How can a girl who grew up in household that not once had anything baked or cooked that was remotely 'lemon' love lemon so much!? It's true... as a child I don't remember my mother ever once making or buying anything lemon. I guess she must not have liked lemon and therefore didn't bother with it.Ironically (?) I found out as an adult that my Dad loved lemon meringue pie and I know that my mother tasted a lemon tea bread recipe I made and then demanded the recipe. Maybe she found her 'lemon love' only after I introduced her to it? Either way when I see a lemony dessert it catches my eye and this one from Simple & Delicious caught it and kept it. I wanted to make these yesterday but we don't have a lemon cake mix on hand. I *almost* made it with a yellow cake mix and was going to add lemon extract, lemon juice and lemon rind but I bought the mix to make cheesecake bars (recipes are on this site) and just couldn't get myself to use it on anything but the cheesecake bars. We love them too much!
Lemon Crumb Bars
1 package (18-1/4 ounces) lemon cake mix
1/2 cup cold butter
1 egg
2 cups crushed saltines (about 60 crackers)
3 egg yolks
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cake mix, butter and egg until crumbly. Stir in cracker crumbs; set aside 2 cups for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture into a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 18-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.
In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks, milk and lemon juice. Pour over crust; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Bake 20-25 minutes longer or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 2 dozen.
