I get really happy when I get to create something delicious with the fruits we grow on our property.
Even on the most stressful day, cooking relaxes me. And it’s a good thing, because with four growing boys and a hard working man around, I do a LOT of cooking.
The beauty of our tropical climate is that most of the fruit on our property grows year-round. But right now, it seems like everything is abundant: Bananas, avocados, pomelo, and papaya…Lots of papaya.
Well, for a long time now, my boys’ favorite treat has been LEMON BARS. It’s what they always ask for if we go to a special cafe or bakery.
And I don’t know why it took me so long, but suddenly–last week, out of the blue, I had this GREAT IDEA: Why not make a PAPAYA VERSION of a LEMON BAR?
And that was the best idea I’ve had in a long time.
Now my boys have a new favorite treat.
And plenty of it.
I fiddled my way through three different versions of this recipe, each time exchanging some ingredient that I didn’t feel good about, with something I did.
And sure enough, the results were amazing.
Shockingly amazing.
The great thing about papaya is that it is so naturally sweet, you don’t need nearly as much sweetener as a lemon bar requires.
It was really easy to switch out honey for sugar, almond flour for white flour, and coconut oil instead of butter.
My family did a taste comparison of the different versions.
They all preferred the healthier version!
Seriously. I wouldn’t lie about this.
YES.
THAT. GOOD.
*someone tell me you love the rainbow unicorn as much as I do* (It’s a very old IKEA tray I took from my Grandmother years ago–)
One note on sugar: The batch I made with ONLY honey, had a slightly more moist (jiggly,) texture than the one I tried with sugar. (I tried hard to think of another one than “jiggly,” sorry, just couldn’t.)
My personal favorite–using 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup honey. You can play around and decide what you like best!
Papaya Bars {Gluten Free and Honey Sweetened.}
Ingredients
- CRUST:
- 1/2 cup almond meal flour can use reg. (all-purpose flour.
- 2 Tbsp. maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1 cup shredded coconut
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 egg white
- FILLING:
- 1/2 cup honey or sugar, or a combination of the two.
- 1/4 c. almond meal flour if sub.w/ reg. flour, use just 2 T.
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 3/4 cup papaya puree
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
- TOPPING:
- powdered sugar optional.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Line an 8X8 pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium sauce pan, over medium heat, combine coconut oil and almond flour.
- Add maple syrup, shredded coconut, almond flour and salt.
- Mix until well combined, remove from heat and stir the egg white into the mixture, combining well.
- Transfer to prepared pan and carefully press down firmly.
- Bake 8-10 minutes, checking for it to turn a light golden brown.
- Meanwhile, begin preparing the filling.
- Remove the seeds from 2 medium papaya, and place fruit in a blender or food processor.
- Turn on medium and mix until a smooth consistency.
- Pour into a large bowl, and add eggs, almond flour, lemon juice, honey, and salt. Using a wire whisk, combine until glossy and smooth.
- Pour filling over the hot crust, and transfer back to the oven for remaining 20-25 minutes.
- When done, the filling will appear set.
- Cool in the pan on a cooling rack until it reaches room temperature.
- **Best kept covered in a refrigerator.
Please PIN this to save for later. Share with your friends, and…just try making these!
This time of year you should be able to find good papaya in most areas. (If you can’t find any, come by our place, and grab one of ours. Or twelve. ;))
(If you’re a papaya lover, you might also like to try my papaya pie and my papaya coconut cake .)
With Aloha,
Monica
(and her miniature food inspection assistant, Levi)
These were great! Just needed a little more baking time to help the “jiggle”. I want to make a lemon version and was wondering how to change the filling. Thanks!
Thank you Julie! SO happy they turned out ok. (Baking times are always tricky!) I bet you could find a healthy version of a lemon bar and just switch out the filling…Let me know how you do with that! 🙂 Much aloha-
This is almost exactly what I was looking for! I recently went GF and I used to make these with AP flour. I have been craving them and the papayas were on sale.
But, quick question: What do you think the best way to make this vegan? I was thinking flax egg for the egg white in the crust and I’m think gin arrowroot with a touch of baking powder for the filling to make it both bind and rise just a bit?
Thoughts? I need these papaya bars back in my gluten free vegan life!
Oh so glad to hear that, Amanda! They are delicious!
I wish I was better at switching things out to make them vegan, but I would definitely try the flax egg for the egg whites…as for the gin arrowroot…please try it and let me know! I’m working on more vegan recipes so I hope to learn more as I go! All the best to you and if you think of it, please do give me an update! aloha-
Alright, made these today with vegan subsist items and they were perfect! Used the flax “egg” for the crust, just had to bake it a couple minutes longer. Gave it a little extra nutty flavor. Used the arrowroot “eggs” (that was a typo in my original comment, just arrowroot, nothing gin about it, lol) and the filling set perfectly! Also swapped the honey for xylitol.
Thank you so much for giving me back one of my favorite fruity treats! Can’t wait to try this crust on some lemon bars!
OH that is fantastic news!! Thank you so much for letting me know… (haha, I was trying to figure out that gin part! :))
I am super impressed with your improv. skills! Way to go. Much aloha and stay in touch!
hi!!! just a question before I try the recipe! in the filling it says 1.4c almond meal, is that 1 cup o 1 tablespoon?? thanks!
Oh wow…I better go check that, I’m thinking it was a typo!! :0 (thank you so much for pointing out.) I’ll get back to you! aloha-
OK Mary Ann–I doubled checked and on my computer it shows 1/4 (“one-fourth”) cup of Almond meal…So maybe it is getting switched on your computer…Hope that helps!! 🙂
This looks delish! I didn’t realize that papaya puree can be turned into a healthy snack like this!
I have never looked at the “dalahäst” and seen a unicorn. The ‘horn’ is it’s ears. I grew up with this Swedish icon and never saw the unicorn in it until now. Love it!
Is it really only 1/2 cup of flour in the crust? And a full cup of coconut? My crust did not set up at all, even after cooking the full time. And I can’t figure out why it didn’t set firmly.
Sandy–Did you use almond flour or all purpose? The very first batch I made I used all purpose flour, and I think I used more like 3/4 cup…All of the batched I made with almond flour set up perfectly, but if you’re using AP Flour, you might want to increase the amount a little? I can’t think of anything else! (You did use coconut oil I’m assuming?) So sorry–That is too bad.
Thank you so much… I will try. Lucky we live in Hawaii, there are so much sweet papaya and very healthy fruit..A lots of enzymes and yummy..Thanks Monica and you are very cute in the picture too CHEF MONICA 🙂
These look delish! My hubby would LOVE these….He is from MX and always asking for the tropical fruit from the grocery. Sometimes I am in the mood for it other times not so much…I will definitely give this a try!
I’m new here. Love those IKEA trays. My Gram has them too. We use them every time we visit. I have dibs on them.
That’s it. I’m getting papayas at the store tomorrow! These bars look AMAZING and I cannot wait to bake them. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I actually like the newsprint horse with sunglasses underneath the rainbow unicorn.
Don’t know which is cuter- the rainbow unicorn or Levi’s eyes?