Lemon Bars With Condensed Milk (5-Ingredient Recipe)

Creamy, sweet and tangy Lemon Bars With Condensed Milk that you can make using only 5 ingredients! Extremely easy to make, this is a perfect first bake if you're a beginner or just fancy a no-fuss dessert! These Easy 5-Ingredient Lemon Bars can be decorated with lemon zest or raspberries if you want to impress! 

Jump to:

• Ingredients and Substitutes 
• Method
• Tips For Best Results
• Reader Review
• Storage and Leftovers
• More Dessert Recipes for Lemon Lovers
• 5-Ingredient Lemon Bars With Condensed Milk

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Sourdough baker? Try our Sourdough Lemon Bars instead!

Ingredients and Substitutes 

You will only need 5 key ingredients to make these creamy lemon bars:

• oat biscuits: can be substituted with digestive biscuits. You can also make a shortbread crust or buttery Graham Cracker crust. 
• butter: you can use salted or unsalted in this recipe. I personally like salted butter to counterbalance the sweetness of condensed milk and the tart flavour in the creamy lemon filling. 
• sweetened condensed milk.
• fresh lemon juice: from approx. 1.5 lemons for this recipe. You can also make these with lime juice. 
• eggs: medium in the UK, large in the US.

Find the quantities, full instructions and nutritional values in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. 

Method

STEP 1: Make The Biscuit Base

To make these Easy Lemon Slices, preheat the oven to 160°C Fan. Crush 100g of oat biscuits into fine crumbs. I simply put them in a medium bowl and bash them with the end of a rolling pin, but use a food processor if you have one (we love Kenwood). I then mix them with 50g of melted butter. 

With the back of a tablespoon or a spatula, press the buttery biscuit mixture into a baking parchment-lined loaf tin/ baking tray (with a surface area of about 250cm²). Make sure to get the crumb mixture into all four corners. Then pop in the oven to bake for 10 minutes until firmed up and golden brown. 

STEP 2: Make the Lemon Bar Filling

In the meantime, using an electric mixer, beat the condensed milk, eggs and lemon juice on medium speed in a large mixing bowl. I've tried using freshly squeezed lemon juice and bottled lemon juice. The latter was more tart, but both worked really well. Beat the mixture for 2-3 minutes, until slightly increased in volume. 

STEP 3: Bake and Decorate

When the buttery crust is baked, pour the filling mixture on top and return to the oven for 15-20 minutes until the filling sets.

Cool completely at room temperature, then chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before lifting the cooled bar out by the parchment paper overhang and cutting it into slices or squares with a sharp knife. 

If you wish, you can decorate with icing sugar, lemon zest or raspberries, or even pipe some dark chocolate on top. 

Tips For Best Results

This is an easy dessert to make, but if it is your first time baking these dessert bars, have a look at our tips below:

• Fresh Lemons: for the best lemon bars, make sure to use freshly squeezed lemon juice (bottled juice simply doesn't have that fresh lemon flavour). 
• Pre-Bake The Crust: don't skip this step. If you pour the lemon mixture on the unbaked crust, it will be very soggy!
• Doubling The Recipe? You can use a square pan and simply double this lemon bar recipe, but it may take 2-3 minutes longer to cook in the centre. 
• Don't Overbake. The middle of the lemon bars should still be a little jiggly - they will finish cooking in the residual heat. 
• Slicing. Dip a sharp knife in hot water and wipe it with a piece of paper towel between each slice to get a clean cut. 

Storage and Leftovers

Keep the lemon squares in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. However, take them out of the fridge 15-30 minutes before serving as they taste better at room temperature. We find that lemon bars with condensed milk don't freeze very well. 

More Dessert Recipes for Lemon Lovers

Did you like our easy lemon bars with condensed milk? If you're looking for other easy lemon desserts and bakes to make, have a look at the following: 

• Lemon Jammy Dodgers
• Chewy Lemon Cookies
• Lemon Thumbprints With Lemon Curd
• Creamy Lemon Pie With Ricotta