{"id":2388,"date":"2026-09-19T15:11:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T21:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kruthie.me\/blog\/?p=2388"},"modified":"2026-10-20T15:13:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T21:13:01","slug":"gluten-free-lemon-bars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/19\/gluten-free-lemon-bars\/","title":{"rendered":"Gluten free lemon bars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/kruthie.me\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026-09-19-07.12.21-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2389\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026-09-19-07.12.21-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026-09-19-07.12.21-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026-09-19-07.12.21-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026-09-19-07.12.21-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026-09-19-07.12.21-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026-09-19-07.12.21-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026-09-19-07.12.21-900x675.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/2026-09-19-07.12.21-1280x960.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Attempt number two at converting my favourite lemon bar recipe to gluten free was a success!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My first attempt went wrong in two ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>First the crust broke apart when I poured the custard over the top<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Secondly, the GF flour I was using (Cup 4 Cup) had a strong flavour that did not work well with lemon bars.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That attempt was an abject failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since then, however, my grocery store started stocking King Arthur&#8217;s brand of one to one gluten free flour mix, and I did a bit of research before using it to make my shortbread recipe for the first time which gave me an idea for what to do with the lemon bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So in my research the suggestion I saw for shortbread was to use softened butter rather than cold. Well, my shortbread recipe already calls for softened butter, so I didn&#8217;t need to make any changes to that. But! The lemon bar base is essentially shortbread, and that one does call for cold butter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So this time, I mixed up the base in the stand mixer instead of the food processor, and kept mixing way longer than I would have with wheat flour, until the mixture started clumping together. The ratio of dry ingredients to butter is different than with my shortbread recipe, so I didn&#8217;t end up with the playdough texture I get there, but I kept mixing until it was as close as that dryer dough could get.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then, when I put it in the baking pan, I used the smallest rolling pin I have (it&#8217;s a candy one that&#8217;s about 6-8 inches long) to press it down firmly into the pan. Then I chilled it for about half and hour as the recipe calls for before baking it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, when it was time to pour the custard over the base, I poured it over the back of a spoon, because despite everything, the base did still look quite fragile.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I did the second bake as normal, and then removed the bars from the pan immediately &#8211; I line my pan with a big sheet of parchment paper, so I just loosen the corners, which inevitably get a bit of custard leaking around the back and can get stuck, and then lift it out. With a wheat flour crust, I usually give it ten minutes or so to cool before lifting it out, but for some reason I was worried the crust might crack on this one if I waited too long (needn&#8217;t have worried lol, see below)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once it was mostly cool, I cut it into pieces and then stuck it in the fridge to chill completely, because the crust still felt a lot softer and more delicate than wheat crust does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fortunately, once it had fully chilled, both the crust and the curd had firmed up and you can pick up a piece to eat it without worrying that it&#8217;s going to crumble in your hands. As for flavour, I can taste a difference in the crust, but it&#8217;s mild. I&#8217;m guessing it&#8217;s the flour that goes into the custard that is interacting with the other ingredients to make itself known, because I can&#8217;t taste it at all in my shortbread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ll be taking this batch to the theatre this afternoon. It&#8217;s a two show day and we&#8217;re going to need snacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ETA: Recipe is Best Lemon Bars from Cook&#8217;s Illustrated magazine (May &amp; June 1998), which is available <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americastestkitchen.com\/cooksillustrated\/videos\/3724-best-lemon-bars\">online<\/a>, but is behind a paywall. A friend who wanted me to make these for her gave me a photocopy of the magazine page about twenty years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Attempt number two at converting my favourite lemon bar recipe to gluten free was a success! My first attempt went wrong in two ways: That attempt was an abject failure. Since then, however, my grocery store started stocking King Arthur&#8217;s brand of one to one gluten free flour mix, and I did a bit of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[321],"tags":[322,416,417,415],"class_list":["post-2388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","tag-baking","tag-gluten-free","tag-gluten-free-lemon-bars","tag-lemon-bars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2388"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2390,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2388\/revisions\/2390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenrsavage.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}