Whole-Lemon Lemon Bar & Almond Okara Crust

When life gives you lemons, use them whole—pulp, pith and peel—to make lemon bars. I’ll admit, the idea isn’t mine. I recently came across a lemon cake recipe that used a whole lemon, and figured there would be a similar recipe for lemon bars. Given the sad pile of skinned and squeezed lemon halves after all my lemon-related baking endeavors, I was eager to try David Lebovitz’ whole-lemon recipe. Not only is this approach an elegant solution to eliminating sad lemon piles, it also shaves off time spent zesting and juicing, though this recipe does still call for additional freshly-squeezed lemon juice. If you do find a pile of spent lemons at your disposal, put them through the sink disposal; they’re great fresheners.

The ultimate impetus for making a batch of lemon bars wasn’t the 5lb bag of large ripe lemons I acquired, but rather the batch of okara, aka soybean pulp left over from making soymilk (used this recipe) over the weekend. I baked some into a batch of chocolate-sesame donuts, but still had some extra. Considering its soft texture, I figured it would be worth using in the crust. Combined with almond flour and lemon zest, the okara made a firm but soft crust that complemented the creamy filling well. I imagine it’d be a great crust for other fruit-based fillings as well. One last note, I included condensed milk leftover from making macaroons which can easily be substituted with a little extra butter +/- sugar.

In my mind, the ideal lemon bar is a tangy creamy custard on a soft crust, bright in flavor and appearance. The ratio of filling to crust should be at least 1:1, with preference for filling. Ease of preparation is a plus. This recipe was just right. I was impressed by the simplicity of using the blender to make the filling and am now pretty sure I know what I’ll be doing with the rest of my lemons, and soybeans for that matter. When life gives you soybeans (unclear what the metaphorical equivalent to this is), make soymilk and use the okara for lemon bars.

Soybeans two-ways: soymilk (plain and matcha) + okara crust lemon bars

||Whole-Lemon Lemon Bar 
& Almond Okara Crust||

Adapted from David Lebovitz' recipe
Makes one 8x8" pan of lemon bars

Ingredients

For the crust~

•  1/2 cup packed fresh okara
• ½ cup almond flour
• 3 Tb. melted butter
• Zest of 1 lemon
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 1 Tb. condensed milk

For the filling~

• 1 large lemon (~140g), washed, quartered with seeds removed
• Scant ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 3 Tb. fresh lemon juice
• 3 large eggs, room temperature*
• 4 tsp. corn starch
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. vanilla paste
• 2 Tb. melted butter
• 1 Tb. condensed milk

* If you forgot to take these out ahead of time to warm up, just immerse in warm water for about 5-10 min until no longer cold

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Flip 8x8" pan upside down and cover with foil, wrapping around edges. Remove foil and turn pan right-side up and place foil inside, pressing in corners to fit in place. Grease the pan.
2. Combine crust ingredients in a medium bowl. Press evenly into pan until level and bake for 25 minutes, edges will begin turn golden brown.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: add lemon pieces, lemon juice and sugar to blender and process until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
4. When crust is done, pour filling over it immediately and continue baking for additional 25 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and let cool. Use the edges of the foil to lift out of pan. Top with sifted powdered sugar if desired. Serve and enjoy!  

Not quite clean cuts because I was impatient and didn't let it cool fully before bringing some to share