Coconut Lemon Bars ~ The Paleo Way

Coconut Lemon Bars

Does anyone NOT like lemon bars.  They might be my favorite treat.  I’ve had good and I’ve had bad.  The bad ones are made with a jello mix, are sickly sweet and taste of fake lemon.  I wanted to make my own using real food.  I wanted them to be super lemony and not too sweet.  I also did not want the crust to be nut or grain based.  I think it is easy to get carried away with nuts so I am trying to switch up my baking and use more coconut than nuts like almonds etc.  Yes, I realize that cicinut is classified as a nut but coconut has a better Omega 3:6 ratio and as an added bonus is low oxalate.  These are not low carb but they are also not a cheat.  A treat, absolutely but not a cheat.  The filling recipe came from here.  (I would highly recommend checking out this guys blog.  He has lots of great looking recipes.  And does anyone else think that a man who can cook and bake is totally sexy??)  I created my own base.  The coconut chips I used are from Wilderness Family Naturals.  They are incredible and I did hesitate to use them in a recipe as they are not cheap (when you include shipping into the cost) and I would have been devastated if these didn’t turn out and I wasted all those coconut chips.  In the end it turned out to be well worth it.  So how good were they?  Me, who really does not have a sweet tooth ate probably 80% of the pan over the course of about 36 hours.  So, yes, they were a smashing success.  The kids hated them as expected due to the lemon in them and this suited me fine.   I do believe that I will have to make more of these ASAP, you know for quality control.  🙂  I believe these are GAPS legal and low oxalate as well as soy, corn, dairy, grain, gluten, refined sugar and nut free.  In case you are interested in seeing the evolution of this blog, check out my first recipe for Lemon Bars.

Crust

2 eggs

1/4 cup melted coconut oil (expeller pressed is fine if you don’t want to use your expensive virgin coconut oil)

2 T raw unfiltered honey

pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup coconut chips

1/2 cup coconut chips

Preheat oven to 350.  In a food processor combine eggs, coconut oil, salt and honey.  Mix to combine.  Add coconut flour and 1/4 cup of coconut chips.  Again, process until well combined.  Transfer to a bowl and stir in remaining coconut chips.  Grease a glass Pyrex baking dish with coconut oil.  My dish is 7×11 or 2.2 QT/2 L.   Press cookie batter base evenly into dish.  Bake for 18 minutes at 350 until the edges are just starting to brown and center is cooked through. 

Filling

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (strained so there is no pulp)

6 whole eggs

1/3 – 1/2 cup raw unfiltered honey

1/2 cup coconut oil (I used expeller pressed.)

pinch of sea salt

Whisk lemon juice, eggs, salt and honey together in a large glass bowl or double boiler.  Bring about an inch of water to boil in a medium saucepan or bottom of double boiler.  Set the glass bowl on top of the boiling water.  The water should not be in contact with the bowl.  Slowly whisk in the melted coconut oil.  Continue to whisk as the water remains at a rolling boil.  DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK on this.  Whisk until it starts to thicken.  When it starts to thicken it gets thick FAST.  Remove from heat.  It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.  Strain the filling through a fine mesh to remove any cooked egg bits.  Top the crust  and smooth it out.  Refrigerate.  My husband and The Civilized Caveman both thought this would have been great frozen too.  It probably would although that would have really slowed me down as I polished these all off.  (Hmmm maybe that is a good thing.)  Top with extra coconut chips as you see fit.  Refrigerate (or freeze) until set then devour!

This post was shared at: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/monday-mania-1232012/, http://www.realfoodwholehealth.com/2012/01/fresh-bites-friday-january-27-2012/