Whole Grain, Honey Sweetened Raspberry Lemonade Bars

 These raspberry lemonade bars are the perfect mix of sweet and tangy.  You’ll love the delicious raspberry flavor(and color!) in these lemon bars.  Made a little bit healthier with honey and whole grains.

I will warn you – I could not control myself with the camera with these wonderful raspberry lemonade bars.  Especially not after this, the second batch, because by then I knew they were amazing.  So I’ll also warn you that these bars are just as irresistible to eat as they are to look at!

These are slightly more tart than regular lemon bars but they’re incredibly rich.  They aren’t your average lemon bars, but I guess the whole grain flour and the honey in the filling might be why.  Those two are definitely what make these awesome though.  Oh yeah, and the raspberries!

It’s not raspberry season here yet, but I know it is in other places so I thought it would be a good time to post these, even though I made them with frozen berries.  But secretly, I was just too excited about this recipe to hold onto it 🙂  You could use fresh berries as well, just make sure the amount of pulp and juice is the same because fresh berries will measure differently than frozen.

This recipe is how we like these best, but they need to be kept chilled as the filling is very gooey and will be too soft if left at room temperature.  If you’d rather enjoy these at room temperature up the whole grain flour in the filling to 1/3 cup and the filling will be firm enough at room temperature to hold their shape.  We prefer them gooey though 🙂

I’m feeling a bit scatterbrained(and rushed, among other things) today, so I hope you wont mind if I just leave you with some more pictures 🙂  And the recipe, of course!

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Raspberry Lemonade Bars

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Ingredients

  

Whole Wheat Shortbread Crust:

• 1/2 cup softened salted butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar sucanat or another less processed sugar is recommended
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup + 2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour from soft wheat

Raspberry Lemon Filling:

• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat
• 1/2 cup liquid honey
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Scant 1 cup raspberry juice and pulp from approximately 2-2 1/2 cups frozen berries

Instructions

For the crust:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Prepare an 8x8 baking dish by spraying lightly with oil, or lining with parchment paper.  Set aside.  In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, beating for 4-5  minutes.  Add the vanilla, salt and 1/2 C flour.  Beat well before adding the rest of the flour.  Beat until completely combined(may still be crumbly).  Press into the prepared 8x8 pan and poke gently with a fork all over the dough.  The dough may be crumbly, just gently press any broken pieces back into place.  Bake shortbread 17-18 minutes until barely golden around the edges.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool a little while preparing the filling.

For the filling:

• Thaw the raspberries and puree in a blender, food processor or with an immersion blender.  Pour and press through a small sieve with a spoon to remove most, if not all, of the seeds.  Measure the puree, 1 C or just under is perfect.  Set aside till ready to use.
• In a large bowl, place the eggs and the whole grain flour.  Whisk together until no lumps remain.  Measure out and add the honey(warm the honey just slightly if it's solid).  Add the lemon zest and the freshly squeezed juice.  Whisk together until the honey combines with the lemon juice and eggs.  Add in the raspberry puree and whisk together.
• Pour the mixture over the crust while it's still warm and place back in the 350 degree oven.  Bake 28-30 minutes until the filling is set(the very center may still wiggle a little but will set completely as it cools).  Remove from the oven and cool completely and chill in the fridge before cutting into 16 squares and serving with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Notes

Adapted from my own Lemon Bar recipe.

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