Vegan Lemon Bars – Gluten Free
These gluten free, refined sugar free, and vegan Lemon Bars are easy to make and taste amazing! They have such an awesome lemon flavor and creamy texture.
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We LOVE lemon everything in our house (especially these vegan lemon bars). Both of my kids even enjoying licking raw lemons once I’ve juiced them for a recipe.
I think they get their love of lemon from my husband because he is obsessed with all things lemon.
He doesn’t have any food allergies so in the past I’ve just made traditional lemon bars for him. Now that my kiddos are dealing with food allergies too (not just me) I decided it was about time to figure out a recipe that we all could enjoy together.
So I needed to figure out how to make lemon bars without the eggs, gluten, dairy, or refined sugar. This seemed like an impossible task but once I broke it down it actually wasn’t too tricky.
For the shortbread crust I just used a slightly modified version of my shortbread cookie recipe and it worked great. The filling traditionally gets it’s texture from eggs so that was a bit more difficult.
I knew that cornstarch would be involved to make the thick filling, but I didn’t want it to be completely like jello so I started researching how to avoid that. I came across a recipe from Nora Cooks and she adds coconut milk to the filling which helps give it a creamy texture.
To replace the refined sugar, I just use maple syrup to sweeten the bars and it works great. Traditional lemon bars also get their yellow color from the eggs so instead I use an 1/8th tsp of turmeric and it works amazingly well and you can’t taste it at all.
So let’s talk about what you need to make these delicious vegan lemon bars!
GLUTEN FREE AND VEGAN LEMON BARS RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
For the Crust:
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, melted
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/4 cup gluten free all purpose flour (I use “Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 Baking Flour“)
- Dash of salt
For the Filling:
- 3/4 cup lemon juice (about 4 large lemons)
- 1 tbsp lemon zest (optional for extra tart lemon flavor)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk, refrigerated overnight
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/8th teaspoon turmeric (optional for color)
- optional powdered sugar for topping
HOW TO MAKE GLUTEN FREE AND VEGAN LEMON BARS:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and 8 x 8″ baking pan.
- In a large bowl, combine melted vegan butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add gluten free flour and salt and mix until a dough forms. You should be able to pinch the dough with your fingers without the dough sticking to your hands. Add a small amount of gluten free flour if dough is really sticky.
- Use a rubber spatula and your hands to press the dough evenly into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the crust has started to brown slightly.
- Open the can of coconut milk and scoop out the thick cream that has risen to the top of the can. It should be about 1 cup. Add all of the filling ingredients to a medium sized sauce pan and whisk until the cornstarch has dissolved. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the filling thickens (about 5-10 minutes). The mixture should be very thick but still pourable.
- Spread the filling evenly over the crust and bake for another 15 minutes. Let the lemon bars cool for 30 minutes at room temperature and then refrigerate for 2 hours or until the filling has set.
- Cut into bars and optionally dust with the powdered sugar.
♥ Don’t forget to leave a comment below if you give this recipe a try! ♥
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Vegan Lemon Bars – Gluten Free
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 35 min
- Total Time: 50 min
- Yield: 9 bars 1x
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, melted
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/4 cup gluten free all purpose flour (I use “Bob’s Red Mill 1–1 Baking Flour“)
- Dash of salt
For the Filling:
- 3/4 cup lemon juice (about 4 large lemons)
- 1 tbsp lemon zest (optional for extra tart lemon flavor)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 cup full fat coconut milk, refrigerated overnight*
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/8th teaspoon turmeric (optional for color)
- optional powdered sugar for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and 8 x 8″ baking pan.
- In a large bowl, combine melted vegan butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. Add gluten free flour and salt and mix until a dough forms. You should be able to pinch the dough with your fingers without the dough sticking to your hands. Add a small amount of gluten free flour if dough is really sticky.
- Use a rubber spatula and your hands to press the dough evenly into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the crust has started to brown slightly.
- Open the can of coconut milk and scoop out the thick cream that has risen to the top of the can. It should be about 1 cup. Add all of the filling ingredients to a medium sized sauce pan and whisk until the cornstarch has dissolved. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the filling thickens (about 5-10 minutes). The mixture should be very thick but still pourable.
- Spread the filling evenly over the crust and bake for another 15 minutes. Let the lemon bars cool for 30 minutes at room temperature and then refrigerate for 2 hours or until the filling has set.
- Cut into bars and optionally dust with the powdered sugar.
Notes
It’s important to refrigerate the coconut milk overnight so the thick coconut cream will rise to the top of the can.
Recipe adapted from: Nora Cooks
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Can I use something other than coconut cream? I’m allergic to coconut.
Hi Michelle, I don’t know of a great substitute for the coconut milk. You could try using something creamy like oat milk or almond milk but I haven’t tried it before so I can’t promise the same result.
Could you add shredded unsweetened coconut into the base? If so how much would you decrease the flour – just wondering if it would make a tastier base but haven’t tried this one yet.
Hi Keri, I have not tried this before, but I’m sure it would be tasty! You will probably have to test out how much flour to use. I recommend adding all of the other ingredients including the coconut and then slowly add in flour until a dough is formed. I hope this helps!
Can I substitute arrowroot for the cornstarch 1:1?
Just read I should substitute twice as much arrowroot as cornstarch!
Hi Helen, I will usually just swap arrowroot and cornstarch 1 to 1. I would be curious to know how doubling the arrowroot worked for you.