Any lemon dessert and I’ll come with fork ready. But, right now, my lime tree is heavy with fruit and I have to do something about it. Lemon bars are probably one of my all time favorites – the flaky, buttery crust, the creamy, sweet and tart filling – amazing. Lime and coconut anything is a heavenly combo, and in a bar, about as wonderful as lemon. So I created these gluten-free lime coconut bars and my friends are hooked!
Gluten-Free Flour
I have used several different gluten-free flour blends for this recipe and they all worked well. My custom blend of sorghum, millet and brown rice flours with potato and tapioca starches is my favorite. See the notes in the recipe for a super simple DIY gluten-free flour blend or my blog post on gluten-free flours
Here is my special flour blend that I love for this recipe and many more of my gluten-free recipes:
- 1 c sweet white sorghum flour
- 3/4 c millet flour
- 1/4 c brown rice flour
- 2/3 c potato starch
- 1/3 c tapioca starch
If you prefer a store bought blend, I like King Arthur Flour All Purpose Gluten-Free flour the best. If your flour blend contains xanthan gum, guar gum or inulin omit the xanthan gum called for in the recipe.
Lime Filling Ingredients
- Lime Juice – You’ll need 6 Tbsps. Depending on the size and juiciness of your lemons, this will be 2-3 lemons.
- Lime Zest – This is the bright green outer layer of the peel. It has all the lime flavor and really helps to amp up filling flavor. If you need a quick tutorial what the heck zest is, check out How to Zest a Lemon.
- Eggs – It is best if the eggs are at room temperature. If they are straight out of the refrigerator. place them in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for 10 minutes.
Crust Ingredients
- Powdered Sugar – It is important to use powdered not granulated sugar. The powdered sugar gives the crust a very soft and delicate texture that is unlike pie crust.
- Unsalted Butter – Unsalted is best but if you only have salted butter, omit the salt from the crust ingredients.
Once these bars are out of the oven you’ll still have to exercise some patience. They really need to cool completely before cutting. It works even better if you put the pan in the refrigerator once it is cool enough.
Gluten-Free Lime Coconut Bars
These gluten-free lime coconut bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 1¾ c gluten-free flour blend
- ½ c powdered sugar
- ½ tsp xanthan or guar gum
- ¼ tsp salt
- 12 Tbsps (1 ½ sticks) cold butter
Filling
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- ¼ c + 2 Tbsps canned coconut milk
- 1 cup sugar
- zest of 3 limes
- ¼ c + 2 Tbsps lime juice
- 2 tsps pure coconut extract (not imitation)
- 3 Tbsps gluten-free flour blend
- ⅓ cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
Instructions
Generously grease an 8″ square baking dish with butter. Heat the oven to 350º
Make the crust:
- Sift the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix well.
- Cut the butter into cubes and add to the flour mixture. Using your fingers, 2 forks or a pastry blender combine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Press evenly into the greased pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the crust just begins to brown around the edges.
- Meanwhile . . .
Make the filling:
- Heat up a small skillet. Add the shredded coconut and shake the pan until most of the coconut has turned golden brown. Remove the coconut from the pan immediately (otherwise it will burn from the residual heat of the pan) and set aside.
- Beat the eggs and coconut milk together in a mixing bowl. Add the sugar, lime zest, lime juice and coconut extract and beat until smooth. While stirring, slowly sprinkle in the flour blend. Once it’s all in, beat until smooth.
- Pour the mixture over the hot crust and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is set. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle the toasted coconut over the top. Let cool for 20 minutes then place in the refrigerator for another hour.
Notes
*Be sure to use a gluten-free flour blend not a "baking blend." My preference for a store-bought blend is King Arthur Flour's Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour.
To mix up your own gluten-free flour blend, combine:
2 cups brown rice flour
2/3 c potato starch
1/3 c tapioca starch.
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