CEimB: Lemon Icebox Bars

For our Craving Ellie recipe on December 31st, Amy of Playing House chose “Lemon Icebox Bars”.  Since I was in SC and away from my own kitchen with its vast inventory of almost every item needed for any average recipe, it was a challenge to make this recipe which is very basic and unassuming.  I was in my mother’s kitchen and had to rummage through the pantry to see what we had in order to make these bars.  The only item I needed to pick up was the condensed milk.

If you click on the recipe link above, you will see the original recipe.  My recipe below uses ingredients my mother and I found among the deep dark corners of her cupboards and refrigerator.  We used crackers that weren’t really popular with Mum and Dad and homemade coconut squares which my mother said probably wouldn’t get eaten now the holiday company had left the area.

The Crust:

   (1/2) pkg. of Crackers and (2) Homemade Coconut Squares 
    1 TBS dark brown sugar
    cooking spray   

The Filling:

    8 oz pkg of 1/3 less fat cream cheese – room temp.
    14 oz can Fat Free Sweetened Condensed Milk
    1/4 cup Egg Beaters
    1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
    1/8 cup lemon juice (or juice of 2 small lemons)

Toasted coconut (optional) to finish the dessert.

I placed the crackers, coconut squares,

and brown sugar in a blender to crush and mix. Sprayed an 8” square pan with the non-stick spray and pressed the crust mix in the bottom and up the sides of the pan.  Put in the refrigerator while mixing the filling.

For the filling, I combined the cream cheese, condensed milk,  Egg Beaters, and lemon zest.  It was beaten until light and well combined then I added the lemon juice and beat 1 minute more.

I poured the filling into the filled crust and placed in the freezer (I took the title literally).  The dessert had to be kept in the freezer because without the gelatin to foster setting, it would be very soft and runny.  Why I didn’t use the gelatin?   Because I wanted to taste these lemon bars and gelatin is not vegetarian friendly. Consequently, the dessert was too soft to be called “bars”.

The Lemon Freezer “Soup” was delicious.  It was so refreshing and had a nice velvety finish even though it was too soft to hold its shape.  I finished it with sprinkling toasted coconut on top.

We love this pick Amy.  The perfect end to the New Years Day dinner.

Joanne