Tag Archives: dessert

Lemon Cream Bars

When I saw this recipe featured on Tasty Kitchen, I immediately decided to make it. I had committed to bringing a treat to a Women’s Ministry event at my church last Friday, and this seemed like a pretty easy little number.

As soon as I started baking it, my husband looked at me happily. “Oooh, you’ve made this before, right? These are those great lemon bars!”

Suddenly, strange half-formed memories started emerging. Had I made these before? After ruminating for days, seeing a hypnotist and a psychotherapist and undergoing memory revitalization at a clinic in Tibet, I have finally reached the conclusion that I simply can’t remember! It’s rare that a cooking memory could turn so foggy–I tend to remember everything I make in mouth-watering detail. However, all I can conjure up regarding these bars is an undefined sense of deja vu.

But why are we wasting time talking about my early onset of memory loss? The point is–this is a VERY easy dessert to whip up. It takes very little time to get into the oven, and the tanginess of the lemon juice and crumbly texture of the streusel combine to make a lovely little treat. Plus, the ingredients are all things I tend to have in the pantry, so if I’m in a dessert bind, I know I can turn to these.

Ingredients

(Makes 20 bars)

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2 1/2 lemons)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup oats

1 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup butter, melted (10.6 TBS)

1 tsp baking powder

1 pinch salt

First things first: preheat the oven to 350 F and assemble the ingredients.

Now it’s time to squeeze the lemons–fresh lemon juice is always best, especially when it’s such a central flavor in the end product.

I had a papercut under my fingernail, so I enlisted my husband to squeeze them for me.

Thanks, babes.

There wasn’t quite enough lemon juice in 2 lemons, so I broke my own rule about fresh lemon juice and supplemented with this little bottle.

What’s the point of making a rule if you don’t break it yourself 5 seconds after declaring it to the world?

I’m glad you feel the same way.

Next up: mix the lemon juice and condensed milk with a whisk or fork until they’re nicely combined. You can’t tell in this picture, but I spilled about half the mixture on the counter due to the violence of my whipping technique. Then I licked it off the counter and called myself Blessed.

So please use a larger bowl than the one pictured.

Set it aside.

Mix the remaining ingredients to form the streusel.

Gratuitous shot of pouring in the liquid butter:

This stuff is so tasty just as it is. I munched on it as I mixed.

Next time I’ll make a little extra and sprinkle some into my yoghurt.

Press half the streusel into a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking dish, creating an even layer.

If you can remember to save the paper wrappers from the butter you melted earlier, you can use them to grease the pan quite nicely. I (of course) forgot and threw them away, so I resorted to some baking spray.

Pour the lemon/condensed milk mixture over top of the streusel . . .

. . . and spread it out evenly with the back of a spoon.

Sprinkle the rest of the streusel evenly over top.

Bake that baby for 25-30 minutes.

There it is, fresh out of the oven.

Don’t try to taste or cut into now, or you will leave a path of destruction in your wake. Cool the bars completely! Exercise your patience.

The rewards will be worth it.

If you don’t mean to consume the bars immediately, store them in the refrigerator–I should add that they’re good warm, room-temperature, or chilled and straight out of the fridge. Yes, I had them all 3 ways.

I was a little afraid that the crumbly streusel would result in a bar that would completely fall apart upon contact with my human hand.

(As opposed to the robot hand that I keep in the drawer, of course.)

So I was obliged to test my theory.

A couple times.

The bars held up quite well!

Aren’t you glad I’m here to figure these things out in advance for you?

To troubleshoot, so to speak?

So am I.

Click here for printer-friendly version: Lemon Cream Bars

Project Ice Cream Space: mission accomplished

I’ve mentioned it before: Project Ice Cream Space has been a long, ongoing process designed to clear enough space in our freezer to fit in some ice cream.

We’ve been separated from ice cream for so long we’ve practically become ice cream virgins. It’s indecent, that’s what.

And why was our freezer so full? Well, I’ll let you read here for that can of worms. It involves a very generous grandfather who lived through some tough, hungry times in his youth and therefore expresses his love by sending us pork loins, arm roasts, turkey breasts, ducks, myriads of cheddar bratwursts, and table-size tablets of chicken breasts.

We’ve been chipping away at the bounty slowly over the months, using dinner parties as an excuse to break out massive quantities of meat. We cleared out a pot roast for a church potluck.

We cleared out a massive pork loin with a group of friends. We slow cooked the turkey breast and shredded the leftovers into this soup.

Though the duck has yet to be dealt with, the space cleared was starting to get significant. History-altering. See the gap on the right?

Yes, the one next to the frozen bag of minced carrots and celery and the frozen pie crust?

Just the right size for a container of cookie dough frozen glory.

(I placed a black arrow in the above picture in case any of you are still half asleep and are having trouble following what’s happening. Aren’t I considerate?)

A number of weeks ago, we finally sealed our success with the purchase of this tub of ice cream:

I’d forgotten . . . I’d forgotten.

Heavens to Betsy.

What does that mean?? Who is Betsy, and why is Heaven ringing her up?

I’m having brain freeze, so I can no longer ponder that.

Over the weekend, this tub of Dulce de Leche made its way from the grocery store to our freezer. How it got there, I can’t quite remember. I claim no responsibility other than that of making the evidence disappear.

A sugar coma is imminent.