The best vegan lemon bars are tangy, sweet and lemony with a buttery shortbread crust and a filling that tastes like lemon meringue pie!
I love lemon flavors when it comes to dessert. The tart flavor of the lemon really offsets the sweetness in the best possible way.
These lemon bars are my new favorite thing. And I know that I say a lot of things are my new favorite thing, but.. you guys, these are just so good.
They taste just like lemon meringue pie. Minus the meringue of course. But the flavor is just wonderful.
And if you’re like me and love the combination of tart lemon flavor with sweet dessert then you’ll also love our vegan lemon cake, vegan lemon pie and vegan lemon poppy seed cake. Not to mention our vegan lemon cookies, lemon cupcakes and our vegan lemon pound cake.
How To Make Vegan Lemon Bars
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
Shortbread Crust:
- You start off by making the shortbread crust. The recipe is based on our recipe for vegan shortbread cookies and it’s totally divine.
- Add all purpose flour, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl and then add in some vegan butter.
Top Tip: Vegan butter is basically dairy free margarine. If you don’t have a vegan made brand like Earth Balance or Miyokos (USA) or Flora Plant Butter (UK) or Nuttelex (Australia) then do a search of the margarines you do have available and see if you can find one that is dairy-free. You can also make your own homemade vegan butter (our recipe has a coconut oil base) that works great in baking!
- Then comes the messy (but fun) part. Get in there with your hands and break up the butter with the flour until it’s crumbly, then start to form it into a big ball of dough.
- Spray a 9×13 dish with non-stick spray and line it with parchment paper so that there is overhang on either side (you’ll use this to lift the lemon bars out easily later).
- Place the dough into the prepared dish and use your hands to smooth it down evenly across the bottom of the dish. It takes a little patience to get it smoothed out all the way to the sides and into the corners but it’ll get there.
- Place into the oven and bake for 20 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until the edges are lightly browned.
Lemon Filling:
- When your shortbread crust is ready, get started on your lemon filling.
- Simply add some freshly squeezed lemon juice, sugar, lemon extract, salt, coconut cream, cornstarch and turmeric to a saucepan and whisk as it heats until it’s nice and smooth and well combined. Then switch to a wooden spoon and keep stirring.
- It will suddenly start to thicken dramatically then you know it’s done (it should look like the photo below).
Top Tips: If you can’t find lemon extract, you can omit it, but the lemon flavor will be more subtle. Turmeric is just for color, you don’t taste it in the final result. You can also omit this if you prefer. As you can see, mine is so yellow it’s practically fluorescent.
- Pour the lemon filling out over the top of the shortbread crust and smooth down.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F.
- Leave it to cool on a wire cooling rack on the countertop for an hour, and then place the whole dish into the fridge to chill completely (about 2 hours in the fridge).
- When chilled, remove it from the fridge and lift it out of the dish using the parchment paper overhang.
Top Tip: You need it to be completely chilled before you slice it into squares. So it will need to be in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but if you can leave it overnight, then that will be most ideal.
- Place onto a wooden board and cut into 24 squares.
- Then sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top.
- Your lemon bars are ready to serve!
Recipe Q&A
Yes, in fact it’s perfect if you do. They get to the perfect consistency if they have a chance to chill overnight in the fridge, so this is the perfect dessert to make the night before.
They keep perfectly in the fridge in a covered container for around a week.
Yes they freeze very well. Place the squares into a freezer safe container and freeze. When you’re ready for them, just place them into the fridge to thaw and serve straight from the fridge.
It’s likely possible to make these gluten-free if you use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend to replace the regular flour. I have not tested this so far, but I think it would work.
More Delicious Vegan Bars (and Slices)
- Vegan Rice Krispie Treats
- Vegan Peanut Butter Bars
- Vegan Blondies
- Vegan Twix
- Vegan Snickers
- Vegan Millionaire Shortbread
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Lemon Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust:
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- ½ cup White Granulated Sugar (100g)
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Vegan Butter (225g)
Lemon Filling:
- 1 cup Lemon Juice (240ml) Freshly Squeezed, about 4 Large Lemons
- 2 cups White Granulated Sugar (400g)
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 14 ounces Canned Coconut Cream (400ml, 1 can) Unsweetened
- ½ cup Cornstarch (64g)
- ⅛ teaspoon Turmeric
Decorating:
- Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and prepare a 9×13 baking dish by spraying it with non stick spray and lining it with parchment paper so that there is a parchment paper overhang on each side. Set aside.
- Add the all purpose flour, white sugar and salt for your shortbread crust to a mixing bowl and mix together. Then add in the vegan butter.
- Use your hands to break up the butter with the flour until it reaches a crumbly texture, then gradually start to form it into a big ball of dough.
- Place the dough into the prepared dish and use your hands to smooth it down across the bottom of the dish into a smooth even layer.
- Place into the oven and bake for 20 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. When it’s done, remove from the oven, leaving the oven on, and let it sit on the countertop while you prepare the lemon filling.
- Add the freshly squeezed lemon juice, sugar, lemon extract, salt, coconut cream, cornstarch and turmeric to a saucepan and whisk as it heats until the ingredients are well combined. Then switch to a wooden spoon and keep stirring. It will suddenly start to thicken dramatically and you'll know it's done.
- Pour the lemon filling out over the top of the shortbread crust and smooth down.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F.
- Remove from the oven and place the dish onto a a wire cooling rack on the countertop for an hour to cool down before placing the whole dish into the fridge to chill completely.
- Let it chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours until completely chilled before slicing into squares. It’s even more ideal if you can leave it overnight to really firm up before slicing.
- When chilled, remove it from the fridge and lift the dessert out of the dish using the parchment paper overhang. Place onto a wooden board and cut into 24 squares.
- Then sprinkle some powdered sugar over the top and you’re ready to serve!
Notes
- Weigh your flour for the most accurate results. If you’re using only a cup measure then make sure you use the spoon and level method for the best accuracy.
- Coconut cream can be replaced with canned, full fat, unsweetened coconut milk.
- Turmeric is just for color and can be omitted if you prefer.
- Gluten free: You can likely make these gluten-free if you use a gluten-free all purpose flour blend to replace the regular flour. I have not tested this so far, but I think it would work.
- Make ahead: This is the perfect make ahead dessert because the bars get to the perfect consistency if they have a chance to chill overnight in the fridge, so it’s perfect to make this the day before.
- Storing: They keep perfectly in the fridge in a covered container for around a week.
- Freezing: Place the squares into a freezer safe container and freeze. When you’re ready for them, just place them into the fridge to thaw and serve straight from the fridge.
- Prep time does not include time spent chilling in the fridge.
I could eat them all day, every day! Sooo freakin’ delicious! 😋
Glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe Anouk. Thanks for your great review!
Today, I took these bars to a group event. I made it with gluten free flour and it turned out great! All of my gluten free friends were very happy with how it turned out. This is a great recipe!
That’s great Kirsti! Thanks so much for sharing!
I’m making these today. A classic recipe in that it’s one I return to again and again. Bright lemony flavor. Dazzling yellow color. Tender crust. So delicious.
Happy to hear you enjoy the recipe Kaitlyn! Thanks so much for your great review!
I’ve made this recipe several times and the first time I did, I also thought it would never thicken. Now I just love the way it starts as tan colored liquid and turns into luscious, thick, yellow pudding. All told, it does take a good 15-20 minutes to thicken up properly. It is the best tasting lemon bars. Absolutely delicious. Thanks for the recipe, Alison!
Thank you so much for sharing Cathy! And thanks for your great review!
Soooooooo delicious. Sooooooooo easy. Thanks for another hit!
1Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe Roz! Thanks so much for your great review!
Not sure what happened. I make lemon curd all the time with butter, sugar and eggs. So I was interested to see how a vegan curd would work. The curd never thickened and I ended up with a lemon slurry. I’d hate to waste the ingredients. Is there a fix for this?
I’m too late for this but to help anyone else with this recipe, I think you have to heat the entire mixture on high in order to make the cornstarch thicken the entire mixture. It’s what worked for me and when I make non-vegan lemon curd!
I think lots of patience is required while waiting for the lemon topping to thicken in the pan. We did add a little more cornstarch, which maybe helped ? It helped my impatience that’s for sure! 😂
Do the lemon bars taste like coconut as well with the use of coconut cream?
No they don’t, Jan. I have made these twice now and no coconut flavor is evident.
How does the lemon flavor go with the coconut? I was thinking it might be interesting to try lime juice in favor of lemon juice for a coconut lime bar. Do you foresee any issues with that?
I don’t foresee any issues, I think it will be delicious!
The lime-coconut version came out really well! I’ll admit I made a different base layer because I didn’t have vegan butter on hand, but I added some coconut shreds to that base layer, and it was great.
Awesome! So glad it worked out! 🙂