gluten-free eats

I couldn't find a lemon bar recipe that worked for me, so I McGyvered my own, and I'm really happy with it. The almond flour crust is firm and toothy and holds together so well you can eat these with your hands. The lemon filling is soft and smooth, and almost more tangy than sweet. The crust is based on these paleo lemon bars, and the filling is mine, perfected over the years and now adapted to be gluten free.

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 ½ cups almond flour (140 grams)
1/4 cup cassava flour or tapioca starch (35 grams)
1/4 cup powdered sugar (25 grams)—optional
1/2 tsp fine salt
1/4 cup oil
1 large egg
zest from one lemon ~1 teaspoon

Filling:

3/4 cup granulated sugar (145 grams)
2 Tablespoons GF flour—I used cassava flour (15 grams)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice—one medium lemon should do it

Optional Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar (100 grams)
2-3 Tablespoons lemon juice

Time: These bars come together in two stages. About 25 minutes to gather up the ingredients and throw together the crust, which then takes 20 minutes to cook. Then 5 minutes to whip up the lemon filling and back in the oven for another 20 minutes. Then they'll need to cool for several hours, probably in the fridge.

Tools: Best if you have an 8 x 8 inch baking pan; I used glass. Metal or ceramic pans will have slightly different results.

Instructions:

0. This is your annual reminder to zest citrus before juicing. I use a microplane and it works really well to get the zest with none of the bitter pith.

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease an 8 x 8 inch baking pan and line with a strip of parchment paper so that the extra paper drapes over opposite sides; you can use this as a handle later. If you want, you can place a second strip crosswise, but I think it works fine with just one. While you're at it, grease the parchment paper a little too.

2. In a medium bowl, add the almond flour, cassava flour, powdered sugar (sifted if lumpy), and salt. Smash out any lumps in your flour, and mix. In a small bowl, add the egg, oil, and lemon zest, and whisk until blended. Pour this into your dry ingredients and stir together. It will form a soft, thick, non-sticky dough.

3. Press the dough into your baking pan. Use your hands to get it evenly distributed. It's very soft and easy to poke a hole in, so be careful. Now, take a fork and poke a lot of holes in it so it won't puff up in the oven.

4. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, giving the pan a turn after 10 minutes. Beat the crust down with a fork if it gets unruly and monstrous. (Mine has tendency to inflate.)

5. In that same medium bowl from before, add your granulated sugar, your GF flour, and your baking powder. Whisk to combine. Add your eggs. Tilt the bowl a little and give it a nice vigorous whisking until the mixture turns a lovely light yellow and looks a little frothy. It only takes a few seconds. Now SAVE your lemon juice until your crust comes out of the oven. BECAUSE: The second you put that acid in there, it'll hit the leavening agent and start bubbling away, and you'll lose your lift.

6. After 20 minutes, your crust should look dry on top and a little golden on the edges. Take it out. Now you can add your lemon juice to your filling. Whisk it in gently, then, once it's incorporated, give it another couple of vigorous whisks. Immediately pour the mixture on top of your crust. If the filling doesn't reach all the edges, tilt the pan around a little until it does.

7. Carefully put it back in the oven for 18-22 minutes. The filling will puff up, then form a skin and turn a spotty golden brown. It's done when you gently jiggle the pan and the center of the filling doesn't jiggle with it.

8. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for an hour or two, then stick it in the fridge, uncovered, to cool and set. Probably about two hours in there, and then you're ready to eat.

9. If you're going with the glaze, add your lemon juice to the powdered sugar and whisk to combine. Pour it over the top of the bars and tilt the pan to get it to run into the corners. You don't want to spread the glaze with a tool; it'll just tear the top layer of the filling. Or skip the glaze and just sift some powdered sugar over the bars. Or skip it all and serve them plain.

10. To serve, I run a small, sharp knife around the edges to loosen the bars from the side of the pan, then lift the whole dang thing out using the extra parchment paper as handles. (If your bars aren't cooled enough, they will bend; either forge ahead or cool longer.) I put them on a cutting board, then slice. For best results, cut the bars while they're cold, plate them, then let them warm up a little before you eat them. Or eat them stone cold. They taste delicious either way.

11. Store, covered, in the fridge for three or four days or until they're gone. While they're best the first day, they are still completely fine in the following days; the crust softens a little as it absorbs moisture, but the bars are still firm enough to pick up and eat, even on the third day.

Notes: For the two tablespoons of flour in the filling, I've used the flour blend from America's Test Kitchen in the past, and cassava flour more recently. You could probably use anything as long as it's light, fine, and neutral, like tapioca starch, white rice or sweet rice flour, or an all-purpose flour blend.

I use avocado oil in the crust, but you can use any mild-tasting oil, or melted coconut oil.

Variations: You can easily double this and put it in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Cooking time is just going to be a little longer: around 20-30 minutes for the crust alone, and 25-30 for the second bake.

Questions? Ask 'em!