Freezable Lemon Bars
I love easy recipes that can be made in advance without suffering in taste or texture. These bars are perfect for summertime gatherings because they’re cool and refreshing. And, you could make them in advance, pop them in your freezer, and always have a summery dessert at your finger tips for unexpected guests or spontaneous dinner plans.
I used freshly whipped cream on my bars and popped them in the fridge since I was going to be serving them the next day. Nikki has assured me that she has tried with store-bough whipped cream with success as well. So use whatever you have on hand.
Hubby agreed with my comment that they weren’t super lemon-ey. You could obviously tell they were lemon, but I like a real punch in the face of lemon tartness in my desserts. I think next time, I’d add the zest of the lemons to the lemon layer to kick up the lemon factor.
One Year Ago: Strawberry and Blueberry Jam and Salmon with Strawberry and Tomato Salsa
Two Years Ago: Turkey Chili
Freezable Lemon Bars
Yield: 16
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 1 1/2 packages of graham crackers)
1/3 cup sugar
5 Tbsp butter, melted
3 egg yolks
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (juice from 2 lemons)
8 oz whipped cream
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325˚F.
In a small bowl, mix the graham crackers, sugar and butter. Press firmly into a 9 x 9 x 2-inch ungreased foil pan. In another small bowl, beat the egg yolks, condensed milk, and lemon juice on low-medium speed for one minute. Pour evenly over the crust and bake for about 30 minutes or until set.
Using two oven mitts, carefully remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Once completely cooled, spread the whipped cream over the top.
Label a large freezer bag with the name, expiration date and direction (below). Cover the pan with plastic wrap and place in the freezer bag. Freeze up to a month.
Before serving, let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Cut into bars. If not freezing, this can also be kept in the fridge for several days.
Recipe as seen on Pennies on a Platter, originally from Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
I love the idea of perfect party minicakes!! They look delish! Great job! That flour picture is so funny. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done that – flour on the counter, on my KA, in my hair, on my face!
Clara @ I♥food4thought
Yum! Love the raspberry/lemon combo, and the mini cakes are adorable 🙂
Well done – what an innovative variation. They look so cute!
I can totally relate to the slippery effect.
Your cake looks beautiful!
You did a lovely job on all your mini cakes.
Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go
Adorable! Your KA and mine would be best friends. ‘Chuck’ is always filthy. Poor guy. He gets cleaned up, just to be coated again. 😉
How cute! Making mini-cakes is a great idea. Next time I make this cake I will try that, I still have a HUGE cake in the fridge I need to eat :-/
Cheers!
Great idea on the mini cakes. They are really cute. Great job. To the next challenge we go.
beautifully done!!! love it!!!
I love the little cakes! Plus the raspberries! Yummy!
The mini cakes look really amazing!
The minicakes are wonderful! Now, you’ll need my address to send one…Libby 😉
Love the idea of the mini cakes, that’s so adorable!
Mini-cakes are definitely more work than one large cake! They’re so cute though.
What a cute idea! They look adorable!
I love desserts in miniature and your mini cakes look beautiful. I think I will most definitely be making mini cakes sometime in the near future – thank you for the wonderful idea!
~gail
I’m loving the mini versions! The cake looks fantastic. Mmmmm!
I made mini ones too. I hate to tell you but it is way easier to frost a whole cake than mini ones. 🙂
Looks great.
Beautiful!! You did a gorgeous job :O)
These individual cakes look pretty…well done!
Really cute idea to make individual cakes, I love that. Great job!
I adore your minicakes. V lovely.
j
Oh! the minicakes are just the best idea ever. I probably should have done that with my oh-so flat cakes. How great.
Mini cakes -what a great idea! I think I’m going to have to try that here pretty soon. Looks like a delicious lot of fun. Especially the part where you get to eat the scraps. I think this cake was some of the best I’ve had.
What cute little mini cakes! Aren’t things just better when they’re mini?
Great work!
I love the little cakes and the picture with the raspberry and lemon zest is so enticing!
Perfect!
xoxo
Gabi
Another messy baker here! And I love the mini cakes – I’m nice to see its as low-tech as cutting circles out of larger pieces rather than trying to bake a bunch of cakes in miniature pans.
Jen,
Your little cakes are gorgeous! I too love swiss buttercream … congratulations on a job well done!
wow, that takes some patience, putting all those cakes together! They are just the cutest though. ~ JMom
so petite and cute!