Confession: I WANT to water plants and remember them and keep them alive - really, I do. But they just don’t remind me to do so in the way that a 65 pound dog that is my shadow or a cranky and hangry toddler does. I’ve always daydreamed about living somewhere that I could have fresh herbs and citrus growing like crazy so I could pick it at my leisure and never have to shop for herbs again. (Yes, in this fantasy I am frolicking and my hair looks super great and there’s music serenading me in the background).

In the meantime, we have two rosemary plants in our front yard that are thankfully tough as nails and seem to do okay being mostly forgotten until it’s time to put them to use. My kind of plant!

The lemons for this recipe came from our first Imperfect Foods box (cause our lemon trees are young and still trying to figure out what to do) and rosemary that I haven’t killed! Little victories! The crust is flaky and buttery and the golden lemon topping is bright a little savory. Like lemon bars for grown ups.

Lemon-Rosemary Bars

Crust:

1 Cup Butter, Softened

¼ Cup Brown Sugar

¼ Cup Sugar

2 Cups AP Flour

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 Tbl Chopped, Fresh Rosemary

Topping:

1 ¼ Cups Sugar

4 eggs

Zest of 2 Lemons

¼ Cup Lemon Juice (about 2 lemons)

¼ Cup Orange Juice

Pinch of Kosher Salt

1 Tsp Chopped, Fresh Rosemary

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Using stand mixer, beat together butter and sugar until incorporated. Add in flour, salt and rosemary and beat until combined.

3. Grease (I used coconut oil spray) and 9x13 pan, then press the crust into the pan until it’s even. Use a fork to poke some holes.

4. Bake crust until just starting to brown around the edges and getting a bit stiff in the middle - this took me 25 minutes but I’d recommend checking your at 20 minutes and then going from there.

5. Meanwhile, whisk together all the remaining ingredients. I used half orange juice and half lemon juice for color and because that’s what I had - so feel free to play with the citrus if you like!

6. Pour citrus topping over the crust and bake an additional 25 minutes, or until the middle feels/looks a big stiff to the touch. It will also stiffen up a bit as it cools.

We used our mixer to make the dough. It comes together super quick and is an easy consistency to push into the greased tray. Could kind of just eat it plain :)

The pop of color to the top and flecks of rosemary lifted the mood on a cloudy day. These turn out savory-sweet and satisfying. You could also try them with lavender if you’ve got it - another hearty plant I might consider trying out. Let them cool completely before cutting up and perhaps leaving on a neighbors doorstep…or just hoard and eat them all for breakfast, lunch and dinner.