I think I’m spending too much time on Pinterest lately, because the urge to cook seems to be bubbling right on up through me! I spotted a recipe for creamy lemon bars awhile back and decided to give them a go earlier this week. The recipe was fairly simple and I had a taste for a sweet treat! I’ve seen this recipe in other places too, which have slightly different instructions – so do what works best for you!

There are some learning points that I found out during the process, as my try at the bars didn’t come out perfect, but they were pretty darn tasty. Please excuse my terrible iPhone pictures – ah, the life of a blogger!

Ingredients:

• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• 3 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees
• Coat an 8×8 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray (make sure you use this size – I used a larger size and my bars didn’t come out as thick as I had hoped!)
• Grate 3 lemons into small bowl
• While oven is preheating, mix milk, lemon zest and lemon juice into a medium bowl until thickened – then set it aside
• Mix remaining ingredients in medium bowl until crumbly
• Press half of the mixture into the pan and back for about 10 minutes or until set – I believe I actually baked it for about 15 minutes
• Spread lemon milk mixture over baked crust and spread evenly
• Sprinkle remaining oat mixture over lemon milk mixture and press down gently
• Bake for 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and center is set but soft
• Cool completely and then cut into 4×4 rows
• Enjoy!

1. Lemon milk mixture | 2. Oat and butter mixture | 3. First layer of oat mixture in pan | 4. Final layer of oat mixture and lemon milk mixture

The bars came out delicious but not as picture perfect as the Pinterest recipe. Some things I would note is to make sure you use an 8×8 pan. I believe I used a 8×12 pan and it was too big. I wasn’t sure if I’d have enough oat mixture to cover it but really spread it out thinly. I also didn’t let the butter soften enough and it was hard to mix with the oats. You really need the butter to seal everything together – so make sure its really softened and mix well! Or, use more butter when baking – not going to lie – I added it throughout the baking process when it looked like spots were still “dry.”  It was still super good and I’d definitely try to make these again – super easy peasy too!

Finished lemon bars!