Lighten Up, YвЂ™all: Classic Southern Recipes Made Healthy and Wholesome received a 2016 James Beard Foundation Award of Excellence. Virginia is a chef instructor for the digital streaming platform Food Network Kitchen and author of Secrets of the Southern Table: A Food LoverвЂ™s Tour of the Global South, Lighten Up, YвЂ™all, Bon AppГ©tit, YвЂ™all, Basic to Brilliant, YвЂ™all, Okra, and Grits. Georgia-born French-trained Chef Virginia Willis has made chocolate chip cookies with Dwanye вЂњThe RockвЂќ Johnson, foraged for berries in the Alaskan wilderness, harvested capers in the shadow of a smoldering volcano in Sicily, and beguiled celebrities such as Jane Fonda, Bill Clinton, and Julie Chrisley with her cooking - but it all started in her grandmotherвЂ™s country kitchen. HereвЂ™s my little 30-second how-to video on Instagram. ItвЂ™s now streaming LIVE on YouTube at 11:30 am EST every Friday and you can also check it out after it airs live. Please make sure to check out Cookbooks with Virginia. Let me know what you think! Thanks so much for reading. These Easy Lemon Squares can also be made in an 8-inch square pan. I had a 9-inch cake pan and wanted a tart. (In WW world this luscious dessert comes in at 5.5 blue points per 1/16th slice.) It helps with portion size and feels manageable. Increasingly, I am making smaller desserts. You donвЂ™t have to can a bushel of green beans. ThereвЂ™s a trend starting I think with вЂњsmall bakes.вЂќ Baking seems intimidating because it always seems so вЂњbig.вЂќ But it doesnвЂ™t have to be. The key is hitting the mark with the set вЂ“ too much is too much and not enough is not enough. Cornstarch has twice the thickening power of all-purpose flour. Cornstarch like many starches can be tricky. With an almond flour gluten-free crust, it may as well have a gluten-free custard, so cornstarch is the answer. I am looking more along the lines of dump-and-stir. The results are clear and lovely, but I donвЂ™t want effort in this instance. Sliceable lemon custard is set most often in three ways: flour, cornstarch, or cooking the eggs on the stovetop. Personally, I do not need to cook gluten-free for health reasons. It contains no gluten and while it seldom be used interchangeably for wheat flour cup to cup, it works with shortbread with a few adaptations.ДЄll-purpose flour is actually fewer points than almond flour, but I wanted to try this recipe both with regular flour and gluten-free almond flour. It is high in fiber and heart-healthy, too. (Almond meal is made by grinding almonds with their skins intact.)ДЄlmond flour is rich in vitamin E and magnesium, two important nutrients. Almond flour is not the same as almond meal. The process involves blanching almonds in boiling water to remove the skins, then grinding and sifting them into a fine flour. Almond flour is made from ground almonds. They are one of my favorite ingredients and worth the extra money for cooking and baking.ДЄlmond flour shortbread is deliciously more buttery than plain pure butter and wheat flour shortbread. Meyer lemons are a cross between an orange and a lemon. These are the two most common lemon varieties found in the produce section. And, they need to be all about the lemon! When in season, I prefer to use Meyer Lemons instead of regular Eureka or Lisbon lemons. Call it lemon square, tart, or bar вЂ“ Lemon вЂњSquaresвЂќ are a buttery shortbread topped with sweet-tart baked lemon custard. I wasnвЂ™t very good at Geometry, but thatвЂ™s a triangle. Read on to learn more! Sweet TartД¬learly, thatвЂ™s not a square. My tasters had no idea it was a healthier version of a lemon bar вЂ“ and loved it. My Easy Lemon Squares are not any harder to prepare and do not require any special ingredients. I am convinced there are ways to lighten things up and still have great flavor with baked goods, desserts, and sweet things вЂ“ lemon squares included. Lemon is, or should be, the star of the show. Lemon Squares are often made with gobs of butter and sugar and well, thatвЂ™s one reason why they are so good. (That means I make a commission if you use my affiliate link to buy the product.) Please note that this post may contain affiliate links.

Lemon squares