These healthy lemon bars are light, creamy and perfectly tart. The crust is made with whole wheat flour and the light lemon filling is 100% free of dairy and refined sugars. Perfect for Easter, Mother’s Day or a summer cookout, this recipe will be your new best friend.
Healthy lemon bars make the perfect dessert for Easter, Mother’s Day or any time you are looking for a simple, delicious high quality sweet.
Made with everyday, wholesome ingredients; they are surprisingly easy to make and promise to be a crowd pleaser! I didn’t realize how much I liked lemon bars until I made this recipe. They are SO good and I can’t wait for you to give them a try.
How To Make Healthy Lemon Bars
Unlike refined white flours, whole wheat flour includes the wheat germ, the bran and endosperm – so it still contains all of its nutrients, plus its a great source of fiber and has 6 grams of protein per serving.
If you wanted a lighter texture for the crust, you can always do half whole wheat and half white flour. So as always, we’ve got options. Here’s what you do:
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Preheat oven to 350 F.
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Combine whole wheat flour, coconut oil, maple syrup and salt. Mix until a wet, but firm consistency (like shortbread) is formed.
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Line an 8×8 ceramic pan with parchment paper.
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Press dough into lined pan, making sure to press it out evenly and into the corners.
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Bake for 20 minutes or until fragrant and set through. Let cool.
- In the meantime, combine ingredients for filling and beat until smooth, liquid batter is formed.
- Pour mixture on top of the cooled crust and bake for 30 minutes.
- Cool, chill + enjoy!
Do I need to refrigerate lemon bars?
You can leave your lemon bars at room temperature for a few hours, but it’s important to store them in the refrigerator after that.
How long will they last?
These lemon bars will last up to 5 days in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer.
Can you store them in the freezer?
Absolutely! I highly recommend you give frozen lemon bars a try on a hot summer day.
More Clean & Delicious Dessert Ideas:
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Healthy Lemon Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/3 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
Filling
- 6 eggs
- 4 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 4 tsp coconut flour
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a large bowl, combine whole wheat flour, coconut oil, maple syrup and salt. Mix well until a wet, but firm consistence (like shortbread) is formed.
- Line an 8×8 ceramic pan with parchment paper.
- Press dough into lined pan, making sure to press it out evenly and into the corners.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until fragrant, lightly browned and set through. Let cool.
Filling
- While crust is baking, combine eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, salt and coconut flour. Beat with a hand mixer until a smooth, liquid batter is formed. It will be runny, but don't worry, this is they way it's supposed to be.
- Pour mixture on top of the cooled crust and bake for 30 minutes. Cool completely then chill for 4 hours.
- Remove bars from pan, cut into 16 squares and top with a shake of powdered sugar. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- I used a ceramic baking dish lined with parchment for this recipe. I’ve found that glass pans tend to burn more easily.
- The coconut oil can be swapped out for softened butter if you prefer.
- When pressing the crust batter into the pan, make sure to press it all the way out to the edges of the pan and in to the corners.
Comments
Lee-an says
hello, thank you for sharing can’t wait to try it, never made lemon bars so it will be a first for me.
Big fan love your youtube videos
drinking plenty of your ginger turmeric honey mix love it
stay safe
Dani says
That was my first time, too! And I actually enjoyed them so much more than I thought I would. I hope you get to give them a try and I’m so glad you’re enjoying the tea 🙂
Santiago says
Wow, these look really good Dani. Now that our fave food blogger has revealed to us how ez they’re to make I def will be putting some of these together this weekend
Dani says
Awesome! I hope you guys enjoy them as much as we do. Stay well 🙂
Amanda Atwood says
The lemon bars look yummy! How can you make these gluten-free?
Dani says
Great question, Amanda! I haven’t tried this out yet with a gluten free crust, but if you decide to experiment, I would love to hear how it goes.
Val says
Hi Dani. I tried using almond flour inplace of the whole wheat flour and when I put the lemon mixture on top, parts of the crust went into
It :(. I have auto immune issues so need gluten free. Wondering if you have any suggestions. I used 3/4. CUps of almond flour. Only thing I changed in the recipe.
Thanks so much for your wonderful recipes.
Terri says
I think GF oat flour would work as a replacement
Annette says
I am wondering can I use Bob’s 1:1 gluten free flour for crust??
Dani says
I am pretty sure that would work Annette!
Sandra Carter says
I don’t have a ceramic pan. Can I use metal? Maybe with a cookie sheet under it too?
Dani says
You can, but you may need to adjust cooking times a bit.
Christal says
Hi,
How can you make theses vegan?
Thanks!
Dani says
Because this recipe calls for so many eggs it would be tough to make vegan without really changing things up! I would need to experiment a bit!
Natalia Sell says
Hi Dani,
My 4 year old and I are so excited to make these today! Baking and new recipes is a great way to keep busy while staying home. I only have olive oil, avocado oil and vegetable oil on hand. Which would be the best substitute for coconut oil? Thanks so much!!! Hope you guys are staying safe and healthy.
Chris Tang from Malaysia says
Hi Dani!
I can’t get whole wheat flour at this time. Is it ok to substitute it with all purpose flour?
I love lemon bars! Can hardly wait to try making some!
Love your healthy wholesome recipes,they are always easy-to-follow!
Thanks so much, Dani!
Dani says
Yes, that would definitely work.
Beatrice M. says
Holy smokes those look so good. I am going to pick up the ingredients as soon as this quarantine is over!
Dani says
Awesome!! Enjoy them Beatrice.
Kim says
Oh dear – my crust floated. What happened? I baked the crust for 20 minutes and let it cool. It had shrunk slightly from the sides of the pan so I carefully poured the egg mixture hoping it wouldn’t run under the crust but it did regardless. I pushed it down and baked it anyway. It’s now cooling the 4 hrs. What did I do wrong?
Dani says
The first thing that comes to mind is that the crust was not completely cooled? I made this recipe several times and never had that issue – but I see a few readers ran into the same problem!
Katie says
Mine only started floating during baking. I let the crust cool overnight. There were no big gaps between crust and pan but maybe the tiny tiny spaces were enough
Anna says
Hi! I made this today and when I was baking the filling with the bottom, the bottom absorbed the filling 🙁 I don’t know what’s the problem. I’m thinking either I didn’t let the bottom let cool completely but I’m not sure because it was just a little warm not hot or anything
Dani says
That’s SO weird! Was your crust pushed all the way out to the sides of the pan? I also wonder if it was cooked through? That should not have happened.
Monika says
Hi Dani,
Best dessert recipe yet! My definate favourite! I am so glad I have found your website so I can finally bake. Thank you
Dani says
Hi Monika! So glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!
EW says
Great recipe! Would almond or coconut flour work instead of white whole wheat flour for a more subtle crust flavor? Thank you!
Dani says
I’m sure there is a way to make it work but it wouldn’t be an even swap. You will have to adjust the ingredients a bit. May take some trial and error.
Connie says
Can I use a different oil and almond flour in this Healthy Lemon Bars recipe instead of coconut oil and coconut flour? Not a fan of anything coconut flavored.
laurie says
I’m excited to make these. Thinking of making mini me tarts instead since I have a silicone tray for that.
Thank you for sharing!
Dani says
That sounds good! Enjoy it.
Nina says
A very late question, I’m sorry, but can I use pastry flour instead of whole wheat four? I have some pastry flour left over that I really want to use up.
Dani says
That should work just fine!
Veena says
I made these today and they were soooo delicious!!! I followed the directions exactly and even throw in some ground flax seed into the crust for another nutritious boost and it came out great!
Dani I love your recipes and my 5 yo is your biggest little fan. He’s always saying, “mmm…mmm…MMMM!!!!” whenever I cook something he likes :))
Alex says
I made these and they tasted delicious!
However – my crust floated to the top. I saw the comments about the crust floating for others ahead of making the recipe so I followed all the steps I could to prevent it. I pushed the dough mixture right to the edges of the 8 x 8 pan – but when it baked it contracted so there was a gap between the pan and the dough. I made sure to cool the crust completely in the fridge before pouring the filling mixture on top. While baking the crust floated anyways. They were messy to serve, but still tasted great.
angie says
hey bakers!
while looking at “lemon bar tips and tricks” to ensure i make them correctly so i dont waste ingredients, i noticed all other recipes state to pour the lemon mixture WHILE the crust is still warm, like—fresh out of the oven warm! (which should prevent any rising/soggy issues!) hope this helped 🙂
Connie M Norris says
Researched substituting almond flour for the coconut flour in the filling. Does this sound right to you? “Unlike coconut flour, almond flour is not that absorbent, so you will have to reduce the amount of liquid used in recipes that were created for coconut flour, and you will need to increase the amount of almond flour nearly four times.”
Lupe says
These sound very good. What can I substitute the coconut flour in the filling with? I tried coconut flour before in other desserts, and I didn’t enjoy the way they came out.
Dani Spies says
That’s a good question! I would have to experiment a bit to know for sure. Coconut flour is different than most flours as it is very absorbent – I so it wouldn’t be an even swap.
Sally says
Hey Dani
I would love to see a lemon pudding, that is at least partially sweetened with monk fruit or stevia.
Please and thank you!
Holly M. says
Me too, please!
Substitute wheat flour with almond flour! says
I love these! I substituted the wheat flour with almond flour and it gave the crust a great nutty flavor that went with the lemon. It also adds more to your protein and fiber intake!
Janet says
I love your recipe, especially since you include whole wheat flour, and plan to make it soon since I recently “inherited” a bucketful of lemons.
The following is submitted as educational material since your site emphasizes “healthy” foods:
As a scientist, I want to point out that even though there are some heathy components in maple syrup, the sweetness is 99% derived from the disaccharide sucrose. Apparently during the processing of maple syrup, the sucrose is broken apart into it’s 2 constituent molecules – glucose and fructose (Wikipedia). In the body, fructose is converted into glucose which is the main fuel for most, if not all, animals.
So maple syrup is not a sugar-free food. The term “sugar” used in this sentence means the FDA definition, which I think only includes the sugars our bodies can metabolize.
Chemically the term “sugar” means a class of carbohydrates where attached to most of the Carbon atoms, there is an Oxygen atom or, more commonly an Oxygen with a Hydrogen atom, called an “OH or hydroxyl group”. So for example the Ribose in RNA and the Deoxy-ribose in DNA are both “sugars”.
There are available, as you may know, alternative sugars or other types of sweeteners, many of which are more and more in use commercially (xylitol, erythritol, stevia, monkfruit, etc. which are basically also “natural sugars/sweeteners”.) On the Nutrition label of foods, you may see, under “Carbohydrates”, after a zero for “sugar”, the term “Polyols” with a value. This is another way to chemically define a sugar (by the presence of those OH groups). So the term polyols used there refers to sugars like xylitol, etc. And, in fact sucrose, fructose and lactose are also polyols (but not by FDA sanctioned terms).
I am quite sensitive to sucrose, so when cooking or baking I substitute erythritol and a small amount of stevia, which meet the definition of “non-glycemic” which means we don’t have the enzymes necessary to use them for energy. There are of course downsides to some of these other “natural sugars” and it behooves anyone wishing to switch, to do some research. For example, in the past year or two, studies have been published linking erythritol to heart problems. Personally I tend to be suspicious of these studies since I know the sugar industry has huge presence in food ingredients and a huge lobby! (An old book called “Sugar Blues” by William Duffy documents all this.)
If you got all the way through this – Congratulations!
Cristine says
Fantastic recipe! So easy to make and so delicious! Satisfies the craving for a sweet treat without adding a ton of empty calories.