Light & Luscious Orange Bars

Graham cracker sandwiches filled with a fluffy, frozen orange cream filling that tastes like a Creamsicle in bar form. The filling is whipped nonfat dry milk set with gelatin and orange juice concentrate, giving you that creamy, frozen texture with a fraction of the fat.

The technique here is clever. Dry milk powder whipped with cold water turns into stiff peaks just like whipped cream, and the lemon juice acts like cream of tartar to stabilize those peaks. The gelatin dissolved in concentrated orange juice gets folded in, and the whole thing freezes into a light, mousse-like filling between crisp crackers.

Chilling the bowl and beaters before whipping is a step that actually matters with dry milk. Warm equipment won’t produce stiff peaks no matter how long you beat.

Kitchen Tips

• Use ice-cold water when whipping the dry milk. The colder the mixture, the better it whips and the more stable the peaks.
• Fold the orange mixture into the whipped milk gently. Aggressive stirring knocks out all the air you just worked to build.
• Wrap each assembled bar individually before freezing. This prevents freezer burn and makes them easy to grab one at a time.
• Let bars sit at room temperature for 2 to 3 minutes before eating. Straight from the freezer they’re rock-hard.

Variations

• Use grape juice concentrate or lemonade concentrate instead of orange for a different frozen fruit bar flavor.
• Swap graham crackers for chocolate graham crackers for an orange-chocolate combination.
• Add a tablespoon of orange zest to the filling for a more intense citrus punch.