Lemon bars are an economical sweet and have always been my favourite but now I must cook gluten-free meals (no wheat or wheat byproducts, read flour, etc., etc., – everything, especially prepared foods of all sorts seems to have wheat as an ingredient!). I can ‘jerry rig’ a pastry bottom for the bars using rice flour and other non-wheat flours but I wondered if I needed to re-invent the wheel. Anyone out there preparing low-cost gluten-free foods?
In search of gluten-free lemon bars
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Carol Fenster’s book “Wheat Free Recipes and Menus” is my go-to for GF recipes. They’re always excellent. She has a lemon bar recipe:
Carol’s note: This is one of my favorite desserts. For best results, bake these the day before so they have time to firm up.
Makes 12 bars
CRUST
1 cup flour blend (recipe follows)
1/4 cup margarine, chilled
3/4 cup powedered sugar
1 tsp zanthan gum
1/4 tst salt
FILLING
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting
3/4 cup flour blend (recipe follows)
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbs grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp salt
DIRECTIONS
Sorry! Hit send before I meant to! Here are the directions…
1. Preheat oven to 350 deg. Grease an 8 inch square pan.
2. To make the crust: In a food processor, combine all the ingredients and process until crumbly. Press the mixture on the bottom of the prepared pan, using plastic wrap to prevent it from sticking to your fingers. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until slightly dry looking. Cool slightly. Leave oven o n.
3. To make the filling: In the same food processor, combine all the ingredients and process until the mixture thickens. Pour over the crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until set. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into 12 bars. Dust with powdered sugar.
NUTRITION INFO
Per bar:
calories: 250 Fat: 6g Protein: 3g Carbohydrates: 47g Sodium: 120mg Cholesterol: 93 mg Fiber: 0.5g
CAROL’S SORGHUM-CORN FLOUR BLEND
(in the book she gives 3 flour blend options. This one is my favorite)
Makes 4 1/2 cups
1 1/2 cups sorghum flour
1 1/2 cups potato starch or cornstarch
1 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup corn flour
To make the corn flour, grind white cornmeal (Quaker or Hodgson Hills) using a small coffee or spice grinder.
Hope that helps you out! I would HIGHLY recommend Carol’s book (she actually has several, I think). It’s excellent with lots of “normal” recipes made GF. Like I said, it’s my go-to book. You can get a used copy on Amazon for less than $2.
I don’t know about you, but the filling is my favorite part. I’ve dispensed with the actually bars and just made the filling with a crumbled GF cookie on top. It comes out more like a custard, but it still has that tart sweetness. Same goes for keylime pie, where I’ve been known to actually bake merengue separately for the top.
i would try a almond crust and a lemon custard topping made with egg yolks and cornstarch. Depending on which side of the fence you are on, you could use oatmeal. Many people beleve that oats are gluten free. I don’t know but I tend to agree. I definately wouldn’t use barley flour, it is way to strongly flavored. Also check at a local indian store and you can get chickpea flour and lentil flour that can be used for some baking, but not all.
Hope this helps