Vegan Lemon Bars

These Vegan Lemon Bars are super zesty and sweet with a tender custard-like texture, layered with buttery shortbread crust. The basic ingredients include butter, eggs and fresh lemon juice — all vegan versions of those ingredients of course!

This recipe looks so fancy and delightful when served at a summer party, yet they are super easy to make. These from-scratch lemon bars have so much brightness and character. They are sure to liven up any and every dessert table or platter!..

Lovers of Lemon

Lemon bars were always one of my favorite desserts when I was a kid. I would find them at bakeries or party platters or big buffets. They were also a bake sale and potluck favorite!

I have made them a few times over the years, but this week I wanted to really make some super classic, super tangy and bright bars. The kind that really bite you in the best way possible when you taste them.

These bars are not shrinking violets when it comes to lemony flavor.

I used fresh lemon juice and zest in these vegan lemon bars and you can really taste a big difference between if you were to use a pre-squeezed, store-bought lemon juice. Squeeze your own lemons! Not only will these bars taste better, you will get all perky and cheery-eyed from those lemony smells humming through your kitchen.

Vegan Lemon Bar Ingredients

For the butter, I simply used vegan butter, aka Earth Balance is my favorite.

For the eggs I used JUST Egg product. I sub about 1/2 cup per egg.

Those are the only two ingredients you have to veganize. The flour, sugar, lemon juice etc is all good to go.

Classic Lemon Bar Recipe

This is a very classic recipe. I have been making a variation of these for years using silken tofu. But this time I went all in on “vegan subs” and used JUST Egg product as the egg substitute. The result was a bit more flavort and even better texture than I remember from my vegan lemon bars of the past.

I referenced Sally’s Baking Addiction classic lemon bar recipe when crafting these. She has a really lovely and simple crust recipe which I veganized. Sally has such an awesome dessert blog. It is one of my favorites to browse when I am looking for something new to make in the dessert arena. I sometimes fall into a chocolate chi cookie and peanut butter cookie baking rut!

Another fun spin on bars… pink flamingo bars!

Shortbread Crust

I love a realy tender and buttery crust to contrast the sharp lemon flavor of these vegan lemon bars. My crust actually went a bit thicker than I would normally do, but it still worked well. Just be aware that if you want a thinner crust, you can use a slightly larger pan than me. Your lemon layer will be slightly less thick too.

Baking Time for Vegan Lemon Bars

For these vegan lemon bars, I found I had to bake a bit longer than anticipated. I actually did around 35 minutes just to really make sure my bars were cooked through. Some recipes say 25 minutes is enough, but for the vegan version with 1 1/2 cups of vegan egg, go for at least 30 minutes at 325 degrees.

And check in on your bars around the 25 minute mark. You should start to see them glossing over and browning a bit on the sides.

Summer Dessert Recipe

These bars are such a lovely summer dessert recipe! They pair so well with a warm day. Sometimes chocolate desserts can feel heavy when the temperatures start to rise. But vegan lemon bars are perfect for a summer wedding, birthday party, baby shower or graduation event.

If you want a lime twist, substitute key lime juice for the lemon juice!

You could even add some coconut whip on top to serve.