Guest Post: Pink Lemonade Bars by Eats Well With Others

Many people have told me that they are impressed I am capable of juggling all the demands of being a graduate student and having a food blog. But guess what? I’m not the only crazy, food-obsessed grad student. I introduced you to Zainab from Blahnik Baker a little while ago, and today Joanne from Eats Well With Others is here!

Joanne makes some of the most pretty, creative, and delicious looking things I have seen. Knowing what it is like being in graduate school, I’m impressed by all the recipes she whips up. Heck I’d be impressed even if she weren’t also in grad school. Her strawberry-rhubarb dream cake is exactly that. She takes grilled cheese to a new level with grilled goat cheese sandwiches with fig and honey. As a bonus she makes some awesome peanut butter and chocolate treats such as gooey chocolate peanut butter bars. Stick around and see what what she’s made for you today!

One year ago: Rosemary Brie Chicken Burgers

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Hi all! I’m Joanne, the {crazy} voice behind Eats Well With Others.

As a fellow biology PhD student, I’d like to think that Erin and I are kindred spirits. With the only difference being that she is living the dream and GRADUATING while I am so far away from that point that you can’t even see it with a pair of spy-grade binoculars.

Or {nerd alert} a confocal microscope on 80x magnification.

In case you’re not familiar with such a thing (consider yourself lucky). That’s pretty far.

Anyway, to celebrate Erin’s myriad accomplishments and to help put a smile on her face during these stressful times, I baked up some pink lemonade bars! Not only will their vibrant hue make you happy-at-first-glance, but their sweet-tart flavor is the perfect reminder that though things may seem unreasonably crazy at the moment, there will most certainly be a silver lining when you come out on the other side.

Pink Lemonade Bars

Makes 16, adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

For the base:

• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ tsp lemon zest
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
• 1 cup flour

For the filling:

• 1 cup raspberries
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 1/3 cup flour

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Grease with butter or cooking spray.
2. For the base, pulse together the sugar, lemon zest, and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until it is evenly distributed throughout the dough. Add in the flour and pulse until just combined and crumbly. Press into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes or until starting to brown. Let cool while you make the filling.
3. In the same food processor, puree the raspberries. Pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl to get rid of the seeds.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice. Add in 3 tbsp of the raspberry puree. Stir in the flour until just combined. Pour the filling on top of the crust and bake until just set, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting and serving.