This vegan lemon bar recipe has the flavor of sweet strawberries and creamy cashews with zippy lemon! A healthy, paleo friendly, dairy free treat for the summer!
PIN No Bake Gluten Free Paleo Lemon Bars
Let’s just add these vegan lemon bars to the list of paleo lemon bars, tropical paleo lemon bars and no bake paleo lemon bars and call it like it is:
THE BEST LUSCIOUS LEMON BAR RECIPE YET.
We’re talking a perfectly nutty and sticky sweet base of dates and toasty cashews that is the foundation of the most EPICALLY creamy-dreamy NO BAKE lemon layer that’s wrapping its bright and tangy self around swirls of STRAWBERRY CASHEW GOODNESS.
Could there really be anything for magical and perfect and delicious to put into your mouth all summer long? I’m going with a HARD NO on that one.
You know I’m not wrong.
INGREDIENTS
For The Crust:
- 2/3 Cup Roasted cashews (93g)
- 1/2 Cup Dates, roughly chopped and loosely packed (70g)
- 1/2 tsp Water
For The Topping:
- 1 Cup Roasted cashews, soaked in water overnight (140g)
- 1 Cup Abby’s Better Strawberry Cashew Butter
- 1/2 Cup + 2 Tbsp FRESH lemon juice (4-5 large lemons)
- 5 Tbsp Honey (or agave for vegan)
- 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Lemon zest, very tightly packed
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1 Cup Strawberries, thinly sliced
INSTRUCTIONS
- Line an 8×8 inch pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang to use as a handle.
- Place the cashews into a large food processor and pulse until broken down and crumble. Add in the dates and pulse until combined and the mixture begins to form a crumbly dough. With the food processor running, stream in the water until well mixed.
- Press the crust firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan. You need to press it very thin, so really use your muscle and work it in there. Place into the freezer while you make the topping.
- Drain the cashews and place them into a high-powered blender. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the strawberries, and blend until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.
- Pour over the crust and smooth out evenly. Top with the sliced strawberries and freeze until firm, about 4-6 hours.
- DEVOUR! They don’t need any thawing 🙂
Why is Nut Butter Great
Real life confession: I have a shelf of nut butter in my pantry. Not, liiiiike, a tiny one either. The kind of BIG shelf, loaded with the GOODS, that screams “I eat nut butter as a meal sometimes and I have NO SHAME ABOU IT.”
It’s large. It’s in CHARGE and it’s piled HIGH with Abby’s Better Nut Butter!
Have you tried these velvety-smoooooth butters yet? Abby makes 5 SUPER original flavors (like this strawberry cashew or the ADDICTING date pecan!) and they’re all made with simple, clean, real-food ingredients that are gluten free, peanut free and have paleo and vegan options!
Music to my nut butter lovin’ SOUL.
Since you totally dug the whipped homemade almond butter and cinnamon roll homemade cashew butter, I can guess that you’re JUST as into creatively-delicious-nutritious-nutty spreads as I am.
So this creamy-dreamy and fruity-fresh strawberry cashew butter?
It’s gonna be your SPIRIT BUTTER. <– Make sure you enter the giveaway at the end of the post!
If you thought you were a “lemon person” before this post, just wait until your try it’s zippy-zingy flavor with sweet strawberries and rich, CREAMY cashew butter in these no bake gluten free paleo lemon bars.
They are little squares of heaven for the do-not-want-to-turn-the-oven-on-summer-life that I live.
And, considering our internet BFF status? I know YOU DO TOO.
Do you need to use fresh lemon juice for lemon bars?
If you want to answer the question of how to make paleo lemon bars the BEST, then YES, yes and more YES. Resist the urge to make these dairy free lemon bars even EASIER than they already are and use store bought lemon juice.
It 110% does not give the same flavor. It’s stronger and sourer and just ALL AROUND no good. Fresh lemon juice and zest is KEY to giving these bites of bliss the perfect amount of luscious lemon.
Add a few fresh, THINLY sliced strawberries on top for that extra PUNCH of flavor and you’ve got yourself a perfectly balanced paleo lemon dessert with hints of tang, notes of sweet and creamy-cashew goodness to tie it all up in lemon LOVIN.
I told you. I wasn’t wrong that these are the BEST version of lemon bars that they could be.
Now you have to be the best version of summer-food-eating-YOU that you could be and FACEPLANT into a stack of ‘em.
Faceplanting not optional.
Other recipes you might like:
Easy Vegan Gluten Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Healthy Frozen Strawberry Dessert Recipe
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 2/3 Cup Roasted cashews (93g)
- 1/2 Cup Dates, roughly chopped and loosely packed (70g)
- 1/2 tsp Water
For the topping:
- 1 Cup Roasted cashews, soaked in water overnight (140g)
- 1 Cup Abby’s Better Strawberry Cashew Butter
- 1/2 Cup + 2 Tbsp FRESH lemon juice (4-5 large lemons)
- 5 Tbsp Honey (or agave for vegan)
- 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Lemon zest, very tightly packed
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1 Cup Strawberries, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Line an 8×8 inch pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang to use as a handle.
- Place the cashews into a large food processor and pulse until broken down and crumble. Add in the dates and pulse until combined and the mixture begins to form a crumbly dough. With the food processor running, stream in the water until well mixed.
- Press the crust firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan. You need to press it very thin, so really use your muscle and work it in there. Place into the freezer while you make the topping.
- Drain the cashews and place them into a high-powered blender. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the strawberries, and blend until smooth and creamy, stopping to scrape down the sides as necessary.
- Pour over the crust and smooth out evenly. Top with the sliced strawberries and freeze until firm, about 4-6 hours.
- DEVOUR! They don’t need any thawing 🙂
Nutrition Info:
Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.
WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS PER SERVING: FREESTYLE SMARTPOINTS: 8 POINTS+: 6 OLD POINTS: 5
(per 1 bar, based on recipe making 16 bars.)
Mayumi Liwayway Espina says
I really can’t bake. Seeing no-bake recipes like this make my heart jump for joy. I love desserts but the process of baking one just isn’t for me. I will definitely try this recipe soon.
Taylor Kiser says
Yay! Hope you love them!
Stella says
Wow! I can’t wait to eat some of them! The strawberries give it a twist. Yummy!
Taylor Kiser says
Hope you love them Stella!
Pete says
Yum! this looks stunning. I am definitely gonna make this nutritious food this weekends. Surely my family will love it.
Taylor Kiser says
I hope they do!