Receta Clean Eating Lemon Bars
Brace yourself, I finally created a clean lemon bar!
Now I’m not going to sugar coat this (although I kinda did… literally), just because these are clean doesn’t mean you can chow down. They are high in fat and calories, so adjust your eating plan accordingly for special occasions. (Eating one of these bars/squares is about the same as eating 1 Lara Bar.)
The truth is, I had to make this three times. The first time, the filling didn’t set at all and I essentially has a lemon syrup over cashew crust. Mini Chef lovingly refers to it as my “lemon disaster” (which he ate a bunch of… oh to have a 6 year old metabolism!). The second one turned out pretty well, and the third one never gelled as much as the second one. So I went back to the recipe for #2.
I will tell you that these are pretty soft in the middle. They do not set like a traditional lemon bar. But they do set enough to get them cut and plated, and boy are they delicious! The cashew crust gives them some chew and the lemon juice flavor comes through nice and tart. It’s a fantastic combination!
And now that I’ve finished this recipe, I have to say I will never make it again. Not because I don’t love it, but because I do. I could eat the whole pan! It’s a good thing I’ve met a few people in this town or I’d really be in trouble. I have to give this stuff away or I’ll never reach my goals. But for special occasions, this dish is fabulous!
And if you’re really concerned about the nutrition data, you can always cut them a bit smaller. It was a totally worthy sacrifice as far as I’m concerned and I’m happy to have given it a try!
Note: These can be frozen for up to 3 months if wrapped well. Allow them to thaw on the counter for 30 minutes before serving.
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Clean Eating Lemon Bars
Crust Ingredients:
- 3/4 lb (g) raw cashews
- 8 large medjool dates, pitted
- 3 tbsp. honey
- Filling Ingredients:
- 4 large, whole egg yolks
- 3/4 cup sucanat, blended until fine
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a food processor, grind the cashews for approximately 20 seconds or until you have a coarse nut meal.
Add in the pitted dates and honey and blend further for approximately 1-2 minutes or until everything is well blended.
Empty the mixture out into an oiled 8 x 12 casserole dish (a dish that is slightly bigger is fine too.).
Spread the mixture out evenly over the bottom of the casserole dish and then press down firmly to create a firm crust.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all the filling ingredients. Mix well to get rid of any clumps from the flour.
Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 25 minutes.
Cool enough to be able to set it in the fridge, and then chill in the fridge overnight. Cut into squares and serve.
Note that when you take it out of the oven, the filling will still have some jiggle to it. This will go away as it chills.
Number of servings (yield): 18 squares
Nutritional Content:
(Data is for 1 square)
Calories: 200
Total Fat: 10 gm
Saturated Fats: 2 gm
Trans Fats: 0 gm
Cholesterol: 47 mg
Sodium: 16 mg
Carbohydrates: 26 gm
Dietary fiber: 2 gm
Sugars: 19 gm
Protein: 5 gm
Please Note: Nutritional information estimated at MyFitnessPal.com. Data may not be accurate and is subject to the availability of specific foods in their database. Where one ingredient is not listed, substitutions must be used. Therefore, you should not refer to this data as being exact. It’s more of a ballpark figure. The Gracious Pantry does not take responsibility for the inadequacies of the nutrition calculator used. This data is provided as a courtesy and general reference only. It is not exact.