Tangy lemon cream cheese filling on a sweet crumble crust and with an oat & brown sugar textured crumble topping.
Please don’t tell me that summer’s almost over. Please, no one point to the calendar and remind me that we are now officially halfway through August and in some places kids have already re-started school.
Tell me sweet, sunshiny lies about daylight stretching out past 8PM forever, about the possibilities of still having enough time to maybe take a beach trip and to establish a healthy summertime workout routine, that I don’t need to worry about chapped hands and lips and finding my winter coat.
Let’s talk about cookouts and sweet summer produce, about fire-engine-colored tomatoes falling heavy off the vine and plodding to the still-green ground, burgers popping and sizzling over a charcoal grill, and naturally buttery-sweet Ambrosia corn, truly aptly named and eaten off the cob, the only added seasoning a shy sprinkle of salt.
If you won’t tell me these lies, these lemon squares just might.
I’m aware, as you probably are, that lemons aren’t even a summer harvest–they’re harvested in winter months. But they come to fruition in lands of eternal summers, states that never see snow days (which actually, is the only good part of wintertime if you ask me, besides Christmas). They are fruits that don’t know a true winter and can’t fathom frost, their happily-colored gem-like interiors shining sunnily, because to them winter as I know it doesn’t exist, and maybe that’s how they manage to be so eternally cheerful.
And they are cheerful little squares; their citrine centers are sharply tart and pleasantly sweet at the same time. Mostly tart, though: the soft and creamy filling is tempered only barely by condensed milk and cream cheese and is unabashed in its flavor.
The crumb crust and topping supply a wonderful texture and the majority of the sweetness. It’s a simple streusel-based crumb made of oats and brown sugar and butter, pressed into the bottom of a 9×9 pan and then sprinkled on top of the filling, sandwiching the lemon-y interior. It’s a treat more refreshing than lemonade on a hot summer day, a supposed-winter fruit-filling that embodies summertime like nothing else.
I’ll let these tangy-sweet lemon squares fill my head with lies and just hope to float blissfully unaware through the days to an eternal summer.
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Enjoy!
Lemon Crumble Bars
Ingredients
Crumble
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- ¼ tsp salt
- 12 Tbsp cold unsalted butter
Filling
- 4 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 3 large egg yolks
- ½ cup lemon juice
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a 9x9 square pan with aluminum foil (enough so that the foil hangs over the sides so that the bars can be easily lifted out of the pan and cut when finished)
- In large bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, oats and salt until well-combined.
- Using a pastry cutter cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Press ⅔ of the crumble mixture into the bottom and partly up the sides of the prepared pan.
- Bake on 350F for 13 minutes, remove and allow to cool while the filling is prepared (do not turn off oven).
Filling
- In KitchenAid or with hand mixer beat cream cheese until creamed.
- Add condensed milk, and eggs, whisk well.
- Add in lemon juice and vanilla extract, whisk until mixture begins to thicken (about 2-3 minutes) and pour over the baked crumble base in 9x9 pan.
- Distribute remaining crumb mixture evenly over the top of the lemon filling.
- Bake on 350F for 15 minutes.
- After baking, allow bars to cool to room temperature before transferring to fridge and chilling 2-3 hours (if bars are difficult to cut after 2 hours, return to fridge and allow to cool 1 hour before checking again).
Nutrition
Anne Knowles
i am making these lemon crumble bars right this minute and I cannot get the filling mix to thicken, please help me, the crumble is done and waiting for the filling
Sam
Hi Anne! Is the whisk leaving trails in the mixture that hold for just a brief second before falling back in on itself? If so you should be good to go. 🙂
Jodi Desjardins
This is a killer recipe. I substituted lime juice because I already had many desserts using lemon…the smell, no words! I ate it warm barely able to cut. Thank-you, all your recipes I’ve baked were great.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Jodi! 🙂
Ali
Hi. Recipe looks amazing I’m planning to do it in the coming few days. Can I line up the pan with parchment paper instead of aluminium foil? Can I mix ingredients by hand if I don’t have a pastry cutter or shall I buy one? Last question how much condensed milk shall I use in grams? Thanks a lot
Sam
Hi Ali! You can use parchment paper here and if you don’t have a pastry cutter you can use a fork and a knife to work it together. 🙂
Ali
I’ve tried these today. Absolutely amazing! I’ve used around 0.4 cup lemon juice instead of 0.5 and I think I prefer it that way (as in it was perfect for me). I guess if you love lemons and tart desserts so much then 0.5 would be great but if you want it to be little bit less tart and more sweet then maybe 1/3 would be sufficient. Either way, great recipe and amazing results as was the case with all the recipes I’ve tried on your website (6 desserts so far and definitely much more to come).
By the way what’s your favourite burnt basque cheesecake recipe?
Sam
Hi Ali! I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! I was very intrigued by your question about burnt basque cheesecake. I had actually never even heard of it so I googled it. Very interesting. I will have to try it one day. 🙂
Connie Dennis
Whole family loved for Thanksgiving treat. My daughter added extra lemon zest.
Sam
So happy to hear this! thanks for letting me know how they turned out, Connie! 🙂
Jennifer
Could I double the recipe , and put in a 9×13 pan?
Sam
Hi Jennifer! That would work just fine. 🙂
Abbi
These are sooooo yummy – made them last night and my husband and I have already come close to eating half the pan (oops lol)! He liked them warm, right out of the oven (impatience took over). I think they were great warm or chilled like the directions say.
Sam
Haha, these never last long in my house, either! I’m also incredibly impatient, so I can’t believe I didn’t think to try these warm but I’m going to have to try a square that way next time I make them! Thanks for commenting, Abbi! 🙂
Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel
Nope nope nope, it’s not over. I refuse to believe it! LOL! These bars…. omg. They might make up for the fact that summer’s almost over. They look SO YUMMY!! <3
Sam
Thanks so much Jess! Glad you’re with me on refusing to accept that summer is slipping away! 🙂
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop
My mouth is watering just thinking of this lemony filling! This type of dessert can make summer feel like it’s always here!
Sam
Thanks, Kathy! 🙂
Kennedy Cole@ KCole's Creative Corner
These look outrageously divine! Lemon is my all-time favorite flavor, so I would definitely love these! And, I know how sad it is to think that summer is coming to an end! We went back to school about 3 weeks ago. So, summer is pretty much gone for me. Bummer! But, on the bright side, these bars are a delicious way to remind us of summer! 😀
Sam
3 weeks ago!? That’s crazy! Schools around here just started this week. Thanks, Kennedy!
Anu-My Ginger Garlic Kitchen
Summer is not over yet! At least here! 🙂 ! And these luscious lemon crumble bars look divine, Sam. Looks like the perfect summer treat! And also love that lemon cream cheese filling. Droolicious share, Sam! 🙂
Sam
Thank you, Anu!
Beeta @ Mon Petit Four
Ooh these definitely make it easier to pretend like summer will go on and on! I love the crumble topping and the fact that it’s a cheesecake filling. These look so yummy. Living in California, my lemon tree is always giving me tons of lemons to use so this looks like a year round recipe for me!! 😀
Sam
I am so jealous of your lemon tree, there’s no way I could have one of those here. Thanks, Beeta! 🙂