Lemon crumble bars are one of my favourite desserts to make as it is super easy. Plus it is deliciously sweet and tart at the same time.
These creamy bars are full of lemon flavour as it contains both lemon juice and zest. However the sweetness of the crust, crumble and the creaminess of the condensed milk balances out the flavours beautifully.
Usually crumble recipes calls for cold butter but what I love about this recipe is that it calls for melted butter to make the crumble mixture. No digging in and rubbing cold butter with flour. That’s what makes it so easy as it takes very little effort. The crumble I made here follows almost the same method I used for my Spicy Apple Crumble Muffins over on my lifestyle blog.
Tips on how to make the crumble for the lemon crumble bars
- Making crumble is very easy and requires basic ingredients. However mistakes still creep in.
- Measure the dry ingredients properly. Too much flour and sugar can result in a dry and floury crumble.
- The same applies to the butter. The butter gives it that crumbly texture and allows it to brown and crisp up. Adding too much butter will make the crumble wet and runny. This could also result in the crumble topping melting instead of crisping.
Lemon Crumble Bars
These lemon crumble bars are deliciously sweet and tart at the same time.
Ingredients
Crumble
- 2½ cups cake flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 180 g unsalted butter (melted)
Lemon Filling
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 2 tsp lemon zest
Instructions
Crumble
- Preheat oven to 180°C and grease and line a 9cm square baking pan.
- In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking powder and salt. Use either a spoon, spatula or whisk to combine the ingredients.
- Add melted butter and combine mixture until crumbs form.
- Reserve 1 cup of crumbs for the topping and use the rest to press into the bottom of the baking pan. Spread evenly with the back of a spoon.
- Blind bake for 10 minutes.
- Remove from the crust from the oven and set it aside.
Lemon Filling
- To a mixing bowl and the condensed milk, sour cream, egg yolks, lemon juice and zest.
- With an electric beater, mix until well combined.
- Pour mixture over the crust.
- Sprinkle the reserved crumbs on top and press gently.
- Bake for 20 minutes until golden.
- Allow to cool before slicing into bars.
