.
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp. lemon extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
1/4 tsp. table salt
2 Tbsp. Turbinado or sparkling sugar (optional)
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and heat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease the sides and bottoms of an 8x8-inch square baking pan. Line with a sheet of parchment. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine butter, sugar, lemon zest and extract. With a hand mixer, beat on medium high speed til light and creamy; about 3 minutes. Add the flour, cornmeal and salt and mix on low speed until the dough begins to form moist clumps. Dump the dough into the prepared pan.
Using a rubber spatula (I used my hand moistened with water) spread the dough into the pan in a smooth even layer. Dip the tip of a knife or a bench scraper in flour to prevent sticking and score the dough all the way through the bars. Cut the bars into finger like shapes (I cut the bars into 6 pieces on one side and 3 on the other side for a total of 18 pieces). Sprinkle the tops of the uncooked shortbread with turbinado or coarse grain sugar.
Bake until the tops look dry and are golden, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack. Immediately cut the shortbread into bars using the previously scored lines as a guide (they will have faded a bit during baking). Let the bars cool completely in the pan before removing them from the pan.
NOTES: It's important to cut the shortbread as soon as it comes out the oven . If you wait til it's cooled, it will crumble when you try to cut it.
~ If you leave an overhang on the parchment paper, it will be easier to remove from the pan.