Skinny Honey Lemon Bars

Lemon desserts are always a crowd-pleaser. You’re going to love these yummy Honey Lemon Bars with a fresh lemon filling and a buttery crust!

The Best After School Snack for Kids

Kids are always hungry when they come home from school, right? But it’s challenging to find snacks they enjoy that aren’t sugar-loaded.

Enter these Skinny Honey Lemon Bars! Whoo hoo!

These snack bars are crazy good! Every bit as satisfying as cookies or candy, they will please even the toughest kids! Honey lemon bars have just a bit more sugar per serving than a glass of juice, plus 4g of protein, and they are loaded with vitamin C and calcium.

Other Recipes like Honey Lemon Bars

• Blueberry Oatmeal Bars are filling, fabulous, and easy to pack for breakfast or lunch!
• Nutella Swirled Pumpkin Bars are lower-in-sugar dessert bites perfect for fall parties!

Ingredients

Lemon Filling: The sweet & tart filling for these bars combines honey, egg, lemon juice & zest, whole wheat flour, and salt. This makes a firmer, less messy filling than traditional lemon bars.

Crust: The crumbly crust is a blend of whole wheat and all-purpose flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt with a bit of brown sugar, lemon zest, butter, and vanilla Greek yogurt. It’s so good!

Garnish: Use a dusting of powdered sugar to finish off the top of the Honey Lemon Bars.

How to Make Skinny Honey Lemon Bars

STEP ONE: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8×8 square pan with parchment paper, letting the paper hang over the sides. Coat the paper with non-stick cooking spray. In a food processor, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, brown sugar, salt, and lemon zest. Cover and mix. Add the yogurt and butter to the bowl. Cover and pulse until it forms evenly sized crumbs.

STEP TWO: Pour the crust mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Press down with the bottom of a measuring cup to pack down the crust into a firm layer. Bake for 20-22 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and cool completely.

STEP THREE: Heat your oven to 325 degrees F. Whisk the eggs, honey, flour, salt, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl until smooth. Stir in lemon juice.

STEP FOUR: Pour the filling mixture over the cooled crust. Bake for 22 minutes until the lemon filling is firm.

STEP FIVE: Remove from oven and allow to cool for 1 hour on a wire rack for one hour. Then transfer to the fridge for 1-2 hours to chill. When ready to serve, cut into 9 bars and dust liberally with powdered sugar.

Tips for Success

• When lining your pan with foil (or parchment paper), make a sling by placing two long pieces perpendicular to each other. When the bars have cooled, you can use the lining as handles to lift the bars out of the pan easily.
• Pack the crust tightly, but make the sides slightly higher so the filling stays put and each bar has one “crust side”.
• Using a hot knife makes cutting simple! Wipe off the knife after each cut.

Is Honey Healthier than Sugar?

Mostly, yes! While honey still has about as many calories as refined sugar, honey is all-natural, loaded with antibacterial and antioxidant properties, and has a lower glycemic index. Honey is also beneficial to your gut health.

Do Honey Lemon Bars Need to be Refrigerated?

For serving purposes, no. Honey Lemon Bars can be left at room temperature on a serving tray for a few hours. But for storage purposes, yes. Since they contain eggs, they should be refrigerated to keep them from spoiling. Skinny Honey Lemon Bars will be kept in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Other Luscious Lemon Recipes

• Lemon Trifle
• Lemon Pudding Pie
• Lemon Macadamia Scones
• Lemon Cheesecake
• Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
• Lemon Cake
• Lemon Pound Cake
• Lemon Meringue Pie
• Frosted Lemon Cookies

*This post was originally posted on 03/02/2013.