CREAMY LEMON CHEESECAKE CRUMB BARS

~ Serena Bakes Simpy From Scratch

2 1/3 c. flour
2 1/3 c. rolled oats
1 t. sea salt
2 t. baking powder
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. sugar
1 c. cold cubed butter
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
3 egg yolks
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. lemon zest
28 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 c. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13-inch pan.

In a mixing bowl, mix flour, oats, salt, baking powder, and both sugars. Cut butter into flour mixture until crumbly. Press half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of prepared pan and set the other half aside.

In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping sides of the bowl as needed. Add vanilla and zest, mixing until combined.

With mixer at medium speed, drizzle in sweetened condensed milk. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for three minutes. Turn mixer to low and add lemon juice. Pour creamy filling over crust and top with remaining half of crumb mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold.

Notes: We love lemon, so I use 2-3 teaspoons of zest instead of the half that's called for. The original recipe says to grease the pan, line it with parchment paper, then grease the parchment paper. We never have parchment paper, so I just grease the pan and it works perfectly.