Oatmeal Lemon Creme Bars

To be honest, I am slightly sceptical about trying recipes of bars or pies which use sweetened condensed milk as filling. I'm worried they would turn overly sweet and that would mean the frosting-loathed, not-so-sweet tooth people in the house would not even dare to touch them. If I'm baking these bars all to myself, I wouldn't be as worried. But then again, I knew that the lemon juice would cut the sweetness a bit; so this might not be that sweet after all. And it turned out great! The sweet, creamy filling with a burst of tangy lemon goes perfectly well with awesome oatmeal crust and topping. But the family still find it quite sweet though. If you are a die-hard dessert fan with and extremely sweet tooth like me, these bars are heaven in your mouth! Thanks Sally of Sally's Baking Addiction for sharing this recipe! Good luck with your cookbook venture! Can't wait to have a copy :)   

Oatmeal Lemon Creme Bars
Source: Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients:
For base and crumble topping:
1/2 cup (1 stick/113g) unsalted butter, cold 
1 egg 
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix OR you can use Sally's homemade mix (which I used):

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 
• 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

For filling:
1 can (14 oz/ 396g) sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp grated lemon peel (about 2 large lemons)
1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 large lemons) *I mixed lemon juice with the juice of half an orange

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C degrees. Spray 8x8 baking pan with nonstick spray. *I lined my pan with aluminium foil
2. In a large bowl, cut butter into cookie mix (if using homemade, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, oats and and brown sugar and cut in the butter) using a fork or electric mixer. Stir in egg until crumbly.
3. Press half of oatmeal cookie dough into bottom of prepared baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes.
4. While the cookie bottom is baking, stir condensed milk, lemon peel, and lemon juice into a small bowl. Spread lemon mixture over baked crust (while crust is hot). Crumble the remaining oatmeal cookie mixture over top. Bake about 25 minutes longer or until golden brown. *I baked for 30 mins.
5. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before cutting into 16 squares. 
6. Store covered in refrigerator for up to 1 week. Enjoy!

Notes

*I used a bit more than half of the oatmeal cookie dough for the bottom layer of these bars. I'd say about 60% for the bottom layer and 40% used to crumble on top of the lemon creme. *I follow Sally

Oatmeal Lemon Creme Bars

Sumber: Sally's Baking Addiction

Bahan-bahan:
Untuk base and crumble topping:
1/2 cawan (113g) mentega tanpa garam, sejuk dan didadu
1 biji telur
1 paket (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker oatmeal cookie mix ATAU boleh guna homemade cookie mix (saya guna homemade):

• 1 1/3 cawan tepung gandum
• 1/2 sudu kecil garam (1/4sk kalau guna mentega bergaram)
• 1 sudu kecil baking powder
• 1 cawan rolled oats 
• 1 cawan gula perang lembut

Untuk filling:
1 tin (14 oz/ 396g) susu pekat manis (saya timbang 390g dari tin 500g)
2 sudu besar parutan kulit lemon (daripada 2 biji lemon)
1/4 cawan jus lemon segar (daripada 2 biji lemon) *saya campur jus oren sikit dalam 1/4 cawan tu, lebih kurang setengah biji oren

Cara-cara:
1. Panaskan oven 350F/180C degrees. Griskan loyang segi empat 8x8 dengan mentega. *saya alas dengan aluminium foil
2. Dalam mangkuk yang besar, gaul mentega sejuk dengan cookie mix (kalau guna homemade, campur tepung, garam, baking powder, oats dan gula perang ke dalam bekas, masukkan mentega dan gaul guna jari atau mixer) hingga menjadi tekstur seberti serbuk roti. Masukkan telur dan kacau sebati.
3. Ambil lebih kurang setengah adunan tadi dan tekan padat ke dalam loyang. Bakar selama 15 minit. 
4. Sementara menunggu base masak, bolehlah sediakan filling. Kacau susu pekat manis, parutan kulit lemon dan jus lemon di dalam satu bekas sampai sebati. Tuang campuran filling ke atas base tadi (tak perlu tunggu sejuk) dan tabur setengah lagi adunan cookie mix yang berbaki tadi ke atas filling. Bakar selama 25 minit lagi atau sehingga topping perang keemasan. *saya bakar 30 minit.
5. Sejukkan bars di dalam peti sejuk sekurang-kurangnya 30 minit sebelum dipotong kepada 16 bahagian. 

Nota:

*Untuk base, saya guna lebih dari separuh adunan, lebih kurang 60% untuk base dan 40% untuk topping.

Congo Bars

Ok, I know almost the entire earth population have already baked and tried these bars...But as they said, better late than never, right? I first saw this recipe two years ago from the reigning "queen of layer cakes" Kak Rima's Bisous a Toi. From then on, a few other bloggers also tried this fabulous recipe and I finally settled on Kak Nor of Secubit Garam version. The original recipe calls for a pound of sugar (gasp!) and I decided to go with Kak Nor's reduced sugar measurement since we seem to share the same level of sweetness tolerance. What is best about these bars is that they are generously studded with chocolate chunks! Nothing can compare when you bite into that chocolate-y goodness amidst the dense, fudgy and mellow brown sugar cake. Heaven.    

look at 'em chocolate chunks!

Congo Bars
Source:Bisous a Toi & Secubit Garam 

Ingredients:
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour (315g)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter, softened (150g)
1 lb. light brown sugar (453g) *I used 220 gm like Kak Nor
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
11.5 ounce package milk chocolate chips (326g) *I used dark chocolate chunks
1 cup chopped pecans (optional) *I omit

Method:
1. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.
2. Stir brown sugar into softened (not melted) butter in another large bowl until butter disappears. You can use the back of your spoon to help incorporate the two together.
3. Add eggs one at a time to butter mixture and stir well after each egg.
4. Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts. Mix well.
5. Add dry flour mixture and stir until well combined.
6. Coat a 13 X 9 pan with non-stick spray and spread batter evenly into dish. *I used 10X10 baking pan lined with baking paper
7. Bake at 170C for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown. Make sure you don’t over bake. *I baked at 160C for 30 mins.

Congo Bars
Sumber:Bisous a Toi & Secubit Garam 

Bahan-bahan:
2 3/4 cawan tepung gandum (315g)
2 1/2 sudu kecil baking powder
1/2 sudu kecil garam
2/3 cawan mentega, suhu bilik (150g)
1 lb. gula perang (453g) *saya guna 220g
3 biji telur gred A
1 sudu kecil esen vanilla
11.5 oz coklat chips (326g) *saya guna dark chocolate dicincang kasar
1 cawan kacang pecans, dicincang (optional) *x letak

Cara-cara:
1. Ayak tepung gandum, baking powder dan garam dalam satu bekas. Ketepikan.
2. Dalam bekas yang lain, pukul mentega dengan gula perang. 
3. Masukkan telur sebiji demi sebiji dan dan pukul hingga adunan sebati.
4. Tambah esen vanilla, coklat chips/dark chocolate dan kacang pecan (jika guna).
5. Masukkan campuran tepung yang telah diayak tadi dan kacau lagi.
6. Gris loyang segi empat (13 X 9 inci) dengan mentega atau non-stick spray dan tuangkan adunan. Ratakan permukaan adunan dengan senduk kayu. *saya guna loyang 10X10 inci dan alas dengan baking paper
7. Bakar pada suhu 170C selaam 30 minit atau hingga masak. *saya bakar suhu 160C selama 30 minit.