Ah lemon curd, an old favourite of mine. I find myself going back to you over and over again. It’s almost like we’re drawn to each other, aren’t we?

Let’s not call it an obsession. If you look through the blog archives, you’ll have noticed that I used lemon curd in these crepes and these mini cheesecakes and I modified it to produce this passionfruit curd that I coincidentally also served with shortbread. Huh, strange.

This time I decided to switch it up a bit by cutting my bars into triangles because that’s so mainstream, move with the times guys! The non uniform size looks edgy and adds a new dimension to the basic lemon bars that we have come to know and love from the neighbourhood granny. These make a lovely addition to your 4 o’clock tea, but can also be served as a light dessert by giving it a quick burst in the microwave and serving with a dollop of cream or a big scoop of ice cream. Winning.

Shortbread Lemon Curd Bars

Ingredients

• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 cup icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 1 and ½ cups softened butter
• 3 tbsp rolled oats, uncooked
• 2 cups homemade lemon curd, or storebought is fine too

Method

Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease an 8×8 baking pan and line with parchment paper. In a large bowl, sift together the flour and icing sugar. Rub the butter into the dry mixture until you have a soft crumbly dough. Reserve 1 cup of the mixture, and dump the rest into the baking pan and press down into an even layer. Prick all over with a fork and bake 15 minutes or until it has just started turning golden brown.

Meanwhile, add the oats to the reserved shortbread and rub into the mixture. Once the base is done baking, remove from the oven and spread the lemon curd over the surface in an even layer. Layer on top with the remaining shortbread mixture. Bake for another 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before dusting with icing sugar and serving. Enjoy!