Still on my Meyer Lemon kick… while they are available, I will eat them! So I thought I would use some of the curd that I made last weekend and make some crumble bars (aka shortbread bars). And what pairs nicely with the tropical flavors of Meyer Lemons — why Macadamia Nuts! While these were a bit annoying to cut (should have chopped the nuts finer) they taste amazing!
Ingredients
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts, divided
1 batch Meyer Lemon Curd (recipe here
Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare and 9×9 baking pan with an aluminum or a parchment paper sling. Spray generously with baking spray.
On a sheet pan, toast macadamia nuts for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. Let cool. Once cooled, crush 1 cup to small pieces and the remaining 1/2 cup to medium pieces.
In the work bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla and salt. Add in the flour and finely chopped macadamias and mix until the dough comes together. It will be crumbly. Pat 2/3 of the dough into the prepared baking dish, and reserve the other 1/3. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove from the oven and top with about 9 ounces of the Meyer Lemon Curd. Don’t spread it to the edge, leave a little space around the perimeter. You will have a little curd leftover (the batch makes about 10-11 ounces). Crumble the rough chopped nuts with the reserved 1/3 of the shortbread dough. Just make large crumbs with your fingertips. Sprinkle evenly over the top. Don’t worry about covering all the lemon.
Bake for about 45 minutes until slightly golden. Cool completely before lifting out with the sling and cutting.
