Are you looking for a vegan lemon bar recipe but can’t seem to find anything that is sweet, tart, yet creamy enough? Well, here it is. I find that the sweetened coconut flakes balance out the tartness of the filling, and look extra pretty! The crust is crunchy, sweet, and nutty (using almonds, oats, agave, and coconut oil). Freezing the lemon bars at the end ensures that the crust is hard.
Coconut Lemon Bars – Vegan Plant Based Gluten Free (GF)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 hours
- Total Time: 4 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 18 bars 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Vegan Plant Based
Description
I made these vegan, gluten free coconut lemon bars for a plant based lunch for about 20 people.
Ingredients
What Equipment You Need:
- Food processor
- Blender
- 9x13 cake pan (or adjust by quantity)
- Kettle (or boil water in a pot)
- Parchment paper (I prefer to buy precut sheets)
- 2 mixing bowls
- Microwave
- Spatula
- Metal table spoon
- Plastic wrap
For the Crust:
- 2 cup gluten free oats
- 2 cups whole almonds
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 3/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup agave syrup
For the Filling:
- 1/4 cup corn starch
- 2 cup raw cashews
- 4 large lemons, juiced
- 2 lemons, zested (use the lemons above)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup agave syrup
- 2 cups coconut cream (use just the hardened part of a can of coconut milk or some stores sell just pure coconut cream)
- 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes, for topping
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, cover cashews with boiling water. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350. Line a cake pan with parchment paper.
- To make the crust: in a food processor, combine oats, almonds, salt, sugar – pulse until you get as fine of a texture as possible. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Using a spatula, fold in agave syrup. Microwave coconut oil until thoroughly melted. Pour 1/2 cup of coconut oil into crust mixture. Add in more coconut oil until a dough forms.
- Transfer dough to cake pan. Using a back of a spoon, press to evenly distribute.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crust starts to turn a golden brown.
- Meanwhile, combine drained cashews plus all filling ingredients EXCEPT coconut flakes in ablender on high speed until smooth.
- Once crust is golden brown, pour filling on top of crust and return to oven. Bake for 30 minutes or until filling appears to begin to solidify.
- Remove from oven. Let cool until you can safely refrigerate. Fridge for 1 hour. Add coconut flake topping. Cover with plastic wrapper. Return to freezer for 2 hours or until solid.
- To serve, carefully lift bars out of pan by holding on to the parchment paper. Transfer to cutting board. Cut in to bars. Serve immediately.
Notes
Freezing the lemon bars ensures that the coconut oil crust solidifies and hardens.
Keywords: Plant based, vegan, gluten free, GF, vegeatarian
If you end up making this recipe please let me know your feedback, review it, and share with others. Tag @carmeninthegarden 🙂