Creamy Vegan Lemon Bars
These easy creamy vegan lemon bars are a sweet and tangy treat perfect for any occasion. Made with buttery vegan shortbread, tangy lemon curd, and topped with a dusting of powdered sugar, these are a lemon lover’s dream!
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These delicious bars are a combination of 2 of my favorite recipes, vegan shortbread cookies, and vegan lemon meringue pie. Put them together and you have the ultimate lemony dessert!
Traditional lemon bars are made with 4-6 eggs in the lemon curd to give them a rich flavor and make them firm when cooked. Most vegan recipes call for corn starch and coconut milk to make lemon bars firm and creamy, but too much starch can give it a funny texture and coconut milk gives them a strong coconut flavor.
So, for this recipe, I swap out eggs for agar agar and blended silken tofu for the perfect texture and creamy taste – just like the real deal.
❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
These vegan lemon bars are deliciously zesty, plus they’re dairy-free and easily made gluten-free and soy-free too. These bars are simply beautiful and make any occasion seem a little fancier.
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
Shortbread
- Flour – for the base of the shortbread.
- Vegan Butter – you can use any store-bought butter or you can use the stick version of my homemade vegan butter recipe.
- Sugar – for a touch of sweetness.
Lemon Curd
- Lemon Juice – for flavor. This can be freshly squeezed or bottled lemon juice.
- Water – for the right moisture content.
- Sugar – for sweetness. Feel free to adjust to your taste.
- Lemon Zest – optional for extra zesty lemon squares. It’s too strong of a flavor for my kids, so I leave it out.
- Starch – to thicken the lemon filling. I prefer potato starch because I think it has a slightly better texture, but corn starch also works great. You can use either one interchangeably.
- Agar Agar – to thicken the filling and help it to set perfectly. This is to replace the effect that an egg would give in a traditional lemon bar recipe. If you don’t have agar agar you can increase the corn starch to make it set firmer, but the agar agar gives it a great authentic texture and a perfectly cut square.
- Soft Tofu – to make the lemon filling creamy and replace the egg in traditional lemon curd. Use silken tofu or soft water-packed tofu. You can swap this out with coconut cream if you don’t want to use tofu, however, coconut milk will give your bars a coconut taste. I use tofu to give it a neutral flavor and let the lemon shine through.
- Turmeric – just a dash for a yellow color. (optional)
Garnish
- Powdered Sugar – to sprinkle on top before serving. (optional)
🔪 Helpful tools
Immersion Blender – or a regular blender to puree the tofu into the lemon filling. If you don’t have one, you can use the coconut cream method and simply stir it in.
🥄 How to make creamy vegan lemon bars
Make the shortbread layer
Step 1 – Preheat your oven to 350° F.
Step 2 – Combine 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of softened vegan butter, and 1/2 cup of sugar in a mixing bowl and work it together with a pastry mixer or fork until you have a soft dough.
Step 3 – Line the bottom of a 9 X 13 baking dish with parchment paper and press the dough into the bottom of the pan making the dough as even as possible.
Step 4 – Bake the shortbread cookie layer for 30 minutes at 350° F. Then take it out of the oven and allow cooling for about 15 minutes before adding the lemon layer.
Make the Lemon Curd
Step 5 – While your shortbread is cooling. Pour water, lemon juice, sugar, starch, agar agar, (lemon zest if desired), and turmeric into a small saucepan and stir well with a whisk while it is still cold.
Step 6 – Heat on medium and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and allow it to slowly boil for 6 minutes (this activates the agar agar).
Step 7 – Turn off the heat and add 1/3 cup of soft tofu.
Step 8 – Puree the lemon filling with an immersion blender for 1-2 minutes until the tofu is completely blended and you have a smooth creamy consistency. (Use a traditional blender if needed, but be very careful. The sauce will be very hot and sticky. You may want to blend in two smaller batches so it doesn’t overflow.)
Assemble the egg-free lemon bars
Step 9 – Allow the lemon filling to cool for about 5 minutes then give it another good stir with the whisk. Then pour the lemon curd over the shortbread layer.
Step 10 – Place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to allow your lemon bars to set completely.
💁♂️ How to serve the lemon bars
Once your lemon bars have chilled and set, pull them out of the baking dish using the parchment paper and set them on a flat surface.
- Cut them into squares. Keep them in the fridge until you are ready to serve them.
- Dust the tops of them with powdered sugar using a wire mesh strainer just before serving.
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- Use agar agar if you can. This is the key to really perfectly set lemon bars. (The picture above of dusting the squares with sugar is of lemon bars that I tested without agar agar. They still worked, but they aren’t as firm and perfect as the ones made with agar agar.)
- Allow the bars at least 3 hours to set before cutting. The lemon bars must be cooled completely to firm up.
- Add a teaspoon or two of lemon zest to the lemon curd for a stronger lemon flavor. It’s also pretty sprinkled on top of the bars.
🥡 Storage
Keep your lemon bars refrigerated until you are ready to serve. Cover them loosely so a little air and moisture can escape or your shortbread may get a little soggy. These lemon bars will stay perfectly in the fridge for 3 days.
They are great to make a day ahead of a party or special event. Just dust with a fresh layer of powdered sugar before serving.
🍪 More vegan treats
- Vegan Thumbprint Cookies
- Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
- Veggie Brownies
- Vegan Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Dairy-Free Lemon Cupcakes
- Vegan Lemon Curd
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
📋 Vegan lemon bars recipe
Vegan Lemon Bars
Ingredients
For the Shortbread
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup vegan butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
For the Lemon Curd
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 3/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup corn starch, or potato starch (Use 1/2 cup if not using agar agar)
- 2 teaspoons agar agar powder, or 2 tablespoons agar agar flakes
- 1/3 cup soft tofu
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
- 1-2 teaspoons lemon zest, (optional)
Garnish
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Make your shortbread layer
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (190°C).
- Combine 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of softened vegan butter, and 1/2 cup of sugar in a mixing bowl and work it together with a pastry mixer or fork until you have a soft dough.
- Line the bottom of a 9 X 13 baking dish with parchment paper and press the dough into the bottom of the pan making the dough as even as possible.
- Bake the shortbread cookie layer for 30 minutes at 350° F. Then remove from oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes before adding the lemon layer.
Make the Lemon Curd
- While your shortbread is cooling. Add 1 1/4 cups water, 3/4 cup lemon juice, 1 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup corn starch, 2 tsp agar agar, 1/8 tsp turmeric and 1-2 tsp lemon zest (optional), into a small saucepan and stir well with a whisk while it is still cold.
- Turn on the heat to medium and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and allow it to slowly boil for 6 minutes (this activates the agar agar).
- Turn off the heat and add 1/3 cup of soft tofu.
- Puree the lemon filling with an immersion blender for 1-2 minutes until the tofu is completely blended and you have a smooth creamy consistency. (Use a traditional blender if needed, but be very careful. The sauce will be very hot and sticky. You may want to blend in two smaller batches so it doesn’t overflow.)
Assemble the Lemon Squares
- Allow the lemon filling to cool for about 5 minutes then give it another good stir with the whisk. Then pour the lemon curd over the shortbread layer.
- Place in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to allow your lemon bars to set completely.
Serving the Lemon Bars
- Once your lemon bars have chilled and set, pull them out of the baking dish using the parchment paper and set them on a flat surface.
- Cut them into squares. Keep them in the fridge until you are ready to serve them.
- Dust the tops of them with powdered sugar using a wire mesh strainer just before serving.
Notes
- Use agar agar if you can. This is key to really perfectly set lemon bars.
- If you don’t have agar agar, increase the starch to 1/2 cup.
- Allow the bars at least 3 hours to set before cutting. The lemon bars must be cooled completely to firm up.
- Add a teaspoon or two of lemon zest to the lemon curd for a stronger lemon flavor. It’s also pretty sprinkled on top of the bars.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review below!
Monica, I have not made these yet, nor am I vegan, but would like to attempt these. Where do I find agar agar? And would you endorse tapioca flour instead of cornstarch? I saw that you recommended potato flour but I like options. Thank you so much.
Camilla
I get my agar agar at my local Asian market or order it from Amazon. Tapioca flour is a little too stretchy for this recipe. I would stick to corn starch or potato starch.
Hey
I made the short bread and chilled it.
Then I made the lemon curd and chilled it.
Then I blended 8oz of room temperature Cream cheese into the lemon curd.
Then I put the curd mixture on top of the shortbread and returned it all to the fridge.
n!!!!!
NOTE: I used nonsugar stuff and plengy of lemon zest. I also put in a few drops of lemon extract in the shortbread mixture. I topped it at serving with whipped cream.
Apparently you did not know that tofu is made from soy. I am allergic to soy so tofu is not an option. You need to remove the label that this is soy free. It isn’t.
A am aware that tofu is made from soy, that is why I said, “easily made soy-free” not that it was soy-free. If you look at the ingredients and substitutions section of the blog post under the word tofu, you will see that it says for soy-free use coconut cream instead. I hope that you can enjoy this recipe with coconut cream instead. 🙂
Hi! Have you tried using egg substitute powder instead of the tofu?
That’s all I have on hand and these look really good!
The tofu gives it a little bit of a creamy texture. You can simply leave it out if you don’t have any and it will still work. Enjoy! 🙂
I just made these lemon bars last weekend for a picnic where I had to bring a dessert! Everyone loved them and no one knew that they were vegan. The texture was amazing! The best vegan lemon bars I have ever made!
I’m so happy that you liked them, Rachel! 🙂
If I wanted to use coconut cream instead of silken tofu, would you recommend canned coconut cream (such as https://thrivemarket.com/p/native-forest-organic-coconut-cream-unsweetened), heavy coconut cream (such as https://thrivemarket.com/p/lets-do-organic-organic-heavy-coconut-cream), or perhaps even coconut milk powder (such as https://thrivemarket.com/p/native-forest-vegan-coconut-milk-powder)? And as far as measurements, should I still use 1/3 cup (the same amount as the silken tofu)? Thank you!
Kenzie, either of the first two you listed would work fine. You only need 1/3 cup, so just scrape the fatty cream of the top and use that.
Can I use coconut oil instead of the vegan butter?
I have not personally tried it, but I think that it would work.