Paleo Lemon Bars

My sister happens to be a HUGE fan of anything lemon. Naturally I save most lemon recipes I come across for her. After several talks (on my part) and several trials (on her part), I had finally managed to get my sister to start eating paleo. She has done pretty well with it the past couple of months too. So when she told me she was going to come down one weekend, she requested a paleo dessert this time (my family thinks I’m obligated to bake them something when they come to visit…a little spoiled aren’t they?). Of course I immediately started looking for lemon paleo desserts. Never mind the fact that she also sampled a baklava cupcake when she was here (so NOT paleo, more like a sugar coma. Delicious sugar coma.) But I did whip up some paleo lemon bars as well.

Paleo Lemon Bars

I used the recipe I found over at Civilized Caveman’s blog. I did make a few changes though. I didn’t have macadamia nuts, so I used a combination of almonds and hazelnuts. Yes, I am that lazy and just use what I have…I am not making an extra trip to the store! I also didn’t top it with coconut because my sister doesn’t like the texture of shredded coconut, but I’m sure they taste great with that extra flavor. I also used a 9×13″ pan because again, that’s what I had. Still worked great.

Paleo Lemon Bars

Topping:

• 6 Eggs
• 1/2 c. Honey
• 1/2 c. Coconut Oil
• 1 c. Lemon Juice
• Unsweetened Shredded Coconut

Crust:

• 1 c. Almonds
• 1 c. Macadamia Nuts
• 1/4 c. Honey
• 1/2 c. Melted Coconut Oil
• 2 Eggs

Topping:

• Whisk your eggs, honey, and lemon juice together in a small sauce pan
• Place on your stove over medium/high heat and add coconut oil
• Stir until coconut oil melts and then continue stirring until the mixture thickens and starts to bubble
• Once thick, remove from the heat and place in a bowl in your refrigerator to cool

Crust:

• Preheat your oven to 400* F
• Place your almonds and macadamia nuts in a food processor and blend until in small chunks, you want little chunks
• In a mixing bowl, combine nuts with the honey, melted coconut oil, and eggs and mix well
• Grease an 8×12 inch baking pan, then spread your nut mixture over the entire pan
• Bake for 15-18 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test
• Let it completely cool
• Spread lemon topping over crust, sprinkle as much unsweetened shredded coconut as you want over the topping, and then return to the refrigerator or freezer
• Keep it refrigerated or frozen until you serve it and then return the remaining to the fridge/freezer

One night as I was sneaking another bar, I had a genius idea to add strawberries on top. Lemon and strawberries? Yes please. I wish I had thought of that sooner before half of them were gone!

Taking it a step further…mmm strawberries.

Can’t really go wrong with these lemon bars! Even my non-paleo taste testers liked them. Perfect for the summertime!