Paleo Lemon Bars — paleo, gluten free, dairy free and keto/sugar free friendly! The tart lemon filling of these lemon bars pairs perfectly with the sweet shortbread crust. Made with just a couple of simple ingredients, these are the perfect easy, healthy and tasty spring dessert! See notes below the recipe for sugar free/keto substitutions.
Shortbread Crust Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups almond flour
1/3 cup pure maple syrup or honey
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (or vegan/grass fed butter)
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp salt
Lemon Filling Ingredients:
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup pure maple syrup or honey
5 eggs
2 TBS coconut flour
Zest from 1 lemon
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350° and line an 8×8 baking dish with parchment paper (you can also simply spray your baking dish with cooking spray instead of using parchment paper).
In a medium sized dish, combine almond flour, coconut flour, coconut oil, salt and sweetener. Mix until a shortbread crust forms.
Add your crust to your pan and carefully press it down with your fingers to form a solid crust (make sure the crust reaches all corners of the pan and there are no cracks or openings).
Bake the crust for 15 minutes, until lightly browned.
While the crust is baking, whisk together your eggs, sweetener, lemon juice, lemon zest and coconut flour until smooth. Make sure you whisk it very well.
As soon as your crust is done baking, pour your lemon mixture over the crust. I like to leave the pan in the oven on the rack and simply pour the lemon mixture on top of the crust and then shut the door. This reduces movement of the pan and helps the lemon mixture stay on top of the crust and not seep around the edges.
Lower your oven temperature to 325° and bake the bars for an additional 20 minutes.
Remove lemon bars from the oven after 20 minutes and let them cool for an hour at room temperature.
After an hour, place your bars in the fridge and refrigerate your lemon bars for several more hours until they are cold and firm.
After a couple of hours in the fridge, remove your lemon bars and slice them into 16 squares.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and lemon zest and enjoy!
Store the lemon bars in the fridge for 3 to 5 days or in the freezer for long-term use.
Recipe Notes:
Use sugar free maple syrup (like Lakanto) to replace the maple syrup/honey to keep the recipe sugar free/keto.
Depending on your oven, you may need to bake the bars for slightly more or less time. Remove the bars from the oven when the lemon filling is set and does not jiggle anymore. You do not want to overbake the lemon bars or else the lemon filling will crack on top!
