I am a huge fan of lemon bars! In fact, I think it just might be my favorite sweet. I love the combination of sweetness and tartness that they provide for my palate. I have been on the search for a means of making my own lemon bars in a more natural fashion. I found my friend Kimi’s lemon curb bars recipe, and fell in love! Not only were they incredibly simple, but they were delicious, gluten free and healthy all in one! I am all about simplifying, so I adapted her methods a bit to make it quick and easy as follows. I skipped the addition of lemon zest, because I did not have it and also found that the mixture was definitely lemony enough without them, and thus it saved a further step.
Filling:
3 whole eggs
1/4 cup honey (I found the smaller amount was perfectly sweetened enough – raw honey is your best option)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup coconut oil (I cut back on the coconut oil from the original recipe since it was too strong of a coconut flavor to me. 1/4 cup was perfect! Choice virgin cold pressed unrefined coconut oil for best nutritional value.)
Crust:
1 cup of raw almonds (soaked and dehydrated, if possible)
1 cup of raw pecans (I have used practically any combination of nuts here!)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup of melted virgin coconut oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon sea salt
Filling Directions:
1. Blend the eggs, honey, and lemon juice together in a small sauce pan until thoroughly combined.
2. Turn the heat on to medium high and add coconut oil, mixing regularly until the oil has melted.
3. Continue stirring until the mixture thickens and bubbles.
4. Remove from pan and place in a bowl in the refrigerator to cool and thicken further.
Crust Directions:
1. Place nuts in a food processor or blender and pulse until finely chopped, but not pureed. You may have little chunks of nuts, and that is fine.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse again until well combined.
3. Spread over the bottom of a greased 8 x 8 inch pan.
4. Bake for 15-18 minutes in a 400 degree oven, until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
5. Cool completely before layering the filling over the top. Return to the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Scrumptious! I am going to make another batch now!
Check out Kimi’s original recipe here!
These bars are/were soooooooooo good!!!!!!! New favorite treat!
Hi, I have a questin, I recently tried making thsese but confused when I started to boil, I boiled on medium heat for about 2 minutes, and it started to turn into cooked eggs. Has anyone else experienced this, or did everyone get it right on the first try. I tried 2 times to make it, and both times it did that.
I didn’t see anywhere In the directions that it said to “boil” the filling… so that’s what’s probably going wrong when you make it. Turn your burner to medium onlyonce you add the coconut oil and then WHISK the mixtute THE ENTIRE TIME while its on the stove. As soon as you see just like 1-2 bubbles remove the pan from the heat and follow the rest of the directions! Hope this helps! I just made it this way and the eggs did not boil. It’s sooo good!
How many bars does this batch make? How many calories in each bar? Thanks!
My friend made these last night for small group and told me where she got the recipe. AMAZING!!! LOVE THEM! I could just eat the crust though – it’s just too good!!!
OK, I am new to baking, especially with whole foods. What are some good (raw) nut combinations?
Check out the Nourishing Protein Bars…yum!
Lindsay….do you soak all the nuts your family eats? Or do you mostly just soak grains? Is it necessary to soak your freshly ground flour?
Trying to decide if I can choose one or two things to soak…and skip some others for time purposes.
Thank you!!
Very a fascinating article and supporting comments that you have here. I would like to point out that other sites have proposed a varying angle, especially in regards to natural health. Has anyone here run across supplemental related ideas on the Internet, and will you let me know where?
Lindsay,
I went to the amazon link you provided and bought the coconut oil. I have a question: I just received it today and it is liquid with different size opaque chunks floating around. Have you ever received yours liquified? I work in a veterinary diagnostic lab that receives hundreds of packages a day, and I know those UPS and FedEX trucks can get well over 130 degrees in the summer. Do you think it is still safe to eat? I didn’t know if getting it hot and bringing it back to room temperature then hot again does anything to the health benefits. I called Vitamin Shoppe just to ask and they said they will send me another one (I feel bad – I didn’t even complain), but I have a feeling with this heat in Texas it will come back the same. (They said they didn’t know if it does anything.) Just wondering if you think I should chunk them and buy them in a few months when it’s cold outside. Thank you so much!
Jennifer
Oh yes, it is definitely still safe. It will naturally melt above 76 degrees. Mine tends to liquefy more in the summer as well. No worries.
Yay, a lemon bar recipe that is Paleo!! I was thrilled to find this. They are delicious and definitely satisfied my sweet tooth.
im obsessed with lemon bars! i just posted a low-fat lemon icebox bar recipe myself…thanks for sharing!
I made the lemon bar recipe and shared them with my folks. Everyone thought they were good-including my 3 1/2 year old
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I’m very new to soaking things, and wondered how you soak the almonds. Should the pecans be soaked too? Thanks so much!
Preferably. You simply soak nuts by adding 1 tsp salt and covering with filtered warm water. Cover with a cloth and leave at room temperature for 12 hours. Dehydrate at 150 degrees till dry.
Ooh, these look great! I LOVE lemon bars but haven’t had any since going gluten/casein free this summer. Thanks for posting this.
My husband is allergic to coconut so anyone have success with using butter? I have been craving a lemon bar! Thanks Lindsay
Yes, I am sure it will work with butter. I did half and half with one batch and it worked perfectly fine…so I am sure all butter would be scrumptious!
Wow, these sound delicious. I will be trying out a batch sometime this week, although I think I’ll be substituting the oil with the butter. My husband doesn’t like coconut oil at all. Has anyone else tried it with butter, instead of oil?
Is there a reason you couldn’t use butter instead of the coconut oil, in the crust especially?
By all means. You can definitely sub with butter. I just like to use the coconut oil for the high nutritional value.
I am new to your blog-I love it! But I am also very overwhelmed. I have a quick and probably dumb question…is there a difference between coconut oil that you used in the filling and the virgin coconut oil you used in the crust? I want to order some to make some of your recipes but I see there are many options (including solid, organic, raw and processed…?). Please help! Thanks
No, I use the same coconut oil for both portions of this recipe. Choose unrefined cold pressed coconut oil for best nutritional value. My preference is Mountain Rose Herbs for quality and price. You can also buy it from Amazon.
I just tried this recipe, it was fun and easy and delicious! Thanks for posting it Lindsay:) I think I made a little mistake though, I put my crust in a smaller pan, so it ended up being thicker and fell apart when I took it out. Did anyone else have this problem? Also, did anyone grease the bottom of the pan with coconut oil or something? just curious.
Opps…my error. Yes, the pan should be greased! Sorry!
Those DO sound delicious, and I love how easy it is!! Thanks for the recipe.
These look delicious!!! I was thinking of trying a recipe like this with sprouted flour, but I think I’ll try it with my soaked crispy nuts I have in my refrigerator!
Thanks for the recipe!
@ Christy – FredMeyer sells it in the health food area. Other stores like walmart sell the high processed kind (which isn’t good for you). I buy mine online for around $30 a gallon at Glory Bee Honey Company. They are a local company, so I don’t have to pay shipping. I just pick it up at the distributor =)
Any idea if a non-nut flour would work with this? My son has a severe allergy to tree nuts. If I could replace the flour, this would be a great recipe for us!
Quick question: can the nuts be soaked and dehydrated, instead of raw?
Yes, I use soaked and dehydrated nuts for my recipes and it works perfectly! Yum!
These look really yummy. My hubby loves lemon, so I will definitely try these.
Great picture too
Oh, those look delicious! I think I’ll try them next week! It will be a nice change. Glad you posted the filling and crust separately. When I linked to the original recipe, it was confusing to read; then to link to the curd part and print that was time consuming. I prefer one page recipes in my cookbook-much easier to work with. Glad you simplified it so I could print one page. Can’t wait to try it although I like adding the lemon zest to things.
This may be the recipe I try. My husband loves lemon bars, but we rarely buy them/make them because they are so unhealthy. If I don’t try them I’ll have to tell my mother in law and she’ll be sure to make them.
Thanks for sharing!!
Sounds great! I’m making some today!
Can you find coconut oil in regular grocery stores?
Christy,
You can find coconut oil in grocery stores, yet usually at a very high price! The best to look for is unrefined coconut oil…that would be the purest form. You could order in bulk online from Mountain Rose Herbs, (go in with a friend if needed.) However, you may find you start using it for everything from baking, cooking, deodorant, moisturizer, the sky is the limit, so you may need a lot! I save my swagbucks, and order from amazon.com when they have a sale on it. The nutiva coconut oil is great, and I have been using it for over a year now, with wonderful results! Hope this helps…..
You will want to find unrefined cold pressed coconut oil for the best nutritional value. You can find it at whole foods or natural food stores. My preference is Mountain Rose Herbs for quality and price.