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White Chip Lemon Streusel Bars have a wonderful oatmeal pecan cookie crust with a dreamy creamy lemon filling and a crunchy streusel topping! Truly a lemon lovers delight!

Looking for the perfect summer party dessert? These delicious layered lemon streusel bars are wonderfully creamy, crunchy, salty, and sweet! They are decadent and rich, bursting with lemon and a buttery pecan cookie.

I stumbled across this recipe in an old “Brand Name” cookbook I purchased at a thrift store. Cookbooks are my passion…after cooking and eating, and of course, spoiling grandkids. Lol

I digress… Let’s get back to this cookie. This cookie reminds me a lot of my favorite Cheesecake Bar Cookies. I love cheesecake and lemon. Two of my very favorite flavors, so the combination of the two in this bar is perfection. The lemon center melts in your mouth and combines beautifully with the chewy cookie-like base and the scrumptious crunchy topping.

I shared these yummy bars with friends before I ate the entire pan all by myself! They are SO good! (Stress eating is a real thing my friends…and these lemon bars fill the need, if you know what I mean!)

Grab your apron and let’s get baking friends! You’re going to want to make this recipe!

Ingredients for White Chip Lemon Bars

• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk…I mix them up too!)
• ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons of freshly grated lemon zest
• 2 cups (12 ounce package) White baking chips, divided (see instructions below)
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2/3 cup butter, softened
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups regular rolled oats, or quick-cooking oats
• ¾ cup toasted pecan pieces
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon shortening

How to Make Creamy White Chip Lemon Bars

Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish.

TIP: I highly recommend using a glass baking dish when making lemon bars to prevent a metallic taste from a metal baking dish.

Set the prepared baking dish aside.

In a medium bowl, add sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice, and the lemon peel.

Mix the ingredients together until well combined. Set aside. We’re going to come back to this mixture in just a minute.

As you can see… I had a cute helper with me the day we made these delicious lemon bar cookies. Helpers are wonderful! Especially if you can convince them to do the dishes! Lol

Dividing the white baking chips

Measure out ¼ cup of white baking chips and 1/3 cup of white baking chips. This step can be a bit confusing, so let me try to clarify it to make it easier.

The ¼ cup of white baking chips is used for the white chocolate drizzle on top after the bars are baked. Set them aside. The 1/3 cup of white baking chips are for the streusel topping. Set them aside as well. By now, everything is “set aside”… like a big “ingredient convention”…but we’re getting to them all…in a minute.

Add the remaining white baking chips, after you’ve subtracted the 1/4 and 1/3 cups, to the lemon mixture. Stir until well combined. Set aside for a minute.

Cookie Oatmeal Base and Crumb Topping

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add brown sugar and softened butter. Mix at medium speed until well blended.

In a large bowl, add flour, oats, toasted pecans, baking powder, and salt.

How to Toast Pecans

There are several ways you can “toast nuts” for baking.

One way is to heat your oven to 350° F. Spread the pecans in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Bake, stirring occasionally, 7 to 8 minutes, or until golden brown.

I prefer to do them on the stove top in a non-stick skillet. Preheat your skillet over medium heat for 1–2 minutes. Add the pecan pieces and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the nuts begin to turn golden brown and smell slightly toasted. Remove from the pan and cool on a paper plate.

TIP: Quickly remove the toasted nuts from the skillet and place them on a paper plate. If left in the skillet, they can burn.

Finishing Cookie Crust

Add the flour mixture to the brown sugar and butter mixture in your mixing bowl. Blending well.

It’s time to do another bit of “setting aside” ingredients. Reserve 1 and 2/3 cups of the crumbly oat mixture. This will be used for the crumb streusel topping.

To the remaining oat mixture in the mixing bowl, add one egg, blending until combined. The mixture will still be crumbly, but will bind together when pressed into the bottom of your prepared baking dish.

Make sure you spread it evenly by pressing it down with your hand.

Adding the Lemon Filling layer

Gently spoon lemon mixture with white chips on top of the bottom crust layer. Using a silicone spatula, spread the filling evenly.

Oat Streusel Topping

Time to go after the 1/3 cup of reserved white chips. Mix them in with the reserved oat crumb mixture. This is the streusel topping for the lemon bars! It’s so good y’all!

Sprinkle the white chip oat streusel mixture over the top of the lemon layer, pressing down lightly with your hand.

Baking Lemon White Chip Bars

Bake 25–30 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Once the lemon bars have cooled completely, place the remaining ¼ cup of white chips in a microwave-safe bowl, add the shortening, microwave at medium (50%) for 30 seconds or until the chips are melted, and the mixture is smooth when stirred.

Drizzle over the baked bars, going back and forth, until the top is covered with white chocolate drizzle. Allow the drizzle to set; cut into bars.

PRO TIP: I recommend placing the bars in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour. It allows the white drizzle to set and the filling to get firm, making it easier to cut the bars.

Serving and storing Lemon Streusel Bars!

I recommend cutting these bars a bit smaller than you would usually cut a bar cookie. 36 bars is great! They are extremely rich and decadent. Smaller bars are perfect.

Once the bars are cut, store them in an airtight container with layers of parchment paper between the layers. This will prevent them from sticking together, that lemon filling is a tad sticky, and keep the layers of bars nice in the storage container. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

I love the layers in these beautiful bars. From the buttery cookie base that melts in your mouth, to the creamy, sweet and tart lemon layer…and THAT crispy pecan crumb topping… Oh, my!! One of the BEST bar cookie recipes ever! One I know you’ll enjoy and so will your family and friends.

Favorite Cookie Recipes

• Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Peanut Butter Cookies
• Not cakey pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
• Favorite Sprinkle Sugar Cookie Recipe
• Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Magic Cookie Bars from AllRecipes.com

As always, thank you so much for stopping by my Nest today! If you’re a lemon lover, this recipe is for you and I hope you’ll give them a try and let me know what you think.

Happy Nesting!

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