I remember vividly a family dinner with my husband's extended family while I was expecting our son. Someone brought a lemon cake and in the midst of my hormones and cravings, this was the best thing I had ever tasted. It was a normal store bought cake, just happened to be lemon with lemon icing. I am sure that a steak dinner at the finest restaurant would not have been as good to me as that lemon cake. Since that time, I have developed a fondness for lemon. I like a good lemon cake (and have a fantastic recipe for that found here) but enjoy the flavor in a lot of other things. I saw this recipe from Allrecipes.com floating around Facebook and decided to give it a try; after all, it's lemon and cream cheese! I did make the modifications suggested in the comments section about baking the bottom layer prior to additional layers, and found it to be extremely delicious.
Ingredients: refrigerated crescent dough, lemons, cream cheese, sugar, butter
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish with parchment paper or aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray. Zest and juice lemons. Step 2: Press 1 can crescent roll dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish, stretching to the edges. Bake for about 7-8 minutes to avoid a soggy bottom crust. Let cool. Step 3: Mix the zest of 1 1/2 lemons and juice from 2 lemons together in a bowl. Beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar into lemon zest mixture until smooth and creamy. Spread over crescent roll dough layer. Step 4: Unroll the second can of crescent roll dough and layer over cream cheese mixture, gently stretching dough to the edges. Step 5: Brush melted butter over crescent roll dough layer. Step 6: Mix remaining lemon zest and 3 tablespoons sugar together in a bowl; sprinkle over butter. Step 7: Bake until top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes. Step 8: Lift dessert from baking dish using parchment/foil; transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares, leaving on parchment/foil. Return dessert to the baking dish and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.
Lemon Cream Cheese Bars
Recipe:
2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent roll dough
2 lemons, zested and juiced, divided
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
½ cup + 3 T. white sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish with parchment paper or aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray. Zest and juice lemons. Press 1 can crescent roll dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish, stretching to the edges. Bake for about 7-8 minutes. Let cool. Mix the zest of 1 1/2 lemons and juice from 2 lemons together in a bowl. Beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar into lemon zest mixture until smooth and creamy. Spread over crescent roll dough layer. Unroll the second can of crescent roll dough and layer over cream cheese mixture, gently stretching dough to the edges. Brush melted butter over crescent roll dough layer. Mix remaining lemon zest and 3 tablespoons sugar together in a bowl; sprinkle over butter. Bake until top is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes. Lift dessert from baking dish using parchment/foil; transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares, leaving on parchment/foil. Return dessert to the baking dish and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.
Source: Pamela Souza LeBlanc via Allrecipes.com https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/237181/lemon-cream-cheese-bars/