LEMON-COCONUT TOFU BARS

Lemon-Coconut Tofu Bars

Howdy Britney here!  Well one thing that you should know about me is that I am a lover of all things citrusy and tart!  And one thing I sometimes miss are lemon bars.  So when I stumbled upon this recipe I knew I had met my match.

What I love about this recipe is that the crust is savory and rich, the lemon filling is smooth and creamy.  And with hints of the lemon zest it’s a perfect combination of savory, sweet and tart.

This is the original recipe from Whole Living.

*please see my note, because I changed a few things from the original recipe. 

The Components

LEMON-COCONUT TOFU BARS

 

THE CRUST

1/2 c. coconut oil, melted, plus more for brushing

1/4 c. cane sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 tsp coarse salt

1 1/2 c. whole-wheat pastry flour

THE FILLING

1/2 c. silken tofu

3/4 c. cane sugar

1 Tbsp grated lemon zest

1/4 c. lemon juice

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp whole-wheat pastry flour

THE PROCESS

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Brush an 8-inch square baking dish with oil, then line with parchment, leaving an overhang, and brush parchment with oil.  Set aside.  

Make crust: Stir together 1/2 cup oil, sugar, vanilla, and salt.  Add flour and stir until just combined.  Press dough into prepared dish and bake until pale golden-brown, about 20 minutes.  

Meanwhile, make filling: Process tofu, sugar, lemon zest and juice, baking powder, and flour in a high speed blender (I used my Vitamix) and process until smooth.  Pour onto baked crust and bake until set, 25 to 30 minutes more.  Let cool completely, then sprinkle with coconut flakes.

**NOTE:  Ok, so I made a few alterations to this recipe.  First for the crust I used raw sugar.  The first time I used raw sugar in the filling as well as the crust.  This gave a more caramel hue to the filling instead of a more lemony yellow color I was going for.  So the second time I used raw sugar for the crust, and cane sugar for the filling which gave the bars a bit more of the lemony yellow hue I was going for.  Also the crust was thick and was about 1:1 with the filling.  I don’t know about you but I can’t get enough of the filling so I doubled the filling to give me a better crust to filling ratio!  (I understand I probably sound ridiculous talking about crust to filling ratio, but it is important to me :)  Also I let it bake about 35 minutes instead of the suggested 25-30 minutes since I doubled the filling.  And then instead of dusting it with confectioners’ sugar I opted for some shredded coconut.  And last thing is that I like my lemon bars on the cold side so I freeze them, and then keep them in the fridge.

That's it can you say DELISH?