Lemons. Lovely, lemony lemons. I can’t see a lemon now, or think about the word lemon without hearing Ewan McGregor’s voice in the Expedia travel commercial. I bet that company would be upset to know it didn’t prompt me to spend money on a trip, but instead, programmed me to want to eat something lemony. The fact that it’s Obi-Wan’s voice telling me to do it makes it impossible to ignore.
My grandmother used to make these wonderful gooey lemon bars with this thick, soft crust that was fantastic. Warm out of the oven, I would have eaten the whole pan if left to my own devices. Then, as it cooled, it magically became something even better.
I think I might be able to make a reasonable and healthy copy of that now, but it would be very, very involved. We are talking about making a crust, a custard layer, and a lemon condensed milk layer all from scratch.
With Ewan’s beautiful Scottish voice in my head urging me on, there is no time for that kind of complicated lemon fix.
I need a quick and easy bar, light on calories and heavy on lemon essence. Now I have it, and so can you. This recipe is so easy, I forgot to take pictures of most of the process, and you know what? Not even an issue. That’s how easy it is. Your kitchen will smell wonderful, and your taste buds will sing like Ewan in Moulin Rouge.
All you really need to know about this recipe is to make sure your butter and your eggs are at room temp for it, because we are using the creaming method, and anything other than room temp will not do. Also, when you squeeze your lemons, get in there and get the pulp with it, Really wring the life out of them, we want our fresh squeezed juice to have as much pulp as possible.
Use grass fed butter, pasture raised eggs, and low sugar ice cream, and you have a light yet delicious way to satisfy a sweet tooth craving that we all get from time to time. Or, a lemon craving that Obi-Wan puts in your head using his Jedi mind tricks.
This bar is also healthy enough that you will still be able to jump to the high ground, which as we all know, is absolutely crucial to win a lightsaber fight.
Lovely, Lemony Lemon bars
Ingredients:
56 grams fine almond flour
30 grams coconut flour
1 stick grass fed butter at room temp
4 pasture raised eggs at room temp
4 tbsp Stevia in the raw granulated sweetener
4 tbsp powdered Monkfruit sweetener
1/4 cup plain grass fed yogurt
1/8 tsp sea salt
Zest of two lemons
Juice and pulp of two lemons, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions:
Place the butter and the stevia in the raw in a mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer until it is light and fluffy. Add the eggs in one at a time, making sure each is incorporated before adding the next. Whisk the almond flour, coconut flour, and salt in another bowl and then dump into the butter mix, whisk to combine. Once it is well mixed, add the yogurt, lemon zest, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice. Whisk again until smooth. Line a 8×12 baking dish with parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes:
Let the bars cool for about 10 minutes, then whisk the powdered monkfruit with 3 tbsp of the lemon juice. Pour it on top of the lemon bars, then place in the fridge to chill completely. Cut into pieces and serve alone or with low carb vanilla ice cream:
See the list of all the Shirtless Chef recipes at www.mysaline.com/shirtless.