.sugar cookie lemon bars with oat streusel crumble.

When I first started baking, I loved lemon. At the time, lemon meringue pie was THE dessert to eat any time the opportunity presented itself. I loved lemon bars. I even made lemon glaze to put on cakes I made with store-bought mix. I loved putting it on brownies, which probably would taste disgusting to me now, but I ate it anyways. I can still taste it and how absolutely sugary and lemony it was!

While I prefer desserts with plenty of chocolate and peanut butter, I still need to teach myself to branch out. For me, death by chocolate sounds like a great way to go. However, it is summer, and the brightness of lemons cannot be beat - especially on a hot, humid Ohio day like today.

I've made a traditional lemon square before and I love it, but I figured I would switch it up and create a fantastic hybrid of sugar cookie, lemon square, and a crumble topping. It might be cloudy today, but these bars bring the sunshine.

Okay, the sugar cookie crust is so easy. Like four ingredients in a stand mixer and that's it. I admit I snacked on the dough while pressing it into the pan, but it was fine because there was definitely enough to spare. Even if you wanted to stop right there, and just make sugar cookies, you're set.

Next comes the filling. I started with just the sweetened condensed milk and a 1/2 cup of lemon juice, and I was not happy with both the consistency and the amount of lemon flavor. It definitely would not have spread a good layer of the crust. So I added eggs and Greek yogurt to give it that fullness and texture of a curd. I added a little helping of flour to help thicken it up a bit, and then it was the perfect amount on top of the crust. Be very careful whisking; I may or may not have made a complete mess.

Mixtures like this lemon filling are sometimes hard to check for doneness. Once you're done baking that layer, you definitely don't want it solid because it's going to go back in the oven with the streusel, but you don't want to poke it and have mixture dripping off your finger. A slight wobble is okay!

Finally, the streusel topping really sets this dessert over the edge - in a good way! I am a sucker for streusel on anything involving fruit, so this recipe could totally be doubled or tripled to use for a nice berry crumble in the summer or an apple crisp in the fall. So many possibilities and it literally takes less than five minutes to throw together!

I'm excited to share these with friends and family, the latter who will probably be disappointed in the lack of chocolate. I'm going down to Columbus tomorrow to celebrate my best friend's 21st, and I could not be more excited! I hope you all have an equally fantastic weekend that's filled with good weather and maybe these lemon bars!

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sugar cookie lemon bars with oat streusel topping

ingredients

sugar cookie crust

1 cup of butter
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cup of all-purpose flour

lemon filling

1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup of lemon juice
2 eggs
1/4 cup of plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon of flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt

oat streusel topping

1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons of brown sugar
4 tablespoons of oats
2 1/2 tablespoons of butter, softened

instructions
preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9x13 pan.
in a stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth.
add the flour in gradually on low speed and mix until a dough forms.
press the dough into the 9x13 and bake for 20 minutes or until a light golden brown. let cool for 10 minutes.
while the crust is cooling, mix together the sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice. beat the eggs and add into the mixture along with the Greek yogurt. Whisk in the flour and a pinch of salt.
pour the lemon mixture over the crust and bake for 14 minutes or until the lemon layer is almost set.
mix the 1/2 cup of flour, brown sugar, and oats in a medium mixing bowl. add in the chunks of butter and work into the mixture with your fingers.
crumble the topping over the lemon layer and put the pan back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes until the steusel is crispy and the lemon layer is set.
cool at room temperature for 20 minutes, and then in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes.
carefully cut into squares, serve, and enjoy.