Monday, July 14, 2008

These were great
--Lemon Oat Squares



Lemon Oat Squares
King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Copyright 2006

Crust
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar (lt. or dark)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup old-fashioned oats I used quick oats
2/3 cup old-fashioned oats(ground for 30 seconds in food processor or blender)I used quick oats
¾ cup whole wheat flour
2 T orange juice

Filling
1 can (14 or 15 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1-2 T finely grated zest (from 1-2 lemons)
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 2 ½ lemons)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.

To prepare crust:
Beat the butter, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Add oatmeal, ground oatmeal, flour, and orange juice - mixing to combine. The mixture will start to clump; as soon as it starts to look cohesive, stop mixing. Sprinkle half the mixture into the prepared pan. Press it into the bottom of the pan, patting the crumbs firmly to make a smooth layer.

To prepare the filling:
Whisk the condensed milk, lemon zest, and juice in a small bowl, stirring until smooth and thickened. Spread the filling over the crust in the pan. Sprinkle the remaining crust mixture on top.

Bake until light, golden brown, 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven and place on rack to cool. After about 10 minutes, loosen the edges with a knife. Refrigerate overnight, covered, before cutting and serving.
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I know I said I wouldn't bake anymore but I guess I'm a liar. Oatmeal is good for a nursing mother's milk production and I'm trying to get my supply up. I get sick of eating it by the bowl so I wanted to bake something with it. I made a good choice - these were pretty awesome. I messed up though and I thought I had old-fashioned oats in the cupboard but I only had quick oats. I don't think that hurt anything but I wish I had the correct oats. I guess I'll just have to make them again sometime. No problem!

I don't use this cookbook very often but I really should. I should use all of my King Arthur books more often but there's only so much baking I can do.

I didn't go to auction on Friday. It wasn't worth it without my cookbook guy. I can only leave the house for short stretches of time. I went to the gym instead. I've been sneaking in a workout here and there.

Question of the Day: Do you like lemon?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do like lemons as an ingredient in sweet and savory. Those bars sound so good. Too bad I'm starting a diet.

Jan

Red Dirt Mummy said...

Love it! But... I'm allergic to it so I try to stay as far away from it as possible.

Anonymous said...

I like lemon alot. But I'm not sure if my family would.

Anonymous said...

I am going to try baking these as part of my christmas cookies this year....I have a young nephew who is allergic to eggs and this is one of the few "cookies" that don't have eggs.