Thursday, March 28, 2013

Lemon Oat Bars (vegan friendly)




These are so good and lemony and not overly sweet and sticky. I hate sticky. The crust/topping is absolutely delicious and stays moist and tender. There are no eggs in this recipe so if you make your own non-dairy sweetened condensed milk and you use margarine, this can be a vegan recipe.

The recipe is from The King Arthur Whole Grain Baking Book.

Lemon Oat Squares
Crust:
1/2 cup unsalted butter/vegan margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
2/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats ground fairly finely (I used oat flour)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons orange juice

Filling:
1 can (14 ounes) sweetened condensed milk or homemade non-dairy condensed milk
1 or 2 tablespoons of finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Lightly grease a 9X13 pan.

Beat the butter, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the oats, ground oats, flour and orange juice and mix. The mixture will start to clump as soon as it starts to look cohesive, stop mixing.

Sprinkle half of the mixture, about 2 generous cups, into the prepared pan. Press it into the bottom of the pan, patting the crumbs firmly to make a smooth layer.

For the filling: Whisk the condensed milk, lemon zest, and juice in a small bowl. Stir until smooth and thick. Spread the filling over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture on top.

Bake the squares until light golden brown, 35-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and set on a rack to cool. After about 10 minutes, loosen the edges of the squares with a knife. Refrigerate overnight, covered, before cutting and serving.

Michele

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