A delicious sweet-tart combination of lemon curd with an almond flour crust makes this take on traditional lemon bars gluten-free and kosher for Passover. This recipe is the answer to what to do with all those egg yolks after you make some Strawberry Meringue Cake.
It does not make a large batch, just an 8 x 8-inch pan. If you wanted to make a larger batch for a 9 x 13-inch pan, you would just double the recipe.
Beware lest you should turn around for two minutes as these lemon bars seem to spontaneously disappear.
Gluten-Free Lemon Bars
A delicious sweet-tart combination of lemon curd and an almond flour crust make this take on traditional lemon bars gluten-free and kosher for Passover.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1½ cups almond flour (120g) see note on making your own from whole almonds
- 2 tablespoons butter melted (29g)
- 2 tablespoons sugar (25g)
Lemon Curd
- ½ cup sugar (100g)
- zest from one lemon
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice (76g)to m will be 1-3 lemons depending on size
- ½ cup butter (113g) cut into pieces
- confectioners' sugar for dusting on top
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 350 °F and line an 8 x 8-inch square pan with parchment paper. I create a parchment sling to make the bars easier to remove from the pan without breaking.
- Mix together the ground almonds, melted butter, and sugar. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and use the back of a spoon or an offset spatula to press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.
- Bake at 350 °F for 8-10 minutes until the crust is just beginning to turn golden brown.
- Remove the an from the oven and allow the crust to cool. Turn the oven down to 300 °F.
Lemon Curd
- The curd is cooked gently in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. You want to use a medium to large heatproof glass or metal bowl that will nest into the pot of water leaving a gap between the bowl and the water. Place the pot of water onto the stove, bring it up to a simmer (a very low bare bubbling boil).
- In your heat-proof bowl that fits over your pot (double-check this before you start pouring ingredients) whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
- Place your bowl onto the pot of simmering water. Stirring frequently, add the butter a few pieces at a time letting the pieces melt before adding more. Once all the butter is incorporated, leave the bowl over the simmering water and continue to stir frequently for another 10-12 minutes until the lemon curd has thickened and coats the back of the spoon.
- Remove the curd from the heat and strain it through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any chunky bits. Allow the curd to cool to room temperature, then spread the curd over the crust. Bake the bars at 300 °F for 18-20 minutes or until the filling is set.
- Let the bars cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for two or more hours until the filling is set.
- Use the parchment sling to remove the bars from the pan. Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar if desired.
Notes
To make the almond flour, take 1 cup (142g) of almonds (can be blanched or unblanched) and use a food processor or blender to grind the almonds to a fine powder. Be careful not to over grind or you will end up with almond butter.
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