Lemon Crumb Squares

 BY FAR my very favorite lemon bars. 

  I first ate one of these scrumptious bars at a church sponsored recipe exchange and tasters table (hands down the best way to find new recipes) and boy am I glad to have it!  If you like crumb topping and you like lemon,  then this recipe is for you.

Be sure to read my tips after the recipe.  You may as well learn from my mistakes!

Lemon Crumb Squares

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

2 tsp lemon zest (chopped or finely grated)

1 cup lemon juice

Mix ingredients and set aside.

1 1/3 cups softened butter

2 cups brown sugar

3 cups sifted unbleached white flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 cups oats

Cream the butter and sugar together.  Combine dry ingredients and mix until crumbly.  Spread 1/2 of crumb mixture in greased 9 x 13 pan.  Pat gently.  Spread with milk mixture then cover with the rest of crumb mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes.

Okay, so here's what I did wrong.  The first time I made them I made the mistake of mixing the crumb mixture with an electric mixer.  I know now it's not a great idea because it makes the topping very dry.  The second time I made them I stirred the dry ingredients in with a wooden spoon and then used my hand to squeeze the crumb mixture making sure that all of the dry mixture was moist and crumbly.  
This recipe makes a large amount of crumb topping.  I found that putting 2/3 of it on the bottom for the crust and the other 1/3 for the topping worked well too.  You might even want to 2/3 the recipe and put 1/2 of it on the bottom and the other half on the top.  
Be careful not to overbake them.  If you cook them too long the crust will get hard.
There you go, all the info. you need (and then some). 

Enjoy!  

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