Lemon cream crumb bars are creamy, tart, silky smooth lemon cream with a thick layer of a sweet oatmeal crust, and a thick sprinkle of crumble on top. This is for all the lemon lovers out there. Perfect summertime dessert recipe.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword dessert, lemon, lemon bars
Prep Time 10 minutesminutes
Cook Time 22 minutesminutes
Total Time 32 minutesminutes
Servings 12bars
Calories 327kcal
Author Jessica - Together as Family
Ingredients
oat crumble
1 1/4cupsall-purpose flour
1 1/4cupsold-fashioned oats
1/2cupgranulated sugar
1/2cuplight brown sugar
1/2teaspoonbaking soda
12tablespoonssalted butter, melted
1teaspoonvanilla extract
creamy lemon filling
1can(14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1tablespoonlemon zest
1/3cupfresh squeezed lemon juice
2largeegg yolks
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x9 baking dish with cooking spray. For easy removal and cutting, line with parchment paper or tin foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, rolled oats, sugar, brown sugar and baking soda.
Add in melted butter and vanilla. Stir until evenly moistened.
Press half of the crumb mixture (set aside the other half) into the bottom of the baking dish and gently press down. Bake for 12 minutes.
Remove from oven and set aside to let cool slightly while you make the lemon cream filling.
To make the lemon cream combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Pour over the cooked crust and smooth out. Sprinkle the reserved oat crumble on top and gently press down.
Bake for 22-25 minutes. The middle will still look pale and loose but the edges should be golden brown. Let cool completely. Once cooled, cover and put in fridge for 1 hour. Cut into bars and serve. Store leftovers in the fridge. As these bars sit out at room temperature they do become softer (mainly the filling).
Notes
You could probably use quick oats or the regular old-fashioned oats called for in the recipe. I always have both on hand but if you only have one, then they can be interchanged easily. Quick oats are a finer texture while whole oats are bigger in size and provide more texture to the bars. 12 tablespoons = 1 stick + 1/2 stickTo get the most juice from the lemon. Place the lemon between the palm of your hand and the countertop. Roll it back and forth. You will start to smell the juice release which yields lots of fresh lemon juice for the recipe.