Lovely Lemon Bars (Raw, Vegan, Delicious!)

It's been a long time since I've posted on here. March 26th? Can it be? As predicted, when I left Dawson at the end of March, I came home to a whirlwind. I have been flat out pretty much ever since, and the blog got dropped amid the million other things going on. But - I am back! And - I got the City Parks Department's permission to start a community garden in some of the park land at the end of a cul-de-sac right around the corner from my house. Am now reading up on the steps to starting such an endeavour, and then shall begin mobilizing like-minded people in my neighborhood with the goal of starting the actual gardening next summer!

Very exciting. Updates to follow.

If you were actually reading this blog regularly, then my apologies for taking so long to update it...but this post is worth the wait. Oh boy - these are super-delicious. They remind me of a cross between two of my favorite childhood desserts - my Nan's lemon meringe pie and her banana/coconut bars with sweet lemony cream on top...this dessert is in that general direction, and really pretty good for you. It's especially nice since right now I am supposed to take 1 1/2 tsp of coconut oil a day and this is a great switch from just spreading it on my (sprouted grain) toast. Cookie therapy!


Lovely Lemon Bars (wherein I admit to stealing two recipes and combining them with wonderful results)

This makes about 16 - 20 bar cookies depending how big you cut them....


Lemon Bar Cookie Base - from crusinesante.com, which says it is based on a recipe by Ani Phyo...

1 cup almonds, soaked for about 6-8 hours and rinsed
1 1/2 cups pitted dates
1 tsp vanilla (I was out of liquid vanilla and substituted vanilla powder with excellent results
1/8 tsp pink himalayan salt or 1/4 tsp sea salt or regular salt
zest of 1 (hopefully organic) lemon
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup dried shredded unsweetened coconut

Process nuts into a fine meal in food processor. Use some of the meal to 'flour' the bottom of an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan. Add remaining ingredients and process until well mixed. Put batter in pan and press into an even layer. Chill in fridge at least a half hour before icing.





Raw Lemon Frosting - taken straight from cupcakeproject.com who adapted it from one from the Raw Freedom Community. While this recipe features lemon juice, you could make the same recipe with most fruits.

• 1 C coconut oil, melted to measure, then cooled to a near-solid state in the fridge
• 1/4 C agave nectar
• rind from 1 large (organic, if possible) lemon
• 1/4 C lemon juice

1. Beat the coconut oil until creamy.
2. Mix in the agave nectar.
3. Mix in the lemon rind and lemon juice.

Spread over the cookie base in a smooth layer and put in the fridge for 5 minutes. Remove again and cut into squares all the way through, then put back in the fridge to finish hardening - if you wait too long to cut them the icing will crack. The cookies can be kept in the pan in the fridge for a week or in the freezer for longer - you can let them thaw for a few minutes to get softer icing or eat cold for a crunchier cookie experience. Delicious!