So I know I entitled this article “Review”, but it’s not exactly a review. Why, you ask? Well, I have to be honest, my lemon bars didn’t come out as good as I expected, but I can’t blame that on Smitten Kitchen (who is a major cooking inspiration and a favorite recipe-provider of mine). You see, I may have not so accidentally, not exactly read the recipe…

What I mean by that is, I read the ingredients and skimmed the instructions; but as per my usual cooking style, I didn’t follow the instructions exactly (out of laziness) and failed to perfectly measure the ingredients (again, out of laziness).

When my lemon bars came out lack luster, my immediate reaction was, well, I must make these again. Obviously, I should follow the recipe next time. As a result, I will be updating this post at some point in the future with my second experience. Hopefully, that proves successful because Smitten Kitchen has never, and I mean never, lead me wrong. Her recipes are unbelievably delectable, a balancing act between decadence and simplicity.

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I can tell you all the things to NOT do when making the Smitten Kitchen lemon bars.

• Follow the instructions, that should be a given.
• Don’t use a round pan, it makes it very difficult to pack the cookie base properly

• Use cornstarch, as suggested, not flour to thicken the custard
• Keep a close eye on them as they cook; mine browned very suddenly
• Don’t be lazy like I was and make sure you trim your parchment paper
• Blend your ingredients in the right order. I threw the butter in with the lemon and sugar and over blended it

• Actually cool the dessert completely before removing from the pan. I was in a bit of a hurry and didn’t let it set.