Healthy Lemon Bars Recipe with Pine Nut Crust: 5 WW SmartPoints - Housewives of Frederick County (2024)

These healthy lemon bars will be your go-to lemon bar recipe from now on!

With an easy-to-make homemade crust with crushed pine nuts, these lemon bars are not only delicious, but they also fit perfectly into your Weight Watchers SmartPoints plan!

And even if you don’t follow WW you’re going to love this recipe!

Healthy Lemon Dessert

I’ve always LOVED lemon bars!

Why? Because the tangy, lip-puckering, lemon topping with the crisp-crusty bottom makes for the perfect dessert bar.

What makes these lemon bars extra special is the fact that they’re only 5 WW SmartPoints per serving {Green Plan}!

For some reason, in my entire lifetime, I’ve never made them myself, until now.

Because I aim to be as health-conscious as possible, I wanted to make a Weight Watchers friendly version of one of my favorite desserts.

And if you want to know why I always choose WW recipes, here’s a recent article in Business Insider about how effective the Weight Watcher’s Diet is.

Half the WW SmartPoints of Conventional Lemon Bars

This recipe is HALF the WW SmartPoints of the conventional lemon bars recipe, without losing ANY of the taste!

I promise!

They’re SO tasty that they’ve inspired me to make more WW dessert recipes.

I found this book on Amazon, Weight Watchers: Best Ever Desserts Cookbook featuring 150 cakes, pies, cookies, bars, breads, & tarts!

Healthy Lemon Bar Recipe With No Artificial Sweeteners

Another beauty of this lightened up version is that there are no artificial sweeteners.

So, no weird aftertaste like some other lightened up dessert recipes.

Furthermore, they’re just as delicious as any other lemon bars I’ve ever had.

How To Make Healthy Lemon Bars

Ingredients

• All-Purpose Flour
• Powdered Sugar
• Pine Nuts
• Salt
• Butter
• Canola Oil
• Cooking Spray
• Granulated White Sugar
• Fresh Lemon Rind
• Lemon Juice
• Eggs
• Egg Whites
• Powdered Sugar

What You’ll Need

• Measuring cups & measuring spoons
• 8 inch square baking dish
• Mixing Bowl
• Whisk
• Wire Cooling Rack

Instructions

Step 1: Preheat Oven & Combine Flour, Powdered Sugar, Pine Nuts, & Salt Into Food Processor

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Then add your flour, powdered sugar, pine nuts, & salt to your food processor and pulse 2 times to combine well.

Step 2: Add Butter & Canola Oil To Food Processor

Add butter and canola oil and pulse in the food processor 3 to 5 times until the mixture is coarse in texture.

Step 3: Press Mixture Into Bottom of Square Baking Dish

Press your pine nut crust mixture into the bottom of your 8 inch baking dish (sprayed with cooking spray).

Then bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until the crust is lightly brown.

After that, remove dish from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 4: Whisk Remaining Ingredients In Mixing Bowl

Combine the remaining ingredients (besides the 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar) into your mixing bowl and whisk until smooth.

Step 5: Pour Mixture Over Crust & Bake

Pour mixture over crust and bake in 325 degree Fahrenheit oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until set.

Then remove dish from the oven and place on wire cooling rack until it is completely cooled.

Step 6: Chill for 2 Hours & Sprinkle with Powdered Sugar

Once your lemon bars are completely cool, cover the baking dish and place into the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.

Then remove from the refrigerator and sprinkle evenly with powdered sugar.

In addition, Groupon is a great place to go for deals on food processors.

As you can see from my pictures, they turned out great.

Lemon Bars with Pine Nut Crust

The ingredient that surprised me the most was the pine nuts.

I’ve never seen a lemon bars recipe with crushed up pine nuts in the crust.

But they really turned out great!

The crust is crisp-flaky, just the way I like it!

And the topping is just as tangy, lemony, lip-puckering and lightly sugary as the BEST lemon bars out there.

Tips and Tricks

• Do yourself a favor and get a Citrus Zester to grate your lemon rind. I didn’t have a zester, so I attempted to do it with my old fashioned box grater, which worked but was cumbersome.
• Presentation is everything when you make something as good as these lemon bars.A 3 Tier Collapsible Dessert Presentation Tray is the perfect display for these delicious creations!
• Pine nuts can sometimes be hard to find, so if you don’t feel like going on a wild goose chase like I did, they sell them on Amazon.
• Pine nuts are used in a ton of recipes, like:
  • Cookies
  • Pastas
  • Salads
  • Veggies
  • Even sandwiches, like my Pesto, Toasted Pine Nut, Mozzarella Panini Recipe.

Finally, if you’re looking for more healthy, delectable recipes, I highly recommend The Skinnytaste Cookbook: Light on Calories, Big on Flavor.

The author, Gina hom*olka, is a fellow blogger, just like me!

Her recipes are amazing!

She includes all of the nutrition information on each of her recipes, so you can calculate WW SmartPoints or any other diet you may be on.

Here are some other fun finger-food desserts on our blog:

No Bake Cereal Chocolate Cookies

Popcorn Snack Bars

Spring Cookie Bars

In the meantime, I’ll be in my kitchen partaking inanother little no-guilt square of heaven!

Healthy Lemon Bars Recipe