Lemon Crumb Bars!

 

 

As I have said before, I love any lemon dessert and these little "Lemon Crumb Bars" were especially tasty.  They have a unique tart sweet and salty flavor, because you use crushed saltine crackers in them.  It gives them a great taste.  I love sweet and salty.    Here is what you will need for these:

 

1 box lemon or yellow cake mix

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 egg

2 cups finely crushed saltine cracker crumbs

1 (14 ounce) sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 tsp. lemon zest

1 tsp. vanilla

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Spray a 15"x10"x1" baking pan with nonstick spray.   In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, butter, and 1 egg.  Mix well.   This will be very crumbly.  Stir in the cracker crumbs.   Take two cups out and reserve it.   Press the rest in your baking pan firmly.  Bake for 15 minutes.

 

In a medium mixing bowl.  beat the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and lemon zest until well blended.  Stir in the vanilla.   Spread over the baked crust and then top with the reserved crumb mixture.

 

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until the seem firm.  Don't over bake. Remove and allow to cool. 

 

 Cut in bars and serve!

 

These make a great after school snack or a little something sweet with your afternoon coffee!

 

 





Easy Cheesy Lemon Bars!

These "Easy Cheesy Lemon Bars" are so simple to make, but they are delicious.  You just use a few ingredients in these for those of you who fuss about recipes that have too many ingredients. They are sort of a combination of a lemon cheesecake and a bar cookie.   Here is what you will need:

1/2 cup butter, melted (1 stick)

1 lemon cake mix

3 eggs, divided

1 (16 oz.) container lemon frosting, divided

1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl combine the butter, cake mix and 1 egg until the cake mix is all moist.

Spray a 9"x13" baking pan with nonstick spray or grease it with butter.   Pat the cake mix mixture into the bottom of the pan.

In a mixing bowl beat the cream cheese, 1/2 of the lemon frosting, the other 2 eggs, and the vanilla for about 3-4 minutes.  It should be light and fluffy when you finish. 

Spread this over the cake mix in the pan.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. 

They are done when the top is just starting to brown and sides start to pull away from the pan.  Don't over bake them or the edges will be hard.  Allow to cool completely and then frost the top with the rest of the can of frosting.  There is just enough frosting to put a thin layer on them and that is all they really need. 

Cut in bars and serve!  

Refrigerate any leftovers!



Two Ingredient Lemon Bars!

I love lemon desserts, so these lemon bars were especially interesting to me when I first saw the recipe.  I think this recipe originated on the Betty Crocker website, maybe on the back of an angel food cake mix originally.  I am really not sure.  Then, like so many of these old recipes, because of the Internet and food bloggers and Pinterest, it started really circulating again.

 The original recipe and most of the versions you see on the Internet call for a box of angel food cake mix and 1 can of lemon pie filling.  That works pretty good, but the results are more like a lightly flavored lemon sponge cake.   I used the angel food cake mix and 2 cans of lemon pie filling and I think it turned out much better and more like lemon bars.  The consistency was not as spongy and the flavor of lemon was more intense, but not over powering.  There is an added bonus to these, they are almost fat free.  For those watching your weight or cholesterol, they are a nice sweet treat.

This is all you need: 

1 (16 oz.) box angel food cake mix
2 (21 oz.) cans lemon pie filling  (some brands are 22 oz. and that is fine)
powdered sugar for garnishing (optional)

This is all you need!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9"x13" baking pan with nonstick spray.  Mix the cake mix and the lemon pie filling by hand, just until the cake mix is all moistened.  DO NOT use an electric mixer on this.   If you use an electric mixer or over beat this, it will put too much air in it and it will rise up and out of your pan and you will have a mess.   It works perfect if you just stir it by hand until it's all moist.   You will notice that is gets sort of bubbly and that is normal.

Spread evenly in the baking dish and place on the center rack in your oven for approximately 25 minutes.   It will just be starting to brown on the edges.  Don't let it brown on the top.  The full 25 minutes are usually needed.  

Remove and allow to cool.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut in squares. That's all there is to it!



No Bake Luscious Lemon Bars!

I had a bag of lemons in the fridge that really needed to be used so I decided that I would make lemon bars.  I also had cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk, two of my favorite things, so I thought they should be no bake lemon bars.  In southern Kentucky, once the weather gets warm, the last thing you want to do is turn the oven on to bake something.  This dessert is rich and wonderful and no heat is required. 

Here is what you will need:

Graham cracker crumbs, butter, lemon Jello instant pudding, cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, frozen whipped topping (Cool Whip), lemon juice, milk, and vanilla flavoring.

With an electric mixer whip together the softened cream cheese and condensed milk.

Add 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 cup lemon juice, 2 pkgs. lemon pudding mix, and 1/2 cup milk and blend well.  Fold in 8 oz. frozen whipped topping slightly thawed until well incorporated.

Melt 1 stick of butter and add 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs to it, mix and then pat into a 9"x13" baking dish.  Pour the lemon mixture over the crust.   Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, overnight is great also.

When it has set up, sprinkle about a 1/2 cup of graham cracker crumbs over the top.

Top with a swirl of whipped cream and a lemon slice and you have a beautiful dessert without ever turning on the oven.

Ingredients:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 stick butter

8 oz. softened cream cheese

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2  3 oz. pkgs. instant lemon pudding mix

1/2  cup milk

8 oz. frozen whipped topping (Cool Whip)

1 tsp. vanilla flavoring

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice  ( juice of 2-3 lemons)

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs for topping