Something about summertime always gets me going a little crazy with the lemon recipes. The tartness is a refreshing pick-me-up in the heavy humidity and, after a few 90-degree days, I’ve been keeping these lemon crumb bars stocked in our fridge. They’re not a far cry from the lemon pie I shared recently, only the lemon filling is slightly creamier and encased in a crumbly streusel based crumb rather than a pie crust. And they’re square, of course. They’re a cousin to my lemon bars, only with slightly less tart lemon punch and a sweeter crust. They’re also incredibly simple to make (though some patience is needed to allow them to cool and chill… it’s worth it), and the perfect balance of creamy filling and buttery, crumbly streusel. I think you’re going to love these lemon crumb bars, so let’s get started.
What You Need for Lemon Crumb Bars
I don’t think you’ll find any of these ingredients today to be particularly unusual, but let’s go over a few of them before we begin.
Butter. This is what makes our crumb topping crumbly and buttery, yet its also what helps to bind it together and keeps the bars from completely falling apart, so you can cut nice, neat squares. It adds a delicious flavor and as a bonus, I use melted butter (rather than cold butter that must be painstakingly cut in with a pastry cutter). Not only do I feel that this gives the bars a better flavor, it makes the process so much faster and simpler.Sugar. Both granulated and brown sugar add flavor and sweetness to the crust/topping. None of this sugar goes into the filling, as we’ll be using sweetened condensed milk there and this contains all the sugar you need.Baking powder. Just a pinch mixed into the crumble mixture helps keep the topping (/crust!) from being so dense or tough that you might break your teeth on it! Lemon juice. Fresh is always best when it comes to lemon juice, but in a pinch you can substitute bottled juice.Egg yolks. For a smooth and creamy lemon filling that olds together and has a wonderful, custard-esque texture, we use the egg yolks only. Save your egg whites to make meringues, angel food cake, or pavlova!Sweetened condensed milk. This adds to the creamy texture of the lemon crumb bars, giving them a consistency very similar to their cousin, the key lime pie. Do not try to substitute evaporated milk, which will not work and will leave you with runny results.Heavy whipping cream. A splash of cream not only makes the bars, well, creamier, it also reduces the pucker factor just a tad, making the bars rich and smooth. For more of a lemon bite you can leave this out, but I much preferred the bars made with it rather than without!
As always, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full lemon crumb bar recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Making The Crumb
Making The Lemon Crumb Bar Filling
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Enjoy! Let’s bake together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card! This post was originally published in August of 2015. I have updated the text to be more helpful, have improved the recipe, and have added new photos and a video tutorial.
