Instructions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Prepare shortbread crust: Cream butter & sugar on high speed. Add vanilla and mix until combined. Add flour and mix at low speed until fully incorporated. Press dough evenly into bottom of 8x8 inch baking pan. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Prick shortbread crust with fork and bake for 30 minutes or until crust turns golden brown. Cool on rack to room temperature.

Cream cheese filling: prepare while crust is baking. Beat cream cheese & sugar until smooth in medium bowl with electric mixer set on high speed. Add egg and lemon extract and beat on medium speed until light and smooth. Cover bowl tightly and refrigerate.

Lemon curd: Blend the egg yolks with the cornstarch and sugar in medium non-aluminum saucepan. Place over low heat and slowly whisk in water and lemon juice. Increase heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Add lemon peel and butter and cool for 10 minutes.

Assembly: spread chilled cream cheese filling evenly over cooled shortbread crust with spatula. Spread lemon curd evenly over cream cheese filling. Place pan in center of oven. Bake 30-40 minutes or until edges begin to turn light golden brown. Cool to room temperature on rack. Chill in refrigerator 1 hour before cutting into bars. Dust top with powdered sugar.

One of my 4-hers won a Grand Champion with this. I believe that this was originally from the Debbie Fields cookie book.

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