With summer winding down and Labor Day weekend upon us I am looking back at my families summer and of summers past. Memories of growing up and how every summer at my grandma’s house we would have a huge family reunion. As a tween and teen I guess I was a foodie in training because one of the things I looked forward too were the different treats that people would be bringing. I loved the pastries my great uncle would bring but more than that I loved all the different desserts. One dessert I remember with fondness is Pink Lemonade Pie.
I still have random cravings for that pie. The sad thing is that I don’t have the recipe so i’ve been trying to find the recipe so I can recreate that frozen lemony goodness. I think I finally have found a recipe that has come close. It is very easy to make which was good for me the other weekend. I needed a dessert and had no clue what to make. Our fridge has been on the fritz and we have been waiting for our landlord to get us a new one so I needed to make a trip to the store for dinner ingredients for an impromptu family dinner. This pie came to my mind. It is primarily a no bake pie unless you decide to make your own crust like I did. Since i’m gluten free a store-bought crust wasn’t going to work so I made my own crust and turned this pie into bars. What can I say I was being lazy. It is easier to dump all the crust ingredients into a 9×13 baking dish and press and bake. Plus it is one less dish to wash. What can I say I am all for making things easy.
The filling is just as easy to make and takes a few minutes. I like to mix it up while the crust is cooling. You take softened cream cheese and whip it until it is fluffy. Next you add a can of sweetened condensed milk and mix. Then you mix in pink lemonade concentrate. If you want you can add some red or pink food coloring too make it really pink. Lastly you fold in some whipped topping. Pour into your crust and freeze. Since my fridge was on the fritz I used my trusty deep freezer that has been working double duty.
Being that this is a no bake pie the recipe call for non dairy topping, otherwise none as, Cool Whip. I know there are many of you out there that really do not like Cool Whip and others who cannot eat Cool Whip. There are other options to make these Pie Bars. There is TruWhip which is 100%natural, non-gmo, doesn’t have hydrogenated oils etc. If you don’t want to use that then there is Stabilized Whip Cream. Whipped Cream is easy to make and to make it stabilized whipped cream is just an extra step. There are options for substitutes out there!
So there you have it Pink Lemonade Pie Bars! If you find yourself needing a last minute dessert this is the dessert for you! One crust,a filling that takes minutes to make and pour into the crust and put it in the freezer and you are done. It results in a dreamy and lemony desert that lemon lovers will love. It is the perfect last minute dessert!
Pink Lemonade Pie Bars
adapted from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients
1 (7 ounce) bag Gluten Free Shortbread Cookies
1/4 cup sugar
6T butter or margarine, melted
Filling:
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 1 (14 ounce) can Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 (6 ounce) can frozen pink lemonade from concentrate, thawed
- Few drops red or pink food coloring (optional)
- 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- In a food processor turn cookies into crumbs. Then combine the cookie crumbs, sugar, butter or margarine ; mix until well blended. Press into a 13×9 inch baking dish.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 7 minutes. Cool. (Can be placed in freezer if needed)
- Beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk, lemonade concentrate and food color, if desired.
- Fold in whipped topping. Pour into prepared pie crust.
- Chill in freezer 4 hours or until set.
