These paleo raspberry lemon bars are absolutely heaven! A lemon cookie crust is topped with creamy tart sweet lemon curd, homemade raspberry sauce and more cookie crumbles to top. Everything is baked to perfection and cut into bars for the ultimate dessert! Gluten-free, dairy-free, no refined sugar, grain free.
I have another luscious lemon bar recipe for you all today that completely blew me away when I made it!
I had been dying to pair my lemon curd with some sort of fruit to make the ultimate lemon bars – and according to Instagram – the popular opinion was raspberries! I couldn’t have been happier with the results.
Now, the second favorite was blueberries, and don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about the blueberries. If you’re in the market for a good lemon blueberry muffin (they happen to be nut free!) try these out ASAP. I’m thinking possibly a lemon blueberry no-bake cashew cheesecake, but haven’t committed to it yet.
For now – let’s drool over these lemon raspberry bars! There’s a lot going on with them for sure, but it’s actually a breeze to put together.
The crust and crumble top are the same mixture – an easy lemon cookie dough! Then, we have two layers – the first is a full batch of my homemade lemon curd, and the second is a simple raspberry sauce.
I recommend preparing the lemon curd and raspberry sauce ahead of time so they’re ready to go – that way all you have to do is make the cookie dough, assemble the bars, and bake!
As you can see above, the “crumb” on top is really just the same cookie dough as the crust, chilled and broken into small pieces all over the filling.
When it bakes up, you get a golden lemon cookie crumb top with gooey sweet/tart raspberry lemon filling. I just doesn’t get any better!
To say these bars are divine is an understatement. Trust me – you’ll see what I mean after the first bite! Or maybe after the first taste of the lemon curd and raspberry sauce. And the cookie dough. Seriously, you might even be happy with these bars before they’re baked!
After baking, the bars will need to fully cool before you slice into them – but don’t worry – you can “cheat” by chilling them in the fridge for at least some of the cooling time – just make sure you don’t stick them straight in the fridge when they’re hot!
That being said, this is also the type of dessert that you can put together the night before, chill overnight and serve the next day.
In fact, hat’s exactly what I did when I made them, and they worked out perfectly! They were very easy to slice the next morning, which of course thrills me when I’m about to do photos 🙂
And to be clear – I’m not the only one in my house who went wild over these raspberry lemon bars – my kids LOVED them and my husband (who isn’t the biggest lemon fan) approved of them as well by eating almost half the pan.
I hope you’re ready for something amazing, because it’s about to go down right now – get your apron on (raspberries stain) and let’s bake!
Lemon Raspberry Bars with Cookie Crumble {Paleo, GF, DF}
Raspberry Lemon Bars with Cookie Crumble {Paleo, GF, DF}
These paleo raspberry lemon bars are absolutely heaven! A lemon cookie crust is topped with creamy tart sweet lemon curd, homemade raspberry sauce and more cookie crumbles to top. Everything is baked to perfection and cut into bars for the ultimate dessert! Gluten-free, dairy-free, no refined sugar, grain free.
Ingredients
- 1 batch Homemade Lemon Curd You'll use the whole batch
Raspberry Sauce:
- 2 cups Fresh raspberries
- 1/4 cup raw honey
- 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice or water
- 1 1/2 tsp arrowroot starch
Cookie Dough:
- 1/3 cup smooth almond butter or cashew butter
- 1/3 cup organic coconut oil refined, melted and cooled to almost room temp
- 1/2 cup raw honey or pure maple syrup
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp pure almond extract optional
- 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp coconut flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
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Place raspberries, honey, and lemon juice or water in a small saucepan and turn heat to medium/med-hi to bring to a boil, stirring.
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Once raspberries have broken down, whisk in the arrowroot starch and continue to cook on med heat/simmering for 5-10 mins or until thickened, then set aside to cool.
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While lemon curd and raspberry sauce cool, make the cookie dough for the crust/crumble.
For the Cookie Dough:
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Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.
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Use an electric mixer on low speed to cream together the nut butter, coconut oil, honey or maple syrup, lemon juice, zest, and extracts. Stir the dry mixture into the wet until a sticky dough forms.
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Chill dough until firm enough to press into the pan - about 10-15 mins
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Line an 8x8” baking pan with parchment paper along bottom and sides and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
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Press 2/3 of the chilled dough into the bottom of the pan to form the crust. Chill remaining dough in the refrigerator while crust pre-bakes.
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Bake bottom crust in the preheated oven for 8-10 mins until set. Once done, pour the lemon curd over the crust, then top with raspberry mixture.
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Take the remaining chilled dough and drop in small pieces (mini-cookies!) over the filling until used up.
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Return to the oven and bake 25-30 mins or until cookie crumbs are set and lightly browning and filling is bubbly.
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Cool on wire racks completely, then chill for easy cutting before serving. Once set, use a long sharp knife (for even edges) to cut into bars. Enjoy!
Nutrition
What I Used to Make My Raspberry Lemon Bars:
Want More Paleo Lemon Recipes? Try One of These!
Perfect Paleo Lemon Bars {Nut Free}
Paleo and Vegan Strawberry Lemon Cheesecake
Lemon Almond Thumbprint Cookies with Cherry Chia Jam
Lemon Poppy Seed Glazed Donuts
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These bars look utterly amazing!
These look delicious. I need 2 substitutes to make them. I can’t use almond butter & flour bc of treenut and peanut allergy in house. And I need them to stay GF. Suggestions? I love lemon and raspberry together!
Thanks!!
You can check out my nut free lemon bars for the crust recipe!
Is it possible to make a batch of lemon curd the night before, then make the bars the following day?
Yup that works well 🙂
These look amazing! By chance is there any way to make them keto/without the honey?
I’d like to know this as well.
Found this….when substituting a granulated for a liquid sweetener (e.g. using sucanat, coconut sugar, or xylitol when the recipe calls for maple syrup or honey), for every 1 cup of granulated sweetener, add 1/4 cup of liquid to the recipe.
These are so good! I will make them again. I did half the amount of honey in the batter, and I just drizzled some in with the fruit. I used blueberries. They’re really sweet even with half the honey. I loved them! Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
What is the lemon curd recipe?????
I linked to it in the recipe, just click on “homemade lemon curd”
I’m excited to try making these for Easter! Do you think I could substitute organic raspberry preserves for the homemade sauce? Thanks!
Oh. My. Goodness. Just made these for a gf dessert option for Easter and obvi had to taste test. These are OUT OF THIS WORLD GOOD! So easy to make, too. I cooked the lemon curd and raspberries yesterday and assembly today was so easy. Absolutely making these again!
How is blanched almond flour different from regular almond flour? Can they be used interchangeably?
thanks! Can’t wait to try.
Can I use frozen berries instead?
Have you substitute strawberries for raspberries?
I’m sure you can!
Yes, it might take a bit longer to cook the sauce to thicken enough but it should be fine 🙂
Should I strain the seeds from the raspberry sauce? I noted that the lemon curd is to be strained. I am making this recipe as I write this so hope to hear back. 😂
About how much lemon curd is in one batch. I have to substitute an egg free version.
These bars taste amazing! Although, I did something wrong. The crust was too soft and mushy. What could I have done wrong? I did notice you used a metal pan a.m. do I used a glass. Could that have been the problem? Maybe I could cook the crust longer next time and let it cool more before adding the curd and preserve? I’m going to try them again. The flavor is spot on and I didn’t substitute anything so I’m thinking maybe if I bake them longer it might help? Any suggestions?
Disregard that post! I put them in the fridge over night and they hardened up nice!
So happy it worked out!
delicious and bold flavor!! Big hit for the whole family 😀
Should these be stored in the fridge?
Can we use organic honey in place of the raw honey?
Yes that would work well.
How long do these last in the fridge and can you freeze them?
Thanks!
Kelley
My husband has a severe tree nut allergy. What are some good substitution options for almond flour or nut butters? I guess I don’t have to share but I know he’s appreciate a way around that!
can I use regular corn starch instead of arrowroot? I just don’t want to buy a whole bag for this if I already have cornstarch.
I’m so sad. I am an experienced baker and bake macarons and entremets and all kinds of difficult recipes. My bars are so runny I don’t think I will ever be able to serve them unless I do so as a soup. It took me a long time to make and now I need to send my husband out for ice cream for our guests since these didn’t turn out at all.
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