LEMON BARS
with an oatmeal and almond crust
Celebrating Easter with my favourite lemon bars this weekend. These creamy lemon custard bars are made with an oat and almond crust and infused with maple.
These bars are gluten free, low in sugar, high in fibre and packed with vitamin C and B vitamins making it a perfect light and healthy treat.
Lemons are a citrus fruit that you should be including into your daily regime. Lemons are cooling, sour and astringent which is why your lips pucker when you bite into a wedge. They are very high in vitamin C and can help boost your immune system. Drinking lemon water daily can help with detoxification and can reduce indigestion as it is alkaline once it’s in the stomach.
The most nutritious part of the lemon is the rind, which is full of antioxidants. I zest all of my lemons before using them and freezing the zest in a container until I need to use it. I add the zest in salads, baked fish, steamed vegetables, dressings, baked goods, drinks and to the tops of poached or fried eggs.
INGREDIENTS
The Crust
1 ½ cup gluten-free oats
1 cup almond flour
½ tsp sea salt
2 tbsp maple sugar *
3 tbsp maple syrup
6 tbsp coconut oil
Lemon Base
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup lemon juice (3-4 lemons)
2 tbsp lemon zest
¼ cup maple syrup
3 eggs, room temperature
3 egg yolks
2 tbsp arrowroot flour **
⅛ tsp salt
METHOD
THE CRUST
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line a 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper. Make sure the parchment comes up the edges of the pan.
Add oats, almonds, sea salt and maple sugar to a food processor and pulse until it has a flour like consistency.
Add the coconut oil and the maple syrup to the flour mixture and pulse until the dough comes together and you can form a ball and it sticks together.
If the dough seems too dry, keep adding coconut oil 1 tbsp at a time until a ball forms.
Evenly spread the dough into the parchment lined pan and press to flatten. Make sure the whole base is covered.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the edges start to brown slightly.
While the crust is baking, you can get the lemon filling ready.
LEMON FILLING
Add the eggs and egg yolks through a fine mesh sieve into a large bowl to make sure there are no shells.
Zest 1 lemon.
Juice the lemons until you have measured out 1 cup.
Add the melted coconut oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, maple syrup and salt to the eggs and whisk until all of the ingredients have come together.
Sift in the arrowroot flour and whisk until there are no clumps.
If you find there are clumps from adding the flour, you can pass the whole batter through a sieve before pouring onto the crust.
After you pull the crust out of the oven, add the lemon batter immediately.
Turn the oven down to 325°F.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the edges start to look dry or the middle does not jiggle.
THE FINISH
Let cool completely before popping it into the fridge for at least 2 hour to completely set.
Take out of the fridge and cut out your desired square size.
These can make 9-12 squares depending on how large or small you would like them.
Top with coconut flakes and serve at room temperature.
ENJOY EVERY BITE!
* Maple Sugar is maple syrup that has been heated to a hard ball stage and stirred until it becomes granular. Don’t worry, you can maple sugar in most health food stores. You can use any other form of sugar with a 1:1 ratio.
* *Arrowroot flour is the same as arrowroot powder or starch, used as a thickener. If you do not have arrowroot flour, you can use 1 tbsp of organic cornstarch instead.
