These Paleo lemon bars have a soft but sturdy shortbread-like crust and the filling is super creamy with the perfect combination of sweet and tart.
Admittedly, when choosing a dessert I usually pick something that’s super rich & chocolate-y. However, lately I’ve been craving something a little lighter and more spring-like so I decided to try my hand at lemon bars!
The filling was super easy but the crust on the other hand, well… that’s another story. I had some major problems with crust, but I finally got it just right!
These bars have a soft but sturdy shortbread-like crust and the filling is super creamy with the perfect combination of sweet and tart – if I do say so myself 🙂 I dusted the top of them with tapioca flour just to be pretty because powdered sugar isn’t very Paleo-like, but I won’t judge you if you decide to use powdered sugar 🙂
Here’s how to make them:
1: In the bowl of a food processor, add 1 C of almond flour, 1/3 C + 2 Tbsp. of coconut flour, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Give it a good whirl to combine. Next, add in 1/4 C of coconut oil and pulse until it’s combined. After that, mix in 2 Tbsp. of honey, an egg, and 1/2 tsp. vanilla. It should form a ball in your food processor.
2: If you are making the crust ahead of time, simply wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge until you are ready to use it. If not, press the dough into the bottom of a greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish and prick with a fork several times. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is preheating, place the crust in the freezer.
3: Bake the crust for 8 – 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Set aside.
4: For the filling, juice the lemons until you reach 1/2 C. Then whisk together the lemon juice, the zest of one lemon, 1/2 C of honey, 5 eggs + 1 egg yolk, 1 tsp. coconut flour, and 1 tbsp of tapioca or arrowroot flour.
5: Pour the filling into the baked crust and place back in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes or until the center is set but slightly jiggly. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes then refrigerate until chilled to finish setting up and then enjoy your luscious lemon bars!
Pin for later:
Looking for more summertime desserts? Check out my Creamy Vegan Lemon Bars, Lemon Poppyseed Energy Bites, No-Bake Brownie Bites, or Tessa’s Paleo Ice Cream Roundup!
Here are some more details in the fun printable:
Paleo Lemon Bars
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Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 C Blanched Almond Flour
- 1/3 C + 2 Tbsp. Coconut Flour
- 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
- 1/4 C Refined Coconut Oil solid state
- 2 Tbsp. Honey
- 1 Large Egg
- 1/2 tsp. Pure Vanilla
Filling:
- 1/2 C Fresh Lemon Juice about 4 Lemons (PLEASE don't use the stuff in a bottle, its not the same!)
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- 1/2 C Honey
- 5 Large Eggs
- 1 tsp. Coconut Flour sifted
- 1 Tbsp. Arrowroot or Tapioca Flour + more for dusting if desired
- 1 Large Egg Yolk
Instructions
- In the bowl of a food processor, add the almond flour, coconut flour, and salt. Give it a good whirl to combine. Next, add coconut oil and pulse until it's combined. After that, mix in the honey, egg, and vanilla. It should form a ball in your food processor.
- If you are making the crust ahead of time, simply wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge until you are ready to use it. It can be kept in the fridge for up to two days. If not, press the dough into the bottom of a greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish and prick with a fork several times. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is preheating, place the crust in the freezer.
- Bake the crust for 8 - 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Set aside.
- For the filling, juice the lemons until you reach 1/2 C. Then whisk together the lemon juice and zest, honey, eggs and egg yolk, coconut flour, and arrowroot or tapioca flour.
- Pour the filling into the baked crust and place back in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes or until the center is set but slightly jiggly.
- Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes then refrigerate until chilled to finish setting up, about 2 or 3 hours.
- Dust the top with tapioca flour, arrowroot flour, or powdered sugar 🙂
Nutritional information is approximate and may vary.
this post is part of Fat Tuesday, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Gluten Free Fridays, Allergy Free Thursdays, And Gluten Free Wednesdays
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So fresh and delicious I bet these are great anytime of year. Adding to my list of treats for the holidays.
These Lemon Bars were DELICIOUS made my 1st batch 09/16/2018, these are going to work with absolute certainty of approval
Cooks4hobby on Pintrest
Thanks John!! I’m so happy you liked them 🙂
Hello! I have a question! I just made these and they were omg amazing! My husband couldn’t believe I made them! Although the crust somehow ended up on the top and the lemon stuff ended up on the bottom? I’m so confused lol!!!
Oh no, that’s so funny!!! I’m not sure why the crust ended up on the top?? Did you poke holes in it before baking?
-Cassidy
Hello! I have a question! I just made these and they were omg amazing! My husband couldn’t believe I made them! Although the vest somehow ended up on the top and the lemon stuff ended up on the bottom? I’m so confused lol!!!
You originally say this is an egg free recipe but then the recipe goes on to include an egg. Is there a substitiute for the egg and you should change the heading so it accurately depicts it does have eggs in it…..
Hi bridget bott!
I might be missing it, but I don’t see any place where I wrote that this is an egg free recipe? Under the picture I do have a link to another recipe I have for an egg free and vegan version of this lemon bar recipe, is that what you mean?
Do you have the macros on this recipe?
I don’t sorry. But if you google “Nutrition Calculator” My Fitness Pal has one that’s pretty easy to use 🙂 Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!
-Cassidy
I made these for the first time. Haven’t tasted them yet. But I’m wondering about the nutrients and calories in them. Please list this info on your recipes. It would be very helpful. I am in Nutrimost.
Made these for my BFF’s birthday, since we both dislike cake, and I’m eating mostly paleo right now. We both approve. 🙂 I didn’t use lemon zest this time since the juice was from a bunch of lemon wedges I had zested before freezing months ago. Still turned out amazing, and will definitely make them again.
YAY Pam, I’m so happy you liked them 🙂
Recipe is so easy to follow and the lemon bars are so good. Definitely a keeper. My family loved it.
YAY Deirdra, I’m so happy you liked them!!!! Thanks for the nice comment 🙂
-Cassidy
I used pistachio’s to garnish.
Color contrast of green on yellow was very vibrant, look refreshing
Does the arrowroot or tapioca flour go into the filling or is it just used for dusting the top of the finished product?
Hi Doug, the arrowroot does go into the filling. I will update the recipe to make it more clear, sorry about that!!!
-Cassidy
Is there something I can substitute for the arrowroot flour? I have everything but that. Thank you!
Hi Kaitlyn, I’ve successfully used tapioca flour but other than that I’m not sure. Cornstarch may work but that is definitely not Paleo! Sorry I couldn’t be of more help. If you do try another flour let me know how it turns out!!!
-Cassidy
These are so yummy. My 3.5 year old loved them and my husband couldn’t stop saying, “mmmmm!” I did modify the crust; I ground macadamia nuts, almonds, and raw oatmeal plus added some lemon zest. I also used only ½ the honey in the lemon filling. They turned out lemony and delightful! My mom and sisters enjoyed them as well. I’ll definitely make again.
So delicious! I made these for my family and they were a big hit. We don’t like our desserts too sweet, so I reduced the honey in the lemon custard to 1/4 cup. I also made the mistake of poking too many holes in the crust, so the custard leaked down- now I have upside down lemon bars! However, they still taste amazing, thanks for the recipe!
These look so amazing! I’m featuring them tonight on Allergy-Free Thursdays! Can’t wait to see what you share this week! 🙂
FABULOUS!! I just made these for the hubby’s bday today. Turned out fantastic. I went heavy on the lemon rind to make them super lemoniscious. I didn’t have arrowroot or tapioca flour so I just omitted (maybe did slightly more coconut flour) and it turned out fine. They are more custard like than traditional really sweet lemon bars, but we prefer it! Thanks so much for the great recipe.
YAY, thanks Kirsten!!!! I’m so happy you liked them 🙂
-Cassidy
Can you substitute almond flour for gluten free and/or tapioca flour instead?
Maybe even oat flour?
I used gf raw oatmeal that I ground myself with nuts of choice. I think you could definitely go with oatmeal mixed in with the other ingredients (nut free). I sub in recipes all the time.
I made these yesterday for my SAD-food loving husband and in-laws. Hubs was craving lemon bars for over a week (which in and of itself is odd). So I surprised him when they arrived home after being out all day. Everyone loved them and I never said they were Paleo. And better yet, was not accused of trying to pass off some bastardized substitution of a “real thing”.
WIN WIN WIN!!!
YAY Amy! I’m happy the bars were such a success!!!!
These were fantastic!! My whole family loved them!!!
YAY Angela! I’m so happy you and your family loved them 🙂 🙂
XO,
Cassidy
I made these on Memorial Day and they are AWESOME!! Thank you for helping me with my lemon dessert craving! I followed your recipe exactly except for using light agave instead of honey and less of it. I used liquid stevia in its place. I also used chickpea flour in place of the arrowroot. They turned out great! I had a regular lemon dessert bar several weeks ago from a bakery stand, but these taste so much better- and they’re so much healthier!
Thank you Heather, I’m SO happy you liked them!!!! I’m glad to know that the chickpea flour and agave worked 🙂
XO,
Cassidy
This crust sounds divine! I can’t wait to try it! Thanks for sharing!
These look AMAZING!! So glad you opened my appetite 🙂
I am excited to try these! Maybe it will turn my kids into lemon lovers…they have always shunned lemon desserts…weird kids! No kids of mine, I tell you, lemon if one of my favorite!!
Yeah, my son doesn’t like lemon either but he liked these… I hope your kids like them too!!!
What awesome looking lemon bars! Can’t wait to make this recipe and also feature it on All Gluten-Free Desserts! 🙂
Thanks, dear. xoxo,
Shirley
Thank you so much Shirley!! I feel so honored that you shared it on All Gluten Free Desserts!!!
XO,
Cassidy
Can you suggest alternatives for almond flour? I can’t have almonds. Thanks
Hi Amie! Almond flour is really hard to replace, the only substitute I know of is sunflower seed flour. However, for this particular recipe, you could *try* replacing the almond flour with an additional 1/4 C of coconut flour. I haven’t tried it so I don’t know if it will work for sure, but that’s where I’d start. If the dough doesn’t form a ball in the food processor, add additional coconut flour or if it’s too hard and not pliable, I’d add ice water a Tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right texture. If you try it let me know how it works!!!
I think that increasing coconut flour is a bad idea because it absorbs water like no other substance on Earth! You can substitute pecan flour or hazelnut flour for the almond flour, though. And you can also make a pecan/walnut butter to use as well. I love almond flour but one of our kids gets an itchy throat when she eats anything with almonds, even though an allergy didn’t show up on any tests, so we really don’t use it anymore.
This looks SO good! I will be making these soon!
Thanks Helen, let me know how you like them!!!