Lemon Lush Recipe

[Mama Hilde]

Several folks asked that I post the recipe for the lemon dessert I brought last night, so here it is:

LEMON LUSH (from allrecipes.com)
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup butter, softened
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 cup sugar (I use confectioner's sugar rather than granulated)
2 (3.4 ounce) packages instant lemon pudding mix
3 1/2 cups milk
1 (12 ounce) container Cool Whip, thawed

l) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and the butter using a pastry cutter. (I pre-cut the butter into cubes). Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan/dish. Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
2) In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth and well bleneded. (I add 2 tablespoons lemon juice to this mixture) Spread evenly over the cooled crust.
3) In a large bowl, whisk (or beat) together the lemon puddin mix and milk until blended. Spread over the cream cheese layer.
4) Chill until set, then top with whipped topping. Cut into squares (12) or whatever size you want to serve.

Other suggestions:
Add some crushed walnuts to the crust batter. (I really like this, but when making for a potluck I don't add them, because of potential food alergies.)
Use a Keebler Shortbread Ready Crust if you don't want to turn the oven on.
Make a graham cracker crust to lighten up the dessert.
For really tart filling, add 1/8 cup lemon juice to the lemon filling.
Could also be made with vanilla pudding if you can't find the lemon and then add lemon juice.