Lemon Pie Bars

 
Have you ever heard of mix and match when buying and wearing clothes?  Well, the same works for recipes, too.  I had some egg yolks that I needed to use up.  I already used the whites for another recipe for cake.  I just needed to use the yolks, so I remembered that the lemon meringue pie recipe uses egg yolks in the filling, so I used that recipe for the filling, and since I didn't want to make a pie crust and get my whole kitchen floury, I decided to make the crust as a lemon bar crust.  I've used this crust for other recipes as well, and figured it would work for this concoction.  It did!  These were great!  Both of these recipes are from my Pillsbury cookbook.

Lemon Bar Crust

2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup margarine or butter

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  In large bowl, combine ingredients; beat at low speed until crumbly.  Press mixture evenly in bottom of ungreased pan.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes or until light golden brown.

Lemon Meringue Pie Filling

1 1/4 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups cold water
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

In medium saucepan, combine 1 1/4 cups sugar, cornstarch, and salt; mix well.  Gradually stir in cold water until smooth.  Cook over medium heat until mixture boils, stirring constantly.  Boil 1 minute or longer, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.

Pour filling over heated crust.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes.  Sprinkle powdered sugar over top if desired.  Cool and store in refrigerator.