Vegan Gluten-Free Lemon Bars
Eating by Elaine | by Elaine Gordon | photography by Elaine
These vegan and gluten-free lemon bars have a cool silky texture atop a sweet, crumbly and buttery grain-free crust. They skip the butter, refined sugar, condensed milk, egg yolks and heavy whipping cream for healthier vegan ingredients. This dessert offers plant-based protein, fiber and healthy fats all while staying true to the sweet, tangy taste and creamy, airy texture you would expect from lemon bars.
The first layer is a sweet, crumbly and buttery “pie crust” made from almond flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and salt. Simply mix those five ingredients together in a bowl and bake for a quick 10 minutes. Next comes all the tangy lemon flavor made from cashews, coconut milk, lemons, maple syrup, arrowroot starch and a touch of vanilla and salt. You can add a pinch of turmeric powder for color and you won’t taste it at all. All those ingredients get pureed at once in your blender and then poured overtop the pie crust layer. Then the bars go straight into your freezer to firm up. Once firm you can slice and enjoy immediately. You can top them off with homemade coconut whipped cream for an airy, sweet, cool and creamy finish. I sprinkled lemon zest on top and garnished each bar with a fresh lemon slice just to make them look extra fancy.
NOTE:Place a can of full-fat coconut milk in your refrigerator 24 hours in advance of making this recipe. When you open the can the solid white coconut cream will naturally float to the top of the can (leaving the coconut water at the bottom of the can). Use a spoon to carefully separate the solid white coconut cream from the coconut water below it. This recipe only uses the white coconut solid portion. You can save the coconut water for smoothies.