This recipe from Joy the Baker is delicious. Her recipes are often a bit too sweet for me, so I dialled back the sugar a bit, as noted in the ingredients. She has lots of great recipes on her site, go check them out!

It is lemony and bright and tastes like a hint of summer. Lemons are a great price at our store, and with raspberries still stocked in my freezer, this recipe whipped up quickly. I used a combination of our almond flour and also ground some of our whole almonds as well to get a bit of variation in texture.

I also found that the time needed to bake was longer than on her site, and from comments on her page others did as well. So the times I used are below with hers referenced. My oven temperature is checked off of an external thermometer so should be accurate. I do find that when folks usually bake with wheat-based flours, they don't factor the extra time needed to bake with almond flour in. So, do keep an eye on your bars after they have past that minimum bake-time.

Also, I WAYYY prefer to bake by weighing my ingredients. It's so much more accurate. That is what I used for this recipe. Enjoy!

For the Crust and Topping:

  • 3 cups (290 grams) almond flour
  • 1/3 cup (70 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup (28 grams) cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick, 113 grams) unsalted butter, cold and diced
  • A tiny splash of almond extract

For the Filling:

  • 3/4 cup (170 grams) granulated sugar - I used less than the recipe suggested which was 200 grams
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons (18 grams) cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

  • 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
  • Powdered sugar for topping (optional)

Instructions

  1. Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×9-inch square baking pan. Line with parchment paper so the flaps hang over two sides (making the bars easier to remove) and lightly grease the parchment.
  2. First make the crust. In a medium bowl whisk together almond flour, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add the cold butter pieces and a tiny splash of almond extract if you’re using it. Use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is crumbly and the butter bits are about the size of oat flakes. I used a food processor for this step. 
  3. Reserve about 1 cup of the crust mixture in a small bowl to the side and press the majority of the crust mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Use your fingers to press into as even a layer as possible. Bake for 18 minutes until just barely golden brown around the edges. Her recipe called for 10 minutes.
  4. While the crust bakes, whisk together the filling. In a medium bowl combine sugar and lemon zest. Use your fingers to work the zest into the sugar until fragrant. Whisk in the the cornstarch and salt. Whisk in the eggs until thick and thoroughly combined. Whisk in the lemon and vanilla.
  5. Pour the filling over the baked crust (it’s ok if it’s still warm) and top with raspberries and reserved crumble topping. Bake for 25 - 35 minutes until baked through, they no longer jiggle and the mixture is turning golden, (her recipe time is 18 - 22 minutes, which seems way to short). I ALSO then turned on my broiler and cooked it there for another 3 minutes to lightly brown the top a bit more. Keep and eye on it!
  6. Cool to room temperature or close to it. Allow to chill before slicing (I do this for about an hour in the fridge). Dust with powdered sugar if desired before slicing and serving.
  7. Store bars wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 days.