Paleo Lime Bars

• servings: 9 servings
• active time: 15 minutes
• total time: 3 hours

Ingredients

1 cup fine blanched almond flour

½ cup tapioca starch

¼ cup coconut sugar

¼ cup ghee (at room temperature)

1 big pinch salt (approximately ⅛ teaspoon)

6 large egg yolks (yolks only, no egg whites)

2 large whole eggs (egg yolks and egg whites)

½ cup maple syrup

⅔ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (juice from approximately 6 large limes)

zest from 2 large limes (approximately 2 tablespoons)

4 tablespoons ghee (at room temperature)

powdered tapioca starch (or powdered coconut sugar)

thinly sliced lime wedges (or lime peel twists)

Directions

For the Paleo Crust

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Line baking pan with parchment paper. Leave excess parchment paper hanging over sides of pan, to use as handles to remove lime bars. Set pan aside.

Add 1 cup fine blanched almond flour, ½ cup tapioca starch, ¼ cup coconut sugar, ¼ cup ghee, and 1 big pinch salt to mixing bowl. Stir ingredients together until fully combined, forming crust dough.

Transfer dough to prepared baking pan. Gently press dough out to cover bottom of baking pan in one even layer, making sure to press dough into corners of pan.

Place baking pan in preheated oven. Bake crust 20 minutes or until lightly browned, then carefully remove baking pan from oven. Note: while crust bakes, prepare lime filling. Do not wait until crust is ready to start on filling.

For the Paleo Lime Filling

Add 6 large egg yolks and 2 large whole eggs to second mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously until yolks and whole eggs are combined, approximately 5 seconds.

Add ½ cup maple syrup to egg mixture and whisk until ingredients are just combined.

Add ⅔ cup freshly squeezed lime juice and zest from 2 large limes to egg mixture. Whisk until fully incorporated.

Transfer egg mixture to heavy saucepan and place on stovetop over medium-low heat.

Add 4 tablespoons ghee to saucepan and stir mixture constantly with wooden spoon until mixture develops thin, sauce-like consistency. Temperature of mixture should read 170° Fahrenheit when checked with instant read thermometer.

When desired consistency and temperature are achieved, carefully pour lime curd through fine mesh sieve and into glass measuring cup. Discard any sediment left in sieve.

Immediately pour strained lime curd on top of warm, lightly golden crust in baking pan, covering crust completely and evenly. Spread lime curd into corners of baking pan as needed.

Return baking pan to preheated oven. Bake lime bars 10 minutes, then begin checking doneness. Continue baking as needed, checking doneness every 1 to 2 minutes, until lime filling is opaque, shiny, and jiggles slightly in center of pan.

When lime filling is ready, carefully remove baking pan from oven and place on wire cooling rack. Cool lime bars 45 minutes or until room temperature, then place baking pan in refrigerator. Refrigerate until completely chilled.

For the Paleo Lime Bars

When ready to serve lime bars, use excess parchment paper "handles" to gently wiggle and lift sheet of lime bars out of baking pan.

Slice sheet of lime bars into 9 to 12 equally-sized squares (see Notes for tips). If desired, garnish bars with light dusting of powdered tapioca starch or powdered coconut sugar, top with thinly sliced lime wedges or twists, and serve chilled.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1 paleo lime bar
• Calories: 315 kcal
• Total Fat: 21 g
• Saturated Fat: 9 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
• Trans Fat: 0.004 g
• Cholesterol: 194 mg
• Sodium: 75 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 26 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2 g
• Total Sugars: 15 g
• Protein: 6 g