Lemon Walnut Bars

LEMON WALNUT BARS WITH POWDERED SUGAR

I wanted to make a slightly healthier recipe that is the same idea as my cheesecake squares. Those have yellow box cake and way more sugar.

Lemon is one of my favorite flavors, if not my favorite, and I’m obsessed with lemon bars for dessert. Since I’m still on the low FODMAP diet, I wanted to give it a shot to make it more healthy.

Instead of using an entire box or package of powdered sugar, this recipe is only optional to dust on top.

LEMON WALNUT BARS RECIPE

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

• 2/3 cup oat flour

• 2/3 cup brown rice flour

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 4 large eggs

• 1 1/3 cup turbinado sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon almond extract

• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon corn starch

• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• pinch of salt

• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped or finer chopped for topping

• powdered sugar to top (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cut a long strip of parchment paper to line the sprayed 9X9” pan for easy dessert removal.

In a pyrex cup or small bowl, soften the butter in microwave for about 20-30 seconds.

In a bowl, add the butter, flours, cinnamon, 1 lightly beaten egg, 1/3 of the sugar and the flavored extracts. Stir together with a wooden spoon and have the sprayed 9X9” lined baking pan ready to press the dough into evenly. Bake on the lower third rack in oven for 30 minutes. Leave the oven at 350°F.

In another bowl, using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat together the remaining 1 cup of sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, baking powder, remaining 3 eggs, and the salt for 3 minutes for 3 minutes.

Pour the filling over the baked dough that was in the oven. Sprinkle the wet mixture with the chopped walnuts. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 300°F and bake for 10 more minutes. Be careful with this, it may get brown too fast, so taking it out sooner may happen. Just as long as it isn’t jiggling to touch. The custard should be lightly to mid-brown and a little flakey.

Allow the lemon bars to cool before transferring to a cutting board. This may be 30 minutes to an hour. Then you can sprinkle with powdered sugar and walnuts to top.