Creamy Lemon Squares

I love lemon bars with all of my heart, but it's hard to find a really awesome recipe, and sub-par lemon bars are just disappointing. I also love cheesecake with all of my heart, but sometimes I'm not in the mood to buy six packages of cream cheese. Enter creamy lemon squares. These squares combine the best of both worlds, and I've mixed and matched a couple of recipes to create one that I love (and that is super simple). Here you go.

Creamy Lemon Squares

Crust
3/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups flour

Filling
2 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
4 Tbsp flour
6 Tbsp lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (important that it's fresh!)
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 tsp powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Line 13x9-inch baking pan with parchment paper or foil (if using foil, lightly grease). In a large bowl, beat butter and powdered sugar until blended. Gradually beat in 1 1/2 cups flour. Press onto bottom of pan. Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.*

Beat cream cheese and granulated sugar with mixer until blended. Add eggs and 4 Tbsp flour; mix well. Blend in 2 Tbsp lemon zest, lemon juice, and baking powder; pour over crust. Bake 25-28 minutes or until center is set.* Cool. Refrigerate 2 hours. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and remaining lemon zest. Lift out of pan with parchment paper or foil before cutting.

*My crust was done in 12 minutes. The filling was done in 15-17 minutes. But my oven bakes really really fast, so just know your oven and keep an eye on it.