Delicious and simple! I love this recipe. The crust is pressed into the pan with your fingers, so no rolling of tricky, sticky dough. All the filling ingredients get blended at once, poured into the pan, and baked. No need for stovetop stirring like many lemon custard-type desserts. And for all that non-effort, you have a yummy dessert for 12!
We have a glorious Meyer lemon tree that we planted about 15 years ago. We used to have a little family tradition – instead of buying an overpriced pine tree for Christmas that had been shipped into Hawaii on a container, we bought a baby fruit tree from Frankie’s Nursery. The kids would put as many ornaments on it as the little spindly branches could deal with before sagging to the ground, and then after Christmas we’d plant it in our yard. We had our share of loser trees, but this one was a huge success.
The filling on these bars is nice and thick. I prefer that to those lemon bars that are mostly crust and only a little lemon. If you’re looking for an easy, healthful, and really tasty dessert I think you’ll be happy with this.
- For the Crust:
- 1 egg (see notes)
- 2 1/4 cups almond meal
- 1 cup shredded coconut, toasted
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 Tablespoons xylitol or erythritol (see note)
- 6 Tablespoons coconut oil, plus additional for greasing the pan
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- For the Filling:
- 8 large eggs
- 1 1/2 plus cups xylitol or erythritol
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice (see notes)
- 3 Tablespoons arrowroot
- 2 Tablespoons grated lemon peel
- Make the Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Crack egg into a medium bowl and beat. Put all the other ingredients into the bowl and combine with a spatula. Grease a 9"x13" baking pan with coconut oil. Using your fingers, press dough into pan to create a nice flat layer.
- Bake crust for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven.
- Make the Filling:
- Put all the filling ingredients into the bowl of a food processor or a blender. Blend until combined well. Taste for sweetness and add more sweetener if desired. Pour filling over warm crust.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until filling is set. Cool before serving.
- May be made 1 day ahead and kept covered and chilled.
- Notes:
- Lemons: I use Meyer lemons since we have a tree full. They're sweeter than regular lemons. So if you use regular ones you'll probably need to up the sweetener.
- Eggs: If you have leftover egg yolks (from making my Bread for example) you can eliminate one of the whole eggs and substitute 2 egg yolks.
