Lemon Squares

We had some friends over a while ago for lunch. One of them has recently discovered that he has a severe lactose intolerance. He happens to really like lemons so I thought these 2 ingredient lemon bars from Practically Living would make for a nice dessert.

The two ingredients in the recipe are angel food cake mix and lemon pie filling.  My grocery store carries three different brands of angel food cake: Pilsbury, Betty Crocker and the store brand.  Both the Pilsbury and Betty Crocker versions contain dairy, so my only choice was the store brand. 

I was a bit skeptical about this dessert as it had so many mixed reviews.  Half the people loved it, half the people hated it. I think we were somewhere in the middle.  It was ok, but there was something weird about the texture.

This was due to the fact that the bars never set up properly.  I baked them a full 10 minutes more than the recipe suggested.  The bars had begun to brown on the top, but when checked in the center with a toothpick, the toothpick came out coated with a pudding like consistency on it.  Mrblocko thought it might set up as it cooled, sort of like a cheesecake does.  He was wrong.

If you look at the part of the bar on the left of the picture it looks very gooey, but the right has an almost cake like appearance. I think this was due to the brand of cake mix.  I think the dairy in the cake must do something to help the cake cook evenly.  So, if you are going to attempt this recipe, use Pilsbury brand, like they did over at Practically Living. Her's look cakey and fluffy all over.


Two ingredient Lemon squares from Practically Living
Pilsbury Angel food cake mix
1 can of lemon pie filling

Mix together and bake in an ungreased 9x13 cake pan at 350Ffor 20 minutes. As they are cooling, you can sprinkle with powder sugar if you wish.