Karolinka In & Around Bulgaria

Lemon cookies are tangy and buttery. They aren’t too sweet which also nice. Oh and because they are bar cookies they are ridiculously easy to make.

I think these are the perfect, unexpected Christmas cookie. They balance out gingerbread, chocolates like fudge or cream cheese filled desserts.

Lemon squares in a round springform pan

I don’t bake a lot in Sofia. I often find it frustrating to get all of the ingredients. I dislike guessing exactly which temperature I should be baking things at and how much butter my recipe is actually calling for. Cups to grams is beyond annoying. And I can’t seem for the life of me to remember the conversion so every single time I bake, I have to look it up.

When I do bake, I usually find myself pleasantly surprised. Thinking thoughts like: see that wasn’t so hard but I also find myself amazed that things turned out. The whole thing seems pretty hit or miss to me.  There are just so many factors that you have to control for.

So over the past few years, I perfected a few select dishes and now I make these for everything. People like them and they always turn out good.

Lemon square: see the lemony middle?

Why I decided this year that I had to make Christmas cookies I am not sure but I wrote about it in a blog post a week ago and I am not about to poo-poo a list I’ve made. So I measured out the ingredients, I followed the directions and baked these lemon square bars in my apartment in Sofia in less than an hour from start to finish without a microwave or an electric mixer.

I did it all by hand and it was easy peasy. What took the most time? Waiting for the cookies to bake. Not bad, not bad.

Thus I am happy to report that I am making good time on my Christmas to-do list. I’ve got my Christmas tree out and decorated. I’ve been to the Christmas market in downtown Sofia, I’ve made mulled wine and I’ve listened to Christmas music. I am making good progress on my list.I’ve been a busy cookie.

The lemon cookie recipe came straight from the Betty Crocker website. This is the recipe of my childhood. Who needs to improve on a good thing?! Certainly not me.

I am happy to report that these cookie bars turned out excellently. I couldn’t be happier with them. Maybe you’ll want to make them too.