The last couple weeks, my mom has been sending me home with lemons. Her and her neighbor share a lemon tree, and whatever branches hover over my moms side of the fence, well, my mom gets to keep as her own.

Lemons are typically something I don’t use a lot in the kitchen. So I was up for a challenge. What else is there other than lemonade? After some research, and asking my family. I was educated in just what else there is.

Lemonade

The first thing I made was Lemonade. I knew my family LOVED it so I knew it’d definitely get used up. I have this beautiful sunflower drink pitcher that a friend gave me, and I used that to make it. I used a recipe from work, a lemonade recipe I would typically teach a group of 3-4 year old’s.

Lemon Bars

When I first disclosed this lemon problem to my husband, the first thing he suggested was Lemon bars. And then I kind of remember his mom making some a time or two. When I looked them up and realized how simple they were, I was on it.

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 10tbsp Butter (room temperature)
• 1 1/2 Cup All purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

• 1/3 fresh lemon juice
• 3 eggs (room temperature)
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1/2 tea baking powder

Instructions:

• Preheat Oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9×9 pan.
• In a mixing bowl, combine flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly and press into the bottom of the pan.
• Bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly golden. Start making the filling.
• In a separate bowl, whisk all filling ingredients together until combined.
• Pour over cooked crust and put back into the oven for 17-20 minutes or until filling is set.
• Cool completely and dust with powdered sugar, cut into squares.

Lemon Water

Another thing I’m gonna do is put a couple lemon slices in my water. It didn’t taste bad, and its been known to be very good for you. So, even if I only put it in one water every day, I figure I’ll do it. For my health.

Health Benefits of Lemon water:

• Hydration
• Weight management
• Kidney stone prevention
• Digestive support
• Skin
• Mental health (dehydration has been known to cause mood swings in people)

Lemon Cookies

I was honestly not expecting to have any lemons left over from the lemon bars and lemonade. I was astonished at how little lemon juice you needed for both of those recipes. I didn’t want to make too many desserts, but my family scarfed down those lemon bars rapidly! So the cookies seemed like a good idea.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
• 7 tbsp butter cut in 1/4 inch squares
• 1 egg yolk

For the glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp lemon juice (fresh)

Directions:

In a bowl combine the flour, sugar and lemon zest. Add the chilled butter and cut into the flour using a pastry cutter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg yolk and stir with fork until combined. Knead the dough with your hands until smooth and forms a ball. (If the dough looks dry add 1 teaspoon of water until it comes together)

Once the dough has been formed, cut the dough in half and roll each half into a log, about 1 inch in diameter. Wrap in plastic wrap and allow them to chill in the freezer for 30 minutes. This will also keep in the freezer for a month if you do not want to bake them immediately.

Preheat oven to 350. Remove dough from freezer and unwrap and cut into 1/4 inch thick rounds using a knife. Place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow to completely cool before glazing.

Glaze Directions:

Place sugar and juice in a bowl and mix until syrupy. Glaze cookies using a pastry brush or piping bag. Allow cookies to sit until glaze sets.

Lemon Jam

I wasn’t going to make this, but when I told Daniel about it his reaction told me that I needed to. Luckily this is a pretty simple recipe, and I like that it uses the zest, and the juice from the lemon.

Ingredients:

• Juice from 4 large lemons (or enough to get 1 cup juice)
• 1.5 tbsp Zest
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup water

Directions:

Add all ingredients into a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 20-25 minutes. To test the consistency, put a spoonful on a chilled plate. If it holds shape after cooling slightly, its ready. Pour hot jam into sterilized jars, seal and let cool before storing or gifting.

And I still have lemons left. But its been requested that I make lemon bars again, but I’ve also already got another bag of lemons waiting for me at my moms, so stay tuned for part 2 in the lemon saga.