This old fashioned icebox lemon dessert is sure to please your lemon lover and keep you refreshed while the no-bake recipe will keep you cool in the summer!
I’m a home baker that loves old recipes. These are my favorite because they never fail to taste amazing and they remind me of my grandmothers.
I can not tell you how excited I was to be gifted a box of old recipes from an estate sale that included this old fashioned icebox lemon dessert. I couldn’t let summer end before I made this for my son! He is a lemon lover and his favorite desserts always include lemon.
The beauty of an icebox dessert is that it’s cool and refreshing in the summer without heating up your kitchen.
Only Four Ingredients
When a recipe doesn’t need a ton of ingredients, I like it even more! This icebox dessert only takes four ingredients!
- 1 can of evaporated milk (CHILLED)
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 lemons and zest
- graham cracker crumbs (The written recipe card didn’t give exact amounts for the crackers, so I used a sleeve of them.)
Dessert Prep
Chill the can of evaporated milk in the refrigerator. (It won’t work unless it is chilled – trust me on this.) Go ahead and chill your mixing bowl and your whisk as well because this will also help it whip up properly.
Stop! Don’t skip chilling these or you won’t have good results!
Juice and zest your lemons. I don’t have a lemon juicer gadget, but I am the queen of making my own accessories, so I used a hand mixer attachment. I juice the lemons over a small sieve to catch any pulp or seeds.
When you zest a lemon, be sure not to zest into the white pith or it will give it a bitter flavor.
Crush your graham crackers. I use a mini food processor to do this, but you can also put them in a Ziploc and hit them with a rolling pin to break them up.
Making the Old Fashioned Icebox Lemon Dessert
Line the baking sheet with your crushed graham cracker crumbs. I didn’t bother to spray my baking sheet with any non-stick spray.
However, you may want to to help keep your crumbs in place. Mine moved around a bit when I put the lemon filling on top of them.
Whip your milk, and slowly add the sugar. I used my Kitchen Aid mixer with the whisk attachment to do this job. Keep whipping until it starts to have nice thicker, stiffer peaks.
Add the lemon juice and zest and mix just until integrated.
Put in your baking dish and lightly sprinkle with the leftover graham cracker crumbs.
Place it in the freezer and let it get completely frozen. (This will take at least an hour, but just leave for a few hours to ensure it’s solid.)
Serve and enjoy!
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