Vegan Lemon Bars - Creamy, Delicious Recipe! (2024)

These completely delicious vegan lemon bars can be a gluten free, sugar free, dairy free, nut free, oil free, and egg free recipe, with NO coconut milk required!

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Easy vegan lemon bars

You will fall instantly in love with the smooth texture and bold lemon flavor.

Light, soft, sweet, and lemony, the simple vegan recipe is perfect for summer barbecues, dinner parties, baby showers, weddings, book clubs, potlucks, or your average Monday evening dessert.

One rich and luxurious bite, and you’ll swear the healthy lemon squares taste so good that they must be packed with butter and heavy cream. Yet they are not at all!

Readers also love this Vegan Carrot Cake

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Vegan lemon bar ingredients

You will need lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract, sweetener, coconut or cashew butter, a little salt, and soft tofu. (There’s also a soy free option included in the recipe.)

Unlike many other vegan lemon bar recipes, this one needs no coconut cream, no agar agar, no sugar, no lemon curd, and no vegan butter.

The fat source can be any neutral nut butter, such as cashew, macadamia, raw almond, or coconut butter. For a nut free option, plant based butter also works.

Tofu gives these vegan bars a delightful eggy texture without eggs. Soft tofu should be readily available in the refrigerated section of many regular grocery stores and health food stores. Any firmness of Mori Nu vacuum packed tofu will also work.

For the best lemon bar texture, do not use refrigerated firm or extra firm tofu.

Want more lemon? Make Vegan Lemon Bread or Vegan Lemon Cake

Watch the step-by-step lemon bar recipe video above

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Crust recipes

Graham cracker crust: pulverize ten full graham cracker sheets in a food processor with three tablespoons oil or plant based butter. Press crumbs down into a parchment-lined pan. Then spread the filling on top.

(Note: many packaged graham crackers contain honey. At press time, both Nabisco grahams and original Keebler’s graham crackers are vegan.)

Low carb crust: Stir one and a half cups of almond flour with five tablespoons of melted coconut oil or vegan butter and one tablespoon of liquid sweetener of choice or water. Press into a parchment-lined pan. Spread the lemon filling on top.

More crust options: Swap gingersnaps, shortbread cookies, or sugar cookies in the graham cracker crust recipe above. Or use a store bought or homemade pie crust, or omit the crust entirely for crustless lemon squares.

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How to make vegan lemon squares

Gather all of your ingredients, and line an eight inch square pan with parchment paper.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine the ingredients in a blender or food processor until completely smooth.

Spread the thick lemon mixture into the prepared pan. Place on the oven’s center rack.

Bake for 35 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool. Once no longer hot, refrigerate the citrus fruit bars until they are cold. They will firm up during this time.

Slice with a sharp knife. The bars can be left out for a few hours in an air conditioned environment if serving at a party. For freshness, I recommend refrigerating leftovers.

Store leftover lemon bars in a covered container for up to four days, leaving a small opening to let out excess moisture.

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How to color lemon bars

To get the yellow color shown in the photos, I chose to add a pinch of turmeric.

You should only need about an eighth of a teaspoon, and no need to be exact.

Add the turmeric along with the other ingredients before blending. The color will not change much until after the bars go into the hot oven.

The turmeric is optional and can be substituted with a few drops of yellow food coloring or omitted entirely if you prefer.

The recipe was adapted from my Vegan Cheesecake and Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars.

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Vegan Lemon Bars

This easy and delicious recipe for vegan lemon bars will quickly become a family favorite dessert.

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Print Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Yield 9 – 12 squares

5 from 27 votes

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 16 oz soft tofu (for soy free, try these Keto Lemon Bars)
  • zest of one lemon
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup or agave
  • 1/3 cup coconut butter, cashew butter, or plant based butter
  • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt (if using salted butter, only use 1/8 tsp salt)
  • up to 1/4 tsp turmeric, optional for color
  • see above for crust options

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 F. Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor until completely smooth. Spread into a parchment lined 8-inch pan, with a crust if desired. Bake for 35 minutes, then let cool. Refrigerate until cold before slicing, because they firm up once chilled.

    View Nutrition Facts

Notes

Also be sure to try these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Have you made this recipe?

Tag @chocolatecoveredkatie on Instagram

Easy Vegan Dessert Ideas

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Vegan Chocolate Mousse

Coconut Ice Cream

Chia Pudding (no bake, high in fiber, protein, and calcium)

Brownie In A Mug

Avocado Ice Cream

Chocolate Banana Bread

Vegan Lemon Bars - Creamy, Delicious Recipe! (2024)

FAQs

What is lemon bar filling made of? ›

Ingredients. Recipes vary slightly, but lemon bar recipes call for lemon juice, and many suggest fresh squeezed. Other ingredients include butter, white sugar, flour, eggs, and salt.

Why did the top of my lemon bars crack? ›

Don't Over-Bake.

If you leave them in the oven too long, it can cause your bars to crack. The surface of your lemon bars should have small bubble holes, but not large cracks.

Why do my lemon bars look like scrambled eggs? ›

Why do my lemon bars look like scrambled eggs? If your lemon bars look like scrambled eggs, it's because you've overcooked them. The key to perfect lemon bars is to cook them until the filling is set, but not too long. You want the filling to be firm but still have a little bit of jiggle to it when you shake the pan.

Why is there a crust on my lemon bars? ›

The crust forms when the sugar in the lemon bar mixture caramelizes and browns during baking, creating a slightly firm, crispy layer over the bars. The top crust isn't always visible, as we all enjoy sprinkling powdered sugar on top of the bars before serving.

How do you keep powdered sugar from melting on lemon bars? ›

To Keep Powdered Sugar from Melting, Add Cornstarch

So go slow and be conservative with the amount of cornstarch you add. A good rule of thumb is 1 teaspoon of cornstarch for every 1/4 cup of powdered sugar used.

How do you thicken lemon filling? ›

To make a thicker curd, you can also add another egg yolk to the recipe, or a teaspoon of cornflour mixed into a tablespoon of water and cook until thickened. How to thin lemon curd? You can make lemon curd thinner by adding more juice, or reducing the amount of egg.

Why did my lemon bars turn out upside down? ›

Set a timer for 5 minutes after pulling the crust from the oven to ensure it doesn't cool too much—if the shortbread is allowed to reach room temperature, the uncooked lemon curd will slip off the top and pool in the bottom of the dish, turning your lemon bars upside down (sounds bananas until it happens to you!).

Should I refrigerate my lemon bars? ›

Lemon bars should be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated in order to prevent bacterial growth or foodborne illness. The filling in lemon bars is made with eggs and can become a breeding ground for bacteria if it's kept in the danger zone (between 41 and 153 degrees F).

Can you leave lemon bars out over night? ›

Serving: Lemon bars are fine to keep out at room temperature for up to 6 hours or so. Storing: Store cooked lemon bars or leftovers in the refrigerator. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and store for up to 2 days. Make-Ahead: You can make lemon bars up to two days in advance.

Why can't i use a metal pan for lemon bars? ›

Acidic ingredients can cause the metallic pots or spoons to leach into the ingredients. Whenever making things with lemon, vinegar or other highly acidic ingredients it is best to stick with heatproof glass bowls and pans, stainless steel pots and silicone utensils.

What is the white goo in eggs? ›

What is that white stuff? The white stringy bit of an egg does indeed have a name—it's called the chalaza, (pronounced kuh-lay-zuh). “It's essentially egg white protein that has had the water wrung out of it.

Do lemon bars go bad? ›

The USDA says that you can safely keep lemon bars in the fridge for seven days, but The Kitchn recommends consuming the bars in three days. If you've made a whole batch just for yourself and can't finish all your lemon bars in a few days, another option is freezing them.

Why are lemon bars so good? ›

But have you found the very best lemon bar recipe?! Lemon bars are renowned for their bright, tangy citrus flavor and buttery shortbread crusts. They're enjoyed year round as the citrus flavor is refreshing in the summer and comforting in the winter.

Why do lemon bars taste metallic? ›

Don't bake in aluminum foil or directly in an aluminum pan. Aluminum will react with the acidic lemon juice and give the bars a metallic taste and can even affect the color. For a softer (but still not soggy!) crust, bake for only 15 minutes and edges are not golden brown.

Can you freeze lemon bars successfully? ›

Yes, lemon bars freeze beautifully—they are even good frozen! To freeze the bars, let them cool completely and freeze the batch whole, covered tightly with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, for up to three months.

What is the inside of a lemon slice? ›

It is generally divided into segments that contain elongated cells where water, carbohydrates, and citric acid accumulate, known as the juice sacs. Each slice contains hundreds of sacs, and occasionally there may be a seed.

What is the white stuff in lemon juice? ›

It is likely a combination of placenta, vesicle, endocarp, and possibly some mesocarp. Basically, its the white stuff inside the lemon. Little tiny bits of lemon. Many commercial juice preparers will include the zest ground very fine as it has a lot of oil and flavour.

Is there a lemon bar mix? ›

Bite into a sweet, tart lemon bar with easy-to-make Betty Crocker Delights Supreme Lemon Bars Mix. Made with real lemon, this baking mix is full of tangy lemon flavors and is easy to prepare.

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