Gluten free pink lemonade bars are tart gluten free lemon bars with a bright pink blood orange glaze! The lemon bars are made with almond flour and sweetened naturally with honey. Blood orange juice gives the glaze it’s gorgeous pink color.
Warmer temps and longer days has me craving fresh flavors and tartness of citrus in sweet and savory meals and treats. It’s amazing how you can use the zest, juice and flesh of lemons, limes, oranges and more in so many different ways to add flavor and nutrition to just about anything.
Today I’m spilling the tea on these gluten free lemon bars with blood orange glaze and how exactly you get this pink color from blood orange juice. At first glance you would think they’re color from food coloring or something artificial, but no! It’s amazing how they get their all natural color from blood oranges.
The idea of using this stunning pink color that comes from the juice of a blood orange in another treat came when I made this blood orange olive oil loaf the other week. I thought what else could I make PINK?!
Staying with the citrus theme, I thought pink lemonade bars would be so fun and the perfect color for spring and Easter. Initially I tried to make the actual bar pink, but that didn’t turn out as well as making the glaze pink. Reducing the blood orange juice helps to get this bold magenta-pink hue!
Ingredients for Gluten Free pink lemonade bars
- blanched almond flour
- fresh lemons
- honey
- eggs
- coconut flour
- maple syrup
- blood oranges
- confectioners’ sugar
equipment / utensils
Gluten Free Pink Lemonade Bars
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
- zest of 1 lemon
- For the lemon bar:
- 3 eggs
- juice of 2 lemons
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tbsp. coconut flour can sub arrowroot starch
For the blood orange glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- juice of 2 blood oranges
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8X8 baking pan with cooking spray and line with a sheet of parchment paper making sure the parchment paper isn’t bunched up around the edges.
- Combine all of the crust ingredients together in a small bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon. Press into the parchment paper (using a spatula also works well) making sure the crust is as even as possible.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- While the crust is baking make the filling for the bars. Whisk together the eggs, honey, lemon juice and zest really well in a small bowl. Then, sift or whisk in the coconut flour gradually so there are no clumps.
- Remove the crust from the oven, lower the temperature to 325 degrees F and slowly pour the egg mixture over the top of the crust. Don’t let the crust cool too much, you want to pour the egg mixture overtop while it’s still warm. Carefully return it back to the oven and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes until the center is set and does not move. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Make the pink blood orange glaze by juicing 2 blood oranges and adding the juice to a small saucepan to reduce. Let the juice simmer on medium-low heat for about 2-3 minutes until it’s slightly reduced. Don’t leave it unattended as it can reduce all the way very quickly!
- Start by pouring a little bit of the juice over 1 cup of confectioners’ sugar at a time mixing together to get a glaze that’s thick but that you are still able to drizzle it. You may need a little less or a little more depending on how much your juice reduced.
- Use a small spatula to spread the glaze over the cooled bars. I like to cut the bars first and then add the glaze on to each bar individually to get the cleanest look. Top with more lemon or blood orange zest and enjoy!
Notes
Love all things lemon? Be sure to check out these other lemon and citrus recipes!
- lemon sugar cookies
- power orange ginger smoothie
- no bake mini key lime cheesecakes
- citrus fish tacos with tahini coleslaw
- blood orange olive oil loaf cake
pin this recipe for later!
