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 325ËšF.
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 always loved fig newtons too 🙂 I have never thought of making my own. Now I know where to find a great recipe 😉
I am going to have to make these. As well as making them with some blackberries.
These look amazing and waaaay better than the store bought brand.
My husband loves fig newtons – just added this to my ever growing list of things to make!
I liked Newtons until they messed with the recipe…Maybe this version will be yummier.
I love the idea of making these at home! I still buy Newtons from time to time…they’re so nice and wholesome.
You are so creative! My family loves Fig Newtons….can’t wait to make these!
My boyfriend and I were just talking about fig newtons this evening! I was saying how much I loved them but hadnt had them recently.. and heres a way to make them myself!
I moved to the US when I was 15 so I didn’t grow up eating fig newtons but I liked them at my very first bite. I’m sure the homemade version is so much more gourmet 😉 Your pics make it look like raspberry filling which I bet would be amazing!!
These bring me back to my childhood! Only, these look infinitely more delicious and decadent. The Blue-Eyed Bakers must make these soon!
They look fantastic, and I’ve never actually been that much of a Fig Newton fan. Love the polka dot background for the pics too.
I love fig newtons. Hopefully, I can find my figs around here so I can try these.
http://www.lindaslunacy.blogspot.com
Congratulations on making one of the top food blogs!
Jonathan
Gluten Free
I was always a fig newton-lover as a kid too! Glad I wasn’t the only one and these homemade ones look fantastic!
I did make these and loved them! I did just what you suggested and used a little less of dough for that amount of filling and just made some grape jam filled ones with the rest of the dough. They came out perfect! Thanks for sharing!
http://ouritaliankitchen.blogspot.com/2010/10/fig-newtons.html
When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!
When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!
When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!
When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!
When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!
When you say scoop out the seeds and pulp–I am assuming you mean, use the seeds and pulp and discard the skins? Recipe looks good. I’m planning to make these tomorrow!
Laurel, Mikey & Quinn – Yes, scoop out the flesh and seeds and discard the skins. Let me know how they turn out!
Thank you for posting this! Great recipe and I want to try with different fillings. I used strawberry for mine – yummy!
In response to the dough ratio, I made it the way you posted but ended up with very thin dough once it was rolled out to 12×16 inches. I think you should leave it doubled.
Hi, I want to make raspberry newtons and am finding it very hard to get an easy recipe online… think I could use this dough with raspberry jam?
beantownbaker — May 16th, 2013 @ 8:41 am
You could definitely use raspberry jam for the filling!
I made them with 3 different fillings: strawberry jam, blueberry pie filling and vanilla cream. All came out very tasty, and also last freezing nicely.
A few comments:
1. The dough was not easy to deal with, even after cooling. It was sticky and fell apart easily.
2. With the first roll I made, I sliced it to cookies and separated them on the baking pan before baking. All of the Jam oozed out. The other ones I sliced but didn’t move the pieces, and it came out well.
3. I think in order to taste like real newtons they lack some oats/cereal. Any Idea of how to add some to the dough?
beantownbaker — June 10th, 2013 @ 1:10 pm
I would think you could grind up some oats and replace some of the flour with the ground up oats. If you try it, I’d love to hear how they turn out!