Plant-Based Lemon Bars are a bright and light vegan dessert, sweetened with a secret ingredient and vibrant with lemon flavor.
Well this recipe was a long time coming...
A while ago my mom found this recipe for lemon brownies. She gave it to me and said that she would enjoy it if I was able to create a healthy, plant-based version.
I immediately went to work and created this amazing Lemon Brownie recipe. I misread the original recipe and thought the brownies should have chocolate. Normally, when you call something a brownie, it has some chocolate in it. Not this time. Whoops.
I'm not mad. My mistake gave way to two delicious recipes. After several months, I finally got around to making the real version of this recipe.
Just to play it safe, I decided to name them Plant-Based Lemon Bars. So, in case you can't tell from the pictures, these lemon bars have exactly no chocolate in them. If they did, I'd call them brownies. [Insert side-eye emoji].
Anyways... Plant-Based Lemon Bars.
Let me just start by saying that I'm not usually a fan of lemon flavored desserts. For some reason, I don't like citrus fruits as much as I prefer berries or bananas.
You all know how much I love bananas: banana nice cream, banana cake, banana nice cream cake, banana bread, banana granola, banana bars. Bananas are incredible.
But I digress.
There aren't even any bananas in this recipe. There's lemon! And it's delicious. I mean, it's no banana, but it's close.
It doesn't matter what I think, though. My mom loves lemon and that's what matters. Because this recipe is for her.
I developed this recipe by altering my Sweet Potato Blondie recipe.
I guess I just gave away the secret ingredient. It's sweet potato.
Though you probably should've guessed that too. I love sweet potatoes almost as much as I love bananas: sweet potato hummus, bourbon glazed sweet potatoes, sweet potato tempeh hash, sweet potato bread, sweet potato salad, sweet potato fries, sweet potato rounds, sweet potato soup.
I digress again. But this time sweet potatoes are actually in the recipe.
Not only do they add sweetness, they also create an amazingly moist and rich texture. These Plant-Based Lemon Bars taste light and bright while simultaneously being rich and decadent. All thanks to sweet potatoes! And lemons.
Really the only difference between my sweet potato blondie recipe and this lemon bar recipe is lemon juice. I used both lemon juice and lemon extract for extra flavor, but if you don't have lemon extract, additional lemon juice will work just fine.
You'll only need a few other ingredients besides sweet potatoes and lemon juice.
Preheat the oven to 350. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl mix all the ingredients, using your hands if necessary. Press into the prepared baking pan and bake. Once the bars are done let them cool in the pan before cutting and serving. Enjoy!
Thank you God for mistakes. Let us take each mistake with grace and learn to see you in each moment. Amen.
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Plant-Based Lemon Bars are a bright and light vegan dessert, sweetened with a secret ingredient and vibrant with lemon flavor.
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