Lemon Drizzle Bars

I am sharing this as a simple summer treat recipe because you can make it in any kitchen. I first developed this recipe in a tiny rental kitchen in London with the bare minimum of kitchen kit as something to pack up for a picnic in the park with a Shakespeare performance of The Tempest. And they are the perfect thing to make if you are in a small, minimally equipped kitchen, a rental or a weekend home at the beach or the lake or the mountains. You can really do it in one bowl (clean out the big bowl to make the drizzle). A simple box grater has skinny holes for lemon zest, but you can skip it in a pinch. No mixer or special equipment required, no hard to find ingredients. You can even buy a disposable tinfoil pan to bake them in at the most basic of grocery stores. And if it’s a short stay and you don’t want to buy flour, baking powder and sugar, simply put the measured ingredients in ziptop bags at home to take with you.

These bars are the perfect picnic treat – they are sweet and puckery, stay moist and tender and hold up really well. I switched it up from a traditional powdered sugar glaze to this lemon juice and sugar drizzle, inspired by a classic British lemon drizzle loaf cake, which adds extra lemon zing and a nice crackly topping without melting or mess when you pack them up. You could also serve them in large pieces with some sliced, sweetened strawberries or blueberries.