Turns out lemon bars are only really enjoyed by the women in our home? Seriously…had no idea till the tester batches were ready to taste and only had gals stepping into the kitchen…well, more for us! It’s clearly been a while since I’ve made these, but long enough that even back before we were enjoying a Paleo life, it must have only been us gals eating them. The boys can have an apple while we all have a ladies night and enjoy these babies!
Lemony, slightly sweet filling with a crunchy yet soft shortbread-like crust…you don’t need a large piece, they are rich and make your glands squirt after the first bite. If you’re a lemon junky like we are, these are going to need to be a part of you regular weekly dessert rotaion!
Super easy recipe, and I have just a couple tips for you: If you use coconut sugar in the crust, it may brown quicker and be darker overall, so keep that in mind ~ you can use the bottom of a glass to press the crust into the pan ~ give the filling ingredients one more spin from the mixer before pouring onto the hot crust if it’s been sitting for a few minutes ~ when cutting the lemon bars after they are cooled (and really, let them cool completely…patience) I like to use a large metal spatula and cut close to the edge all the way around the pan, essentially like cutting the crust off of bread…this gives you a nice edge on all the bars in the middle after you cut them up, if you don’t mind the little edges on most of the bars…totally skip doing that ~ lastly…hide these from yourself if you need to, they are that good!
lemon bars
lemony, buttery...paleo lemon bars
Credit: backporchpaleo.com
Ingredients
- 1 cup Otto’s cassava flour
- ¼ cup maple sugar (coconut sugar can be subbed, crust may bake up darker)
- ½ cup softened grass fed butter (or fat of choice)
- ⅔ cup honey
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1½ tablespoons Otto’s cassava flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- powdered maple sugar* to sprinkle on top after (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- In a medium bowl, add first 3 ingredients and cut together with a pastry blender or with two knives until it’s well combined and is similar to wet, lumpy sand…this will be your crust.
- Pour crust ingredients into an 8″x8″ baking pan and press firmly into the bottom of the pan trying to get it as even and flat as possible.
- Place pan in oven and bake for 12-14 minutes until edges just begin to turn brown.
- While crust bakes, combine remaining ingredients (except optional maple powdered sugar for dusting after) and combine well with mixer.
- Remove crust from oven and pour filling on top of hot crust and return to oven and bake for an additional 15-18 minutes or until filling is set when pan is carefully jiggled.
- Let cool completely and cut into desired shape and sprinkle with maple powdered sugar.
- Store leftovers in fridge. *to make powdered maple sugar, add 2 tablespoons maple sugar and 1½ teaspoons Otto’s cassava flour to a spice grinder and whirl away until light and fluffy…his should be plenty for dusting these bars and still have some for another batch!
