Vegan Lemon Bars

easyhealthyrecipes.com/vegan-lemon-bars/

Almost too good to be vegan - but they are! Complete with a shortbread crust, a creamy filling, and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Prep: 20

Cook: 40

Chill: 3

Total: 4

Recipe makes approximately 16 squares

Equipment Needed

Oven
9x13 baking dish
neutral-flavored spray oil
Parchment paper
Large mixing bowl
Silicone spatula
stove
medium saucepan
whisk
large wooden spoon
Wire cooling rack
sharp chef's knife
flour sifter (or fine mesh sieve)

Ingredients Needed

For the Shortbread Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup vegan butter (melted but not bubbling)

For the Lemon Filling

1 14-ounce can unsweetened, full-fat coconut cream (at room temperature)
⅔ cup fresh lemon juice (juice from approximately 4 large lemons)
¼ cup lemon zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups granulated white sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup cornstarch
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

To Serve

⅓ cup powdered sugar

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. Arrange oven racks so baking pan will sit in center of oven.
Lightly spray bottom and sides of 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray, then line baking dish with parchment paper. Leave excess parchment paper slightly overhanging sides of dish for easy removal.
Add 2 cups all-purpose flour, ½ cup granulated white sugar, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon salt, and 1 cup vegan butter to large mixing bowl. Stir ingredients together until fully incorporated into thick dough. Use hands to mix ingredients if needed to ensure ingredients are well incorporated.
Transfer dough to prepared baking dish. Use hands to gently flatten dough into even layer covering entire bottom of dish.
Place baking dish in preheated oven. Bake crust 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are just lightly browned.
Once edges have browned lightly, remove baking dish from oven and set aside.
Place saucepan on stovetop over medium-low heat. Add 1 14-ounce can unsweetened, full-fat coconut cream, ⅔ cup fresh lemon juice, ¼ cup lemon zest, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1 ½ cups granulated white sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, ⅓ cup cornstarch, and ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric to saucepan.
Whisk ingredients together until fully combined and mixture is warm. Once warm, replace whisk with wooden spoon and stir mixture constantly until mixture thickens suddenly.
Once mixture has thickened, pour mixture over cooled shortbread crust. Spread lemon filling mixture out evenly over top of shortbread crust, covering crust completely.
Return baking dish to preheated oven. Bake lemon bars 15 minutes or until lemon filling is set.
Carefully remove baking dish from oven and place on top of wire cooling rack. Allow lemon bars to cool at room temperature 1 hour.
After 1 hour, moove room-temperature baking dish to refrigerator. Chill lemon bars 2 hours.
After 2 hours, remove baking dish from refrigerator. Use excess parchment paper as "handles" to carefully lift sheet of lemon bars out of baking dish. Place parchment paper on flat work surface.
Use sharp chef's knife to carefully slice sheet of lemon bars into squares, creating 9 to 18 individual lemon bars depending on size of squares.
Add ⅓ cup powdered sugar to flour sifter or fine mesh sieve. Dust tops of lemon bars with powdered sugar then serve bars as desired.

Recipe Notes

Storage: Refrigerate leftover lemon bars in an airtight container up to 5 days.

Nutrition Info (Approximate)