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The Best Gluten-Free Lemon Bars

Lemon Bars are the quintessential warm-weather dessert, and they have always been among the first recipes I make as soon as hot weather hits! However, as anyone who knows me can attest, I’m always looking to make the good even better! So I decided to overhaul my original Lemon Bars. Word around the office is that the revised recipe is twice as good as the original. It has been taste-tested numerous times and each time it turns out rich, creamy, and full of lemon flavor.

This easy recipe for gluten-free Lemon Bars is going to be your go-to summertime clean-eating treat. They’re packed with healthy ingredients like honey, coconut cream, and grass-fed gelatin, making them Paleo and AIP friendly. This recipe is free of eggs, cream cheese, butter, and sugar. It’s so delicious—and you can serve it with pride, knowing it’s not packed with sugar, flour, and dairy!

How to Make Gluten-Free Lemon Bars:

This is really a two-part process. First, create the crust by creaming together the palm shortening, honey, and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients, and press dough into a parchment-lined baking dish. Bake until hardened.

While that bakes you’ll make the filling. In a small bowl, add water and sprinkle with gelatin and let sit. In the meantime, whisk filling ingredients together in a medium-sized pot, and stir over medium heat. Add gelatin mixture and whisk thoroughly to combine. Pour mixture over crust and let solidify in the fridge for 3-4 hours before dusting with AIP and Paleo powdered sugar.

Substitutions in these Gluten-Free Lemon Bars

If you’re a seasoned gluten-free baker, you might have success playing around with a variation of this recipe, but I suggest baking it through as written before you work your creativity on it. This recipe has been tested for texture and flavor, and — especially in baking — a change in ingredients can really impact the result.

For example, this recipe uses raw honey rather than coconut sugar, which yields a golden-brown bar instead of yellow. However, the end result is still tasty! I prefer to use sustainably sourced palm shortening in my baked goods (Look for one that is RSPO certified), as the texture tends to be much closer to the original than coconut oil. However, coconut oil can often be swapped out 1 to 1 for palm shortening. Just keep in mind the texture and flavor will be different.

This recipe features coconut flour and arrowroot starch as the gluten-free flours. If you choose to swap these with other gluten-free flours, I suggest searching for a coconut flour conversion chart. Because coconut flour is so absorbent, if you choose another option, you’ll likely need to increase the amount of flour you use by several tablespoons, or your dough will be too wet.

If you do make substitutions, let me know! I love to hear what’s working.

Fresh Lemon Juice

This recipe is packed with Vitamin C from the fresh lemon juice. For convenience, you can purchase lemon juice from a jar, but be sure to find one that is pure lemon juice (not from concentrate) so you can avoid any added ingredients.

Grass-Fed Gelatin

Because this recipe is egg-free, the gelatin is the ingredient that binds it together. Not only does gelatin add to the texture in these lemon bars, but it also supports gut health and proper digestion. You can get my grass-fed Gelatin here.

Coconut Cream

A traditional Lemon Bar recipe often features cream cheese for the creamy lemon filling. This recipe uses coconut cream to replace the dairy. Coconut cream is full of healthy fats, and surprisingly doesn’t add too much coconut flavor to the final product.

gluten-free lemon bars

The Best Gluten-Free Lemon Bars


Course:

Servings

16 bars

Ingredients

For the Gluten-Free Crust
  • 1/4 cup honey raw
  • 1/3 cup palm shortening
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2/3 cup coconut flour
  • 1/4 cup arrowroot starch
  • 1 tbsp gelatin
For the Lemon Filling
  • 1 1/2 cup coconut cream
  • 2 Tbsp palm shortening
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice (about 4-5 lemons)
  • 1/4 cup honey raw
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/4 cup arrowroot starch
  • 1 tbsp gelatin
  • 1/4 cup water
For the AIP and Paleo Powdered Sugar (optional)
  • 1 cup coconut sugar
  • 1 Tbsp tapioca starch

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 325 F and line an 8×8″ baking pan with unbleached parchment paper.
  2. Using a spatula or a hand mixer, combine the palm shortening, honey, and vanilla. If you are using a thicker honey, you may want to warm your honey slightly over the stovetop before mixing, as it will help it come together easier.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, arrowroot starch, and gelatin. Slowly add the flour mixture to the honey mixture and stir until a ball of dough forms.
  4. Press the dough into the bottom of your baking pan to form an even crust.
  5. Bake until lightly golden for about 25 minutes. Set aside.
  1. In a medium-sized pot, whisk together all the lemon filling ingredients aside from the gelatin and water. Stir occasionally over medium heat for about 5 minutes until the mixture is smooth and slightly thickened.
  2. In a small bowl, add water and sprinkle gelatin on top. Let rest for 3-5 minutes until the gelatin firms up.
  3. Next, add gelatin and water to the lemon filling mixture, and whisk over low heat for about 3 minutes until the gelatin is well incorporated.
  1. Pour the filling over the crust and place into the refrigerator until the filling is set.
  2. To make the powdered sugar, blend the coconut sugar and tapioca starch in a high-speed food processor.
  3. When you’re ready to serve, remove the parchment paper from the pan, dust with powdered sugar if desired, and slice into 16 bars.
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