Creamy Lemon Crumb Bars

Anybody else feeling like winter should have been over about a month ago??  Unfortunately, where I live it's pretty much winter until May.  Seriously.  Sometimes it's still snowing.  I cry about it daily.

During this last stretch of winter I like to bake a bunch of springtime/summertime treats and pretend we don't have three more months of winter ahead of us.

These lemon bars are great because they aren't too tart and never taste metallic.  The crumb topping goes perfectly with the creamy lemon filling, and a big glass of milk.  I've made these lemon bars 4 or 5 times and probably will never look for another recipe.  They really are that good.



PS- Don't use a foil-lined pan to make these.  Once refrigerated they cut and remove pretty easily just using a small metal spatula, so you won't even need it.

Creamy Lemon Crumb Bars

Recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything

-1 ⅓ cups  flour

-½ teaspoons salt

-1 teaspoon baking powder

-1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

-1 cup brown sugar

-1 cup oats

-1 can (14 ounce) sweetened condensed milk

-½ cup lemon juice

-zest from 1 lemon

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and brown sugar together.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl.

Add oats and flour to butter/sugar mixture and mix to combine.

Press half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of a greased 8 x 11 inch pan. (That's the one that looks just like your 13x9 pyrex except it's like 65% of the size...)

Mix together condensed milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Spread evenly onto the bottom layer of the crumb mixture in your pan. Sprinkle the rest of the crumb mixture evenly on top of the lemon layer.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden.  Let cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes, then move to the refrigerate to chill completely.   Cut into squares and serve cold.