Lemon Bars
This weekend I tried another recipe by Green Kitchen Stories, their Perfect Lemon & Coconut Bars. Not a lemon bar as you might know one.
I was a bit short of maple syrup so used organic brown rice syrup instead, and as I have a love-hate relationship with coconut oil, swapped out with butter.
For that delicious lemony flavour you do need to use a tart lemon.
Makes about 35 small bars
Base
75g butter
3 tablespoons organic brown rice syrup
2 cups shredded coconut
1 cup ground almonds
a pinch of salt
2 free-range egg whites (reserve yolks for topping)
Topping
2 large tart lemons (use Lisbon or Yen Ben varietals)
3 free-range eggs, plus reserved 2 yolks
3 tablespoons organic brown rice syrup
⅓ cup ground almonds
icing sugar for dusting, optional
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 30cm x 20cm slice tin with baking paper.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the rice syrup, coconut, almonds and salt. Stir until all is well combined. Remove from the heat and stir in the egg whites. Stir well to combine. Place in the tin and spread out evenly and firmly using a spatula. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes then remove.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Finely grate the zest from the lemons then juice to give you ⅓ cup juice. Place the eggs and reserved yolks in an electric mixer and beat until frothy. Add the lemon juice, rice syrup and almonds and beat for 1 minute. Remove and stir through the zest. Pour over the baked base and return to the oven to bake for 18-20 minutes until the edges are light brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before cutting into small bars. Serve dusted with icing sugar, if you wish.