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Sunday, March 28, 2010

Crunchy Lemon Squares



makes approximately 9 3" Squares
recipe adapted from Eagle Brand (Canada)
prep time: 10 min / cook time: 25-30 min

CRUST
1 c quick oats, uncooked
1 c flour
1/2 c flaked coconuts
* I used 1 1/3 c coconuts
1/2 c coarsely chopped walnuts
* I omitted the chopped walnuts
1/2 c firmly-packed light brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 c butter, melted
* I used 3/4 c butter

FILLING
1 can regular/low fat sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp grated lemon zest

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
Combine all crust ingredients.
• Pat 1/2 crumb mixture evenly on bottom of 9x9" parchment-lined baking pan.
Reserve other half.
In medium bowl, combine all filling ingredients. Pour mixture onto crumb layer.
Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool throughly and cut into squares.
* I baked it for 35-40 minutes to get a crunchier and browner top.

** ADDIECAKES' NOTES **
• You can line the baking pan with foil instead of parchment paper. Spray the
foil with non-stick.cooking spray so the lemon layer does not stick.
• Refrigerating and let harden for easy cutting.



ADDIECAKES' DIFFICULTY RATING


ADDIECAKES' TASTE RATING

9 comments:

Alexandria Regilio said...

These look fantastic! I know I've said this before, but I love lemon desserts. They're so springtime!
On a side note, I have sugar cookie dough that's been in the fridge for two days now. Tim bought me a lobster cut out and a guitar cut out for Christmas and I'm a little intimidated by them. The dough is always SO difficult to work with and with such detailed cut outs, I'm expecting them to turn out terribly. Any tips??
Thx guys!

Sami and Addie said...

Hey Alex! It's Addie . . . I made a lemon tart last night, it'll be posted next week. I think you might like the recipe if you like lemon. I gave half of it away and ate two slices this morning.

I have problems with sugar cookies, well all cookies really. I think that's why I don't bake cookies. I've found that sugar cookies spread a lot so keep them about 1" apart. The thinner you roll out the cookies the browner the edges will get if they get over baked. So I guess if you want crispy sugar cookies (about 1/8" thickness) keep an eye on them. Rotating them half way through baking might help as well. That's about all the cookie tips I can give you since I don't know diddly squat about them. Maybe I'll attempt to make cookies for one of the postings and see what happens.

Alexandria Regilio said...

Hi Addie! Thank you so much! I tend to put them too close together, so this time I will definitely make sure they're at least 1" apart. And I'll definitely try rotating them. I have the dough out of the fridge now, so I'll give it a 1/2 hour and then try this out! I'll let you know how it goes.
I can't wait to see the lemon tart, too!!!

Unknown said...

I bake sugar and butter cookies all the time and sometimes I use cut outs. The thing that really works for me is rolling out the dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap, taking the wrap off every now and again to ease the tension so that it doesn't tear the plastic wrap. Then I put the whole thing onto a cookie sheet that will fit inside the freezer to chill for about 5-10 minutes. Take it out and use the cookie cutters, don't take the dough apart, put it back into the freezer for another 10 minutes. After that you can peel back the pieces that aren't cut out and ease the cut out dough off the plastic wrap. I know this sounds crazy intensive but it turns out really great shapes. Also you can re-roll the dough bits out one more time after that it's kaput.

Alexandria Regilio said...

Hi Cyndi! Wow, that does sound intensive, but if it works, it's worth it! The best cut outs are always the ones with the really finely detailed shapes.
I ended up having some luck with mine after adding another cup of flour to the dough. I kneaded it in right before rolling them out. The dough still stuck to the cut out, but then I was able to gently punch it out right onto the cookie sheet. This was also very labor intensive. Now I have about a dozen each of the lobsters, guitars, and I forgot to mention the dog ones, too! I don't even have kids -- what's wrong with me?!?! ;) It was fun nonetheless.
Thx for all of the great tips, guys!

Brendan said...

How about some baby back ribs!

Kimber Vincent said...

I am totally making these lemon bars ASAP! Do you guys know the nutritional info on these by chance? I'm sure I don't want to know, but I'm totally obsessed with knowing all about the calories/fat in my food these days.

Tiffiny Felix said...

LOL! When I first saw your picture on Tastespotting I thought the caption said "Cruddy Lemon Bars"...huh?! I saw the real caption when I looked closer. Still made me giggle :) They look divine, by the way. Lucious, even :)

Sami and Addie said...

@Brendan: I promise to make you baby back ribs. I also found an alternative to condensed milk SOOOO you eat these lemon squares!

@Kimber: If you read the nutritional value of condensed milk it'll make you wan to cry. It's got oats in it so it's got some kind of healthy ingredient in it. =)

@Tiffiny: Welcome to our food blog! It really wouldn't be unlike me to accidentally type in "Cruddy Lemon Bars."

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