Lemon blueberry bars

Real baked goods are wonderfully light, fluffy and don't last long in my house. My husband spent years perfecting his recipe for sourdough bread and had it perfect right before we went gluten free. Oh well, time to move on to perfecting grain free baked goods. A new challenge awaits. I am in love with this recipe. I made a few batches before I got it just right. It does have a small amount of sugar in it so it doesn't qualify for the paleo/primal seal of approval. I don't care. It is awesome. I am not "Paleo Perfect" and I eat so well that I don't minds having a bit of sugar now and then. Que the cheesy music "Pour some sugar on me in the name of love" Okay, maybe not that song. I am all out of $1s anyway. 

As I baked this set of bars I was listening to The People's Pharmacy on NPR. There was a story of a mother whose child had been diagnosed with arthritis at 3 years old. They tried the medications but were seeing the negative reactions and no real benefit. They decided to go another route and removed gluten, dairy and nightshades from their diet. They went on a 6 week leaky gut cleanse.  Leaky gut gets a bad wrap but the word intestinal permeability goes a lot further with the medical folks. Additionally, they added a few supplements that are anti-inflammatory. By 6 weeks later, the child was healed. Stories like this give me hope. The mother was not an "alternative medicine" practitioner. She was a New York Times journalist. As we work to heal our son's leaky gut, stories like this give me great hope. Someday in the future our son will have all the holes plugged in his gut. I do not believe his pain will last forever but I do know that he will be gluten free for life. Considering the rates of Celiac and non-celiac gluten sensitivity in our families added with the down-right nastiness of gluten, we are gluten free for life. Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple added her thoughts about going beyond the basic gluten, soy, corn and dairy free diet and adding positive supplements to expedite the healing. 

With the elimination diet we are very happy with our results in that we have not gotten worse. I still feel like we should be getting better though. After listening to the episode, I am considering adding a few supplements. The doctor suggested a fish oil, l-glutamine, deglycyrrhizinated black licorice, aloe vera juice and adding a probiotic. I am not sure how many of these we will do but I will post our results here. 

Now for the recipe-

This makes 9 bars that are pretty good sized. I like it just fine without the sugary glaze but it is up to you how sweet you want to go. A note to people who strictly avoid corn: there can be cornstarch in powdered sugar. Be wary and look at every package. Sometimes you have to shop around to find one without. Also, the arrowroot starch/powder is what gives this recipe volume. You can skip it but the bars are flat and a little more dense. If you buy arrowroot powder in the fancy grocery store spice section it is about $6 a jar and doesn't go very far. I bought a large bag of it from Bob's Red Mill for about $8 and it will last me a long time. It is worth the purchase.  

 Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup fine ground blanched almond flour
• 1/3 cup arrowroot starch
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup coconut milk- I used the light variety but regular is great
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• zest of two lemons
• juice of 1 of the lemons, 2 if you really like lemon bars
• 1/2 cup blueberries. 

In one large bowl add all of the dry ingredients. Mix together. In a second bowl mix all the wet together. Whisk the wet into the dry. Add the blueberries last and fold them in so they do not become macerated messes. This keeps the berries from having their color run through your mix. I like to put a few extra on the bottom of the pan so there is a nice visual layer. 

Pour into a 9x9 greased pan. Pop into the oven for 30 minutes. It should brown a bit but not too much. I use a convection oven so you might need to test them at 30 then add a few more minutes depending on your exact oven output. 

Glaze: 

• 1 cup powdered sugar (or regular sugar blended for 3-5 minutes in a sharp blender)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbl water

Mix all together in a bowl. It should be runny but not watery. It will set up a little. I suggest you let the bars cool completely before applying or it will just run off. 

I actually really enjoy these without the sugar topping. I think it is sweet enough as is. 

350F for 30 minutes