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| Slow Cooker Lemon Bars |
No one will believe these luscious lemon bars came out of your slow cooker! Easy and delicious!
My favorite bar cookie is lemon squares, but it seems when I want them, I lack one vital ingredient–the lemons!
I’ve gotten more into using my slow cookers for less-conventional things preferring to make food no one would ever think came from one. My sister bakes in hers and I want to do more of the same.
Someone on my crock pot recipe group posted this ridiculously easy recipe for lemon bars that came from The Crockpot Gourmet. I was immediately hooked and loved her idea of using store-bought lemon curd for the topping. This way, you don’t have to have fresh lemons or loads of eggs to make the conventional filling.
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| Made in your crock pot–yes believe it!!! |
I just tweaked the recipe slightly. Whenever I bake, I use unsalted butter so that’s one revision. I used less vanilla–only enough to meld the flavors and I added a tablespoon of lemon zest that I had in my freezer to add some extra oomph to the crust.
And there’s a tip–whenever you buy any citrus fruits for cooking–zest them ALL and freeze what you’ve grated. That way you always have zest to use for flavoring.
The perfect vessel for these is the casserole crock because it’s a rectangular 9 x 13-inch crock insert. I love mine, and I encourage anyone who makes a lot of casseroles, fruit crisps and “flat-type” food to get one. But if you don’t want to add to your slow cooker family, a nice large oval crock pot will do for these.
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| Casserole Crock |
Make sure to place a couple of paper towels underneath the slow cooker lid. This will catch the condensation that builds on the lid; you don’t want that water falling right on your cookies. This wasn’t advised in the original recipe, and I almost learned the hard way.
I was able to correct the situation, then remembered my sister saying that when you bake in a slow cooker, you MUST place paper toweling under the lid. The lid will secure the paper towels and prevent them from falling on top of your bars. Just lay them over the mouth of the crock and place the cover on. The casserole crock has a lid lock so this works perfectly!
Make sure to let them cool completely in the crock pot, or else you’ll have lemon fruit crisp–which actually sounds OK–but if you want cookies, be patient and let them cool. I let mine cool overnight.
Slow Cooker Lemon Bars
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 jar 10-12 oz lemon curd
- Confectioner’s sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer.
- Add the salt, egg, lemon zest and vanilla; beat well. With the mixer at low speed, add the flour 1 cup at a time. Beat only until a soft dough forms.
- Press dough into the crock of a casserole crock (preferred) or a 6-7 quart oval slow cooker.
- Spread lemon curd evenly on top of dough.
- Place 2 layers of paper towels on top of the crock (don’t let them touch the top of the bars) and place lid on slow cooker. The lid will secure the paper towels and prevent them from falling on the lemon bars.
- Set slow cooker to high and cook for 2-3 hours (mine took 3 in the casserole crock). Bars are done when the corners (edges) are beginning to brown and the center is set–bars will continue to cook during the cooling.
- Cool completely in the slow cooker. Cut into bars and dust with confectioner’s sugar.
- Yield varies as to size/shape cooker used. The casserole crock yielded 12 bars.
Nutrition
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| Slow Cooker Lemon Bars |
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