The most incredible Vegan Lemon Bars, made with just 8 ingredients and lots of tangy lemon flavor! The buttery shortbread crust is absolutely perfect.
Classic lemon bars without any eggs? Yup! Today I’m sharing what I think are the best vegan lemon bars, with the perfect balance of shortbread crust to tart lemon filling. And of course, a generous dusting of powdered sugar on top!
If you are a lemon dessert fan, you will love these little squares of sunshine. And while you’re at it, you might want to try my vegan lemon cake, lemon loaf or 1 bowl lemon cupcakes.
How to make Vegan Lemon Bars:
First, make the crust. In a medium bowl, mix together the melted vegan butter, sugar and salt. Add the flour and stir to combine. It will be thick. Press it into the prepared pan (lined with parchment paper) evenly and smoothly. Bake for 16-18 minutes at 350 degrees F until lightly golden on the edges.
While the crust bakes, make the lemon filling. In a medium saucepan, add the lemon juice, lemon zest if using, sugar, coconut milk and cornstarch (+tiny pinch of turmeric if desired for color). Whisk well to dissolve the cornstarch, and heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens. It should look like the photos below, and can take 5-10 minutes.
Remove from heat, and spread lemon mixture over the crust, evenly, using a spatula if needed. Bake for 15 minutes. Let the bars cool for about 30 minutes at room temperature, then transfer to the refrigerator to cool another 1-2 hours, or overnight.
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Can I make these lemon bars gluten free?
I haven’t personally tried these gluten free, but I think it would work with a quality all purpose gluten free flour mix, such as Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour.
How long will vegan lemon bars keep?
They will keep for about a week in a covered container in the refrigerator. They also freeze really well! The powdered sugar will melt into the bars though, so add some fresh when you want to eat or serve them.
Can you make these a day ahead?
Yes, these are the perfect dessert to make a day in advance, as they slice better when they have a lot of time to cool. That being said, they can also be ready in an hour or 2, but they may not be as firm as if you left them overnight.
I hope you LOVE these easy Vegan Lemon Bars! If you are looking for more delicious vegan dessert recipes with a Summer vibe, check these out:
- Vegan Lemon Loaf
- Vegan Lemon Cake
- 1 Bowl Vegan Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Strawberry Pie
- Vegan Smores Cookie Bars
Vegan Lemon Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread crust:
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, melted
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Lemon filling:
- 3/4 cup lemon juice from about 4 large lemons
- optional: 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups full fat coconut milk, using mostly the white part
- 6 tablespoons cornstarch
- tiny pinch of turmeric, optional for color (1/8th teaspoon)
For serving:
- powdered sugar, for dusting the tops
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line an 8 by 8 inch pan with parchment paper, leaving a little overhang for easy removal.
- Make the crust: In a medium bowl, add the mix together the melted vegan butter, sugar and salt. Add the flour and stir until combined. The dough will be thick. Press it into the pan with your hands, evenly and firmly. Bake for 16-18 minutes until the edges are very lightly browned. Set aside.
- Make the filling: In a medium saucepan, add the lemon juice, lemon zest if using for even more lemon flavor, sugar, coconut milk and cornstarch + tiny pinch of turmeric for color, if desired. Whisk well to dissolve the cornstarch. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens. (see photos in post above for reference)
- Spread the filling over the crust evenly, using a spatula if needed to smooth. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes. Transfer to the refrigerator for an additional 1-2 hours, or overnight, until set.
- Lift the bars out of the pan with the parchment paper, dust generously with powdered sugar and cut into 16 squares.
- Leftover bars will keep for up to 1 week in a covered container in the refrigerator. They freeze well, too. Enjoy!
Notes
- For gluten free vegan lemon bars, use an all purpose gluten free flour, such as Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour.
Nutrition
the filling would simply not thicken up no matter how long i whisked or heated it. not sure what I’m doing wrong.
Did you make any substitutions at all? Are you using cornstarch? That’s what makes the mixture thicken.
I had that too. I ended up turning up the heat like another comment said, and at the point just before the mix started to boil, it thickened up really nicely.
Had to act quickly, though. It started to burn a tiny bit at that point. Probably just too high of heat.
Did you test the temperature with a thermometer? I’m trying this recipe right now and I swore that my mixture was hot enough but it was actually below the temp at which corn starch fully gelatinizes (203F or 95C). Started thickening pretty rapidly after that. Cheers!
Hi Nora, I’m a huge fan of your recipes! These bars tasted delicious and had just the right amount of tart-ness and lemony-ness. I had a question though, is there a gram measurement for the cornstarch by any chance? I doubled the recipe for these today and it of course doubles to 12 tablespoons, so thinking I could measure this out quicker I looked up how many grams in 1 tbsp of cornstarch with varying results. I then decided to weigh 1 tbsp myself and for 12 tbsp that equated to 150g of cornstarch – it seemed like quite a bit but figured that would be the amount if I did spoon out and level 12 tbsp so went with it. The bars are certainly set! Almost a little too set… They’re on the side of gummy/gelatinous. I’m in Australia so I know some metric measurements are a little different to the US – was this just a case of too much cornstarch or is that how they’re supposed to be? And is there a gram conversion for the cornstarch that I’ve missed somewhere as this would eliminate any errors in the future (and make it so so much easier for us Aussies!). Thanks so much for any advice!
Hi there, and thanks for being a fan of my recipes! 🙂 Okay, I checked that out and you’re right, grams were missing for cornstarch. I’ve updated it now to be correct. 6 tablespoons of cornstarch is 48 grams, so even with doubling the recipe, 150g would be too much. I hope that helps for next time!
It absolutely does, thank you SO much!! 😊
Mine turned out gritty and grainy. The custard was smooth and creamy and then when I took it out of the fridge next day the consistency was totally different. Not sure what went wrong. It still tasted good but the texture was off putting.
I’m sorry to hear that. I’ve never had that happen myself. Did you stir constantly as it heated? It’s possible tiny granules formed if it wasn’t being stirred constantly. Or is it possible you used really coarse sugar instead of fine, and it just couldn’t break down and melt all the way?
I have made these a few times and they always come out AMAZING!! I actually like them more than the non-vegan!! Just made them again and my can of coconut milk barely had any white, but it was the only can I had and it still came out great….just kept stirring on the stove until it thickened from the corn starch. Thank you Nora!!
You are welcome, Lori! I’m so glad you loved the lemon bars! Thanks for your wonderful review and feedback! Wishing you happy cooking!
How long can the lemon bars be frozen?
They should freeze well for about 3 months.
Would they be damaged if frozen for a year?
That’s probably too long to freeze them. I wouldn’t recommend more than 3-6 months.
Hi Nora! I love these bars – one of our favorite desserts! I have leftover coconut cream from another recipe that only used 1/2 cup from a full can. Would that work in place of the white part of full fat coconut milk for this recipe?
I’m glad the bars are one of your favorite desserts! Yes, coconut cream works well, you can use it. Thank you!
Used all the ingredients with the right measurements in the metric system. The filling has been stirred for about 15-20 minutes and shows no signs of thickening up. I even had a fat glob of the top part of 2 cans and used about 20 ml less lemon juice than needed. What am I doing wrong
Is it actually super liquidity still, like juice? It should thicken quite a bit in the pan, then it firms up considerably as it chills. You are using cornstarch that isn’t old or doesn’t work for any reason? Cornstarch when mixed and heated with liquid thickens. And then, because you are using coconut milk, when you chill the mixture, it will thicken up a lot. I’m not really sure why it wouldn’t be thickening at all in the pan if you used the correct ingredients and measurements. Unless perhaps you are getting it hot enough in the pan. Perhaps try turning the heat up, maybe it’s just not getting hot enough.
Any chance a can use some lemon juice concentrate?
I’m not sure how they will taste or turn out. I’ve only used fresh lemon juice.
I want to try to make these. Can I use regular chaboni oat milk?
You can, yes.
This sounds delicious! Can I substitute vegan cream or condensed milk for the coconut milk?
Thanks! I think you could use vegan cream or another vegan friendly milk, but I’m not sure condensed milk will work so well. I like full fat oat milk in place of coconut milk.
I think some people arent cooking their mixtures long enough. I even used light coconut milk cause that’s what I had on hand and it still came out perfectly. Set up and stayed firm! Absolutely delicious.
Once again Nora cooks has created a wonderful recipe!!
Hi Joni. Thanks for your wonderful review and feedback!
My 5-year-old daughter and I made these for my lemon-loving husband and they came out great. Bright and flavorful!
Being a huge lemon bar fan, I was skeptical that a vegan version could be delicious. I made them this evening and everything worked perfectly. The lemon curd set up perfectly and I took a taste, and it was delicious. They are in the fridge, cooling right now. I will be serving them tomorrow along with a vegan lunch. So thrilled to have this as an alternative to traditional lemon bars. For those saying that their lemon curtains set, I urge you to try again. I followed the directions exactly.
These were delicious Nora! Thank you for the recipe!
You are welcome, Mandy. I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for your wonderful review!
I have made this recipe several times and the only time it didn’t come out is because I used too much of the thin coconut milk v. the white part because I only had 1 can on hand. I find I need two cans of coconut milk to get the full 1 1/4 cup. Or I suppose you could buy 1 can of coconut cream. These bars are always a hit at parties, thanks Nora!
Not much of a cook but made these for a party after I won a lemon from a competition. Worked perfectly for me. Was kind of magical when the lemon filling randomly solidified in 5 seconds on the stove after like 10 minutes of stirring.