The Ultimate Vegan Lemon Bars (Paleo + Gluten Free)
The best vegan lemon bars that are easy, nut free, gluten free, and Paleo, yet taste anything but! Your favorite classic dessert just got even better!
To be honest, I was never a fan of lemon desserts…until these vegan lemon bars.
I’ve been secretly making these bars for a while now, even before my lemon poppy seed muffins, because they are just that good.
Completely dairy free, egg free, Paleo, gluten free, and nut free.
Not only that, but these bars are extraordinarily creamy, smooth, lightly sweet and refreshing. I could eat one after the other to be honest.
Plus they look like sunshine, don’t they? 🙂
Whether you’re a fan of lemon bars or not (since you clicked on this recipe, I’m going to take a wild guess and say that you are ha!), you’re going to fall in love with this incredibly easy and delicious recipe!
How to make vegan lemon bars
One of my favorite things about these vegan and Paleo lemon bars is that they only require about 8 ingredients total, and they’re ingredients that are “normal” (as my mom would like to put it, ha!).
So before we get to making these bars, let’s go over what those ingredients actually are, and how these bars are completely nut free even though they’re Paleo and vegan!
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For these vegan lemon bars, you’ll need:
- Meyer lemons
- Coconut cream (from the can)
- Maple syrup (I recommend Crown Maple if you’re on the east coast)
- Arrowroot powder (or cornstarch, but please note that will not be Paleo then)
- Cassava flour (ah, the trick here for a nut free short bread crust!)
- Coconut oil
- Vanilla
- Turmeric (for a more lemon-y color!)
That’s it! Not terrible in terms of “strange” ingredients, right? Trust me when I say you’ll be quick to make these again!
Now a note on ingredients: I know it can be easy for vegan and Paleo ingredients to add up in price, so here are my recommendations.
- Shop Trader Joe’s when you can (and if you don’t have it available, really do use Amazon! You can often get better deals than in stores, and if you have Prime, it’ll only take an extra day).
- Not everything has to be organic- do what fits your budget best.
- It’s okay to splurge on maple syrup: the real deal is worth it!
Okay now that that’s out of the way- let’s make these lemon bars!
The Crust
For the crust of these vegan lemon bars, we’re making a Paleo vegan nut free short bread. All it consists of is coconut oil, cassava flour, maple syrup, and chilled water.
For the crust:
- Cut the coconut oil into the cassava flour until it’s crumbly in texture.
- Add in maple syrup and water, and continue to mix the ingredients until it’s a thick dough.
- Press dough into the pan evenly and place the pan into the fridge to chill while the oven preheats to 350F (or about 20 minutes).
- Once the oven is preheated, place the pie crust into the oven to blind bake for 10 minutes.
It should look a little golden after 10 minutes. Then move onto the filling!
The Filling
Now, for the lemon filling, we’ll be using coconut cream, Meyer lemons, maple syrup, arrowroot powder, vanilla, and turmeric.
I highly recommend keeping the turmeric in. You won’t taste it a bit and it will add that beautifully radiant yellow tint!
The filling is super simple because all you need to do is whisk together the ingredients and bake; no tempering nor heating needed because this is vegan!
For the lemon filling:
- Whisk together the lemon juice, coconut milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Sift in the arrowroot powder and turmeric and whisk again until there are no clumps.
- When the pie crust is ready, pour the filling into the pan and place the pan back into the oven to bake for 20 minutes.
After that, let the pan cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes before placing it in the fridge to chill for 2-3 hours.
Once the lemon bars have chilled, remove them from the fridge and slice into however many bars you’d like!
Do I need to refrigerate lemon bars?
Yes, definitely keep these in the fridge if you’re not eating them the day of. If left out on the table, they just won’t taste as fresh. I would keep these lemon bars in the fridge for up to a week!
Can I freeze these?
Absolutely! These healthy lemon bars freeze wonderfully. Keep them in an airtight container, and you’re good to go!
I hope you love these vegan lemon bars as much as I do 🙂 If you get to making them, be sure to leave a comment down below, as well as a rating!
As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!
Happy lemon squeezing and shortbread slicing!
More healthy desserts you’ll love:
Simple Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Paleo Vegan Sweet Potato Brownies Brownies
Gluten Free Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Easy Paleo Vegan Chocolate Fudge
The Ultimate Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake
Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!
Vegan Lemon Bars (Paleo + Gluten Free)
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 16
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
Description
The best vegan lemon bars that are easy, nut free, gluten free, and Paleo, yet taste anything but! Your favorite classic dessert just got better!
Ingredients
Crust:
-
1 ½ cups cassava flour
-
¾ cup coconut oil, softened
-
¼ cup maple syrup
-
4-6 tbsp chilled water
Filling:
-
2 cups coconut cream
-
¾ cup lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
-
½ cup maple syrup
-
7 tbsp arrowroot powder
-
1 tsp vanilla extract
-
1/2-2 tsp turmeric powder for coloring*
Instructions
Crust:
-
Grease an 8×8 pan with coconut oil or olive oil.
-
In a large bowl, cut the coconut oil into the cassava flour until it’s crumbly in texture.
-
Add in maple syrup and water, and continue to mix the ingredients until it’s a thick dough.
-
Press dough into the pan evenly and place the pan into the fridge to chill while the oven preheats to 350F (or about 20 minutes).
-
Once the oven is preheated, place the pie crust into the oven to blind bake for 10 minutes. The crust will be slightly soft, but not gooey, and it should not be golden brown.
- When the pie crust is baked, let it rest while you make the filling.
Filling:
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While the crust is resting, prepare the filling.
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Whisk together the lemon juice, coconut milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Sift in the arrowroot powder and turmeric and whisk again until there are no clumps. Start with 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric- more turmeric will add more of a turmeric flavor. Alternatively, you can use vegan yellow food coloring. See notes.
-
When the pie crust is ready, pour the filling into the pan and place the pan back into the oven to bake for 20 minutes.
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Remove the pan from the oven and let the pan cool for 20-30 minutes before placing the pan into the fridge to chill for 2-3 hours.
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Once chilled, slice the lemon bars into 8, 9, or 16 bars.
Notes
*you can also use vegan yellow food coloring if you don’t like turmeric!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 261
- Sugar: 10.9 g
- Sodium: 10.5 mg
- Fat: 10.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.4 g
- Protein: 1.9 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Wow these photos are absolutely stunning! Not to mention the bars are sooooo refreshing and delicious! And now for your daily dad joke: these bars are no lemon, they’re the REAL DEAL 😉
Aw thank you so much!! Haha LOVE the dad jokes ha!
My filling was super runny! I kept cooking it but I didn’t want the crust to get overly baked. I was hoping that letting it set in the fridge would help. It did a little but not enough. I followed the recipe so not sure what happened.
PS a little more detail in your instructions could help!
I’m so sorry to hear this!! Have you checked your arrowroot powder? If it’s expired or not stored properly, it won’t activate and work! I will adjust the directions!
It was working out positively, yet the turmeric added for color (2 level tsp) tasted very, very strong and ruined the flavor. Most curries and so on just have 1/2 a teaspoon in the spice mix. Recipes that include it for color just utilize a 1/2 tsp or a pinch.
My lemon bars had an unappetizing earthy, musty taste. Perhaps my turmeric was more flavored than the author’s. I recommend omitting t the turmeric or using yellow food dye.
Hi there!
I’m so sorry to hear this- I completely understand, the turmeric taste is definitely not for everyone! I think I might be more used to it, since I use it daily- I will adjust the recipe to recommend less without losing the color if the turmeric flavor is too strong for some!
Hi! Is there a coconut cream and oil substitute? Thanks.
Yes! You can use vegan heavy cream and vegan butter 🙂