As you all know, I am the queen of “bars” — any variation and combination, I’m up for it. These are a little different than my usual fruit bars though, as I use condensed milk, which gives them almost a cheesecake like quality; very light and creamy and lemony. You can never have too much lemon in my opinion. These wouldn’t have made a good giveaway though as they are too creamy for mailing. Nevertheless, I did give them away to some friends locally who googled them up this week. Would make a great addition to a potluck dessert table.
For the crust and streusel
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
For the lemon filling
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons lemon zest (from 2–3 lemons)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 large egg yolks
Optional topping
Powdered sugar for dusting
Extra lemon zest or candied lemon peel
Directions
Heat oven to 350F. Line an 8×8 or 9×9 inch baking pan with a parchment paper or foil sling and spray with baking spray.
In a large bowl, mix melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Stir in flour until combined. Reserve 1 cup of mixture for topping. Press remaining into the bottom of the prepared pan. In a separate bowl, whisk together sweetened condensed milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and egg yolks until smooth. Pour over crust. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture on top. Bake for 35-40 minutes until edges are golden and center is mostly set.
Cool completely at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving.
