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.
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.
In terms of the coconut milk, do you recommend letting it separate and only scooping the cream layer (and adding the water layer to make up any volume)? Or even just use coconut cream? Sorry, I’m just struggling with that portion of the ingredients!
Let’s see if I can help clarify! I like to open a can of full-fat coconut milk and first scoop out all the white, thick parts. If it’s just all creamy and white, you can just pour it to measure and use that, but usually my coconut milk is already separated. Then, one you’ve used all the white stuff, you can pour in the liquid to make up any more that you need. You could use coconut cream if it’s available to you as well. I hope that helps!
I made these today and they came out perfect. I reduced the sugar to 225 grams as I was afraid 300 would be too sweet and it just was a staggering amount of sugar to use, and I used slightly more cornflour (about 5 grams) to make sure it would still set properly with less sugar. It set perfectly, no problem at all, and the sweetness level was fine, I think next time I may even reduce the sugar to a little below 200 for a more lemony and less sweet taste. Anyway, amazing recipe, came out delicious!
Hi Tamar. I’m so glad that you loved the lemon bar recipe! Glad you are able to adjust the recipe to your liking. Thank you for sharing your fantastic review! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
These have become an Easter tradition for us. I have made them both with regular flour and with GF flour to accommodate relatives’ dietary restrictions, and they always turn out delicious! I usually leave out the zest and also increase the lemon juice to make it extra lemony. I was so excited to find such a delicious lemon bar after years of thinking I’d never find a good vegan version.
My lemon filling would not thicken!! I added more cornstarch but still kind of runny. I followed the recipe. What could of happened?
Did you make any substitutions at all? Use full fat coconut milk (mostly the thick creamy part)? Did you heat it up enough so it could thicken? With cornstarch, you have to heat it enough so that the thickening will occur. Perhaps you need to increase the heat on your stovetop or give it longer?
I just made these Lemon Bars and cannot wait to try them! The crust was very easy and the time took longer to zest and squeeze the lemons, but after that it came together quickly. I tasted the lemon’s mixture and I could have just eaten that! I’m bringing them to a friend’s for Easter dessert! I hope they like them!
Thank you for sharing your recipe and all your others!
Thank you for using my recipes, Gail! I appreciate the recipe love! Thank you for taking time to share your amazing review and recipe experience! Happy cooking!
Hi! I’ve been making these for years and love the recipe. I make into individual tarts. Lately the custard is cracking after in fridge after a few days. Happens after I freeze them too. Any idea what I might be doing differently? When I first made them they held up perfectly. I am mostly using just the coconut cream rather everything in the can, could that be the problem? Thank you!
That could be the issue, as the coconut cream hardens most when they are chilled; maybe it’s causing a crack to happen. Perhaps try more of a mix of the cream and liquid and see if that helps. I’m glad you’ve been enjoying the recipe for years, thank you!
I ate some of these that a friend had made, but hats how I came across this recipe.
How could I halve the sweetness?
I’m glad you enjoyed the lemon bars! Cutting the sugar in half could affect the outcome, but I wouldn’t think it would that much. That said, I’ve never tried it with less sugar. Make sure you are following the rest of the instructions exactly, boil the lemon mixture long enough so it thickens, and let them chill long enough to firm up. Happy cooking!
OMG!! I adore this recipe. I’ve made it several times over the years and it always turns out fantastic. Recently I made it with chopped mango for the filling as I had some that needed to be used (I bet it would also be fantastic with strawberries). I also made it sugar free (using Lakanto Allulose and monkfruit blend) and gluten free (using Bob’s Red Mill baking blend, in the blue bag). Even I was skeptical about the results but omg!!! Mom and I DEVOURED them! So good! I am planning to make regular lemon bars for dessert for Easter Sunday 😀 Thank you so much for all your wonderful recipes Nora, this site is the gift that keeps on giving <3
You are welcome, Caitie! Thank you for your recipe love through the years! I am honored that you are loving my recipes, and use them frequently! I loved reading about your ideas regarding the lemon bars! Thank you for sharing your stellar review and ideas! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
I have never tried a noracooks recipe that doesn’t work well. Ran out ofcornstarch and replaced a few tbls with flour, brought them to work, gone.
Could I sub maple syrup for the sugar?
I’m not sure that will work. You could try it, but I’m afraid maple syrup will add so much liquid that they will never set. Also, they will turn out brown in color.