White Chocolate Chip Lemon Bars

Summer seems to be quickly dwindling away. Well, according to the calendar. The heat index still indicates there's several months of warm weather left for our area. I have several summer sweets I've had tucked away to blog about, but I better hurry or I'll have to wait for next summer!
Lemons are such a summery fruit to me. So bright and sunshiney in yellow. And, Lemon Bars are certainly one of those traditional summer time desserts that everyone I know simply adores. Its hard not to love them... with their sweet/tart coolness just waiting to be devoured..
A while back, I had a lady request that I make her a lemon bar, but with white chocolate chips included in the mix. I thought this request was a bit unusual, but it turns out, it was an excellent idea! The white chocolate is not too sweet (I know....what's too sweet?!?) and it perfectly balances out the slight bitterness of the lemon. Plus, it hardly takes any time to throw these great lemon bars together. They'd be great for a Labor Day cookout! Enjoy!

White Chocolate Chip Lemon Bars

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour - divided use
1 cup granulated sugar - divided use
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup white chocolate chips
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon peel
Powdered sugar

1. Heat oven to 350°F (175°). Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking pan; set aside.
2. Combine 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup granulated sugar in medium bowl; cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Press mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan.
4. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; sprinkle white chocolate chips over top.
5. Stir together eggs, lemon juice, lemon peel, remaining 1/4 cup flour and remaining 3/4 cup sugar in medium bowl; carefully pour over chips and crust.
6. Bake 15 minutes or until set. Cool slightly in pan on wire rack; sift powdered sugar over top. Cool completely before cutting into bars.