Lemon Coconut Crumb Bars
Updated April 30, 2020
Lemon Coconut Crumb Bars-an easy dessert that is perfect for spring and summer!
A few weeks ago, I made Jam Almond Crumb Bars and Josh was a little disappointed because he couldn’t have any. He is allergic to nuts and I try to not to make nut recipes when he is around, but sometimes I can’t help myself. I love nuts. I felt guilty eating the bars in front of him, but I wasn’t about to let them go to waste. They were soooo good!
I told Josh I would make him a special treat to make up for the Jam Almond Crumb Bars. Josh loves all things citrus, so I made Lemon Coconut Crumb Bars. The bars are similar to my Jam Almond Crumb Bars, but there are no nuts! I used coconut instead of almonds and lemon curd instead of the jam. Josh was very happy with the bars. So happy he almost didn’t let me have any. I had to fight him for a bar:)
I go lemon crazy every spring. Spring and lemon just go together. Lemon is refreshing and reminds me of sunshine!
I tried to keep the bars somewhat healthy so I used my favorite white whole wheat flour from Gold Medal Flour. I love using this flour because you still get the benefits of whole wheat flour, but it’s lighter in color and has a milder texture. Josh had no clue he was devouring a whole wheat treat. I am such a trickster:)
I recently made Lemon Cookies with Toasted Coconut Frosting and now I am hooked on the lemon/coconut combo! For this recipe, I used coconut oil, coconut extract, and flaked coconut to make up the coconut crumb crust. A triple threat of coconut…my kind of treat!
I used lemon curd for the filling. You can make homemade lemon curd, love our recipe, or use store bought. Easy peasy! The lemon curd was the perfect filling for my bars!
Lemon Coconut Crumb Bars didn’t last long at our house. Josh loved his special treat. He is already asking for them again so I think I will whip up another batch for our Easter dessert. Hurry up Easter Sunday:)
Lemon Coconut Crumb Bars
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour or all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup coconut oil at room temperature
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
- 3/4 cup flaked coconut plus 2 tablespoons, divided
- 3/4 cup lemon curd
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream coconut oil and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and coconut extract. Mix well. With the mixer on low, slowly add in the flour mixture. Mix until combined, the dough will be crumbly. Stir in the ¾ cup coconut.
- Stir the lemon curd to loosen it up. Gently press half of dough into bottom of prepared baking dish. Evenly spread the lemon curd over dough. Sprinkle remaining dough over the top, making sure you cover the entire bars. Press gently to form the top layer. Sprinkle the additional coconut over the bars.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Cool completely and cut into squares.
Have you tried this recipe?
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Disclosure-this post is in partnership with Gold Medal Flour, but our opinions are our own.
These are amazing! I love lemon & coconut so this was a winner! I’ve never had lemon curd and boy is it tasty. Will be making this one again. Thanks!
I love these bars! Made them for several parties and everyone loved them. I’ve recently needed to cut out gluten and was wondering if you could offer advice to convert the flour to gluten free. I have brown rice flour and almond flour on hand, but not sure if they would work or how much to use. Thanks!
Have you tried Cup4Cup or Pamela’s gluten free flour? I like them both!
Oh my goodness, just made these for my grandma’s birthday party and they are divine! Swapped out WW flour for oat flour (1c) and almond meal (1c) to make gluten-free, dough was a little stickier but with some adjusting they came out absolutely delicious! Wonderful recipe 🙂
Glad you liked them!
I doubled the recipe and put it into a 9×13…Just pulled them out of the oven and they are just gorgeous and the house smells so good….It’s going to be tough to give these away.
could you use regular whole wheat flour or regular white flour??
Thank you
hii..im from malaysia..there is no coconut extract in my pantry so can i just ignore the coconut extract or substitute with others extract?? Tqsm
Can you freeze these?
these sound amazing, any way to cut the sugar? Not a fan of granulated sugar. Would honey work?
Can these cookies be frozen? I have a friend who loves them, I wanted to serve at my Christmas party.
My daughter’s been begging for lemon bars, but I had no lemons and no way to get to the store. Was searching for recipe that might use the bottled lemon juice I had… no luck there, but best luck here!!! No, no lemon curd, but did happen to have jar of lime curd, plus most other ingredients. (No coconut extract, so slipped in lemon extract to empasize the citrus.) Soooooo good, really hope there are still some left by the time my girl gets home. Thanks!!
These were nice. Next time I will make them with butter instead of coconut oil. I really think the flavour of butter would make these next-level amazing
These look delicious! Do you think they would ship well? If wrapped individually in saran wrap and in a tupper ware container? Or are they too soft?
Hi! This is a delicious recipe! Thank you for sharing!
Hello! I’ve been making your recipes for years and love many of them. I made these a while ago and they were a hit. I’m wondering if you think it would work to sub in raspberry jam for the lemon curd? What could I replace the coconut with? My child has tree nut allergies so no nuts for us. Thank you!
Jam should work. You can use more oats.