These vegan, gluten-free Lemon Cheesecake Bars are the bomb! Zesty, creamy, sweet. They can even be eaten straight from the freezer. The topping is made with cashews so as well as being nourishing, you also get a protein hit with each mouthful.
I don’t exaggerate when I say that I squeeze a gargantuan amount of lemon juice into ninety percent of the foods that I cook. I think I have issues, though I guess it could be worse. But in all seriousness, I do overly embrace the citrone (German word for lemon which I thought I’d shoehorn in to show off my progress in learning this language for the sole reason that I can finally understand my boyfriend’s family at our occasional gatherings during which I ordinarily miss out on the convo and laughs. My only input is to usually sit there, so hopefully this year I’ll have upgraded to small talk)…
Anyway, going off on a tangent here, when what I’d in fact like to continue telling you is that in every meal and almost every dessert, (applicable also to my baked goods such as breads and cakes) my obsession for this citrus fruit is vast. Admittedly, not every dish I assemble is distinctly lemon flavoured, but exists with a slight uplift of flavour provided by this fascinating yellow oval that nobody can usually put their finger on, which is a good thing otherwise I’d be known as the lemon freak!
So why these lemon bars? Well I love cheesecake and always have done – plus who needs to give a reason for making cheesecake?! My adoration for desserts hasn’t changed and never will (I’m obsessed), but my ability to make them healthier has gone up 10-fold so here I am, making my new and improved nourishing version.
Questions about Lemon Cheesecake Bars
How to make Lemon Cheesecake Bars? To make Lemon Cheesecake Bars, you will need oat flour, whole oats, brown sugar, maple syrup and rapeseed oil. Combine these until ingredients are well mixed. Press into a baking tin lined with greaseproof paper and bake for 20 minutes. For the topping, to a blender, add cashews, coconut cream, lemon juice, corn starch, and maple syrup. Blitz into a smooth cream. Remove the cheesecake base from the oven after 20 minutes and pour the cream over the top. Bake for another 20 minutes. Remove and allow to cool in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
Can cheesecake be frozen? Cheesecake can be frozen depending on the topping. The base is usually freezer-friendly. This cheesecake can be eaten straight from the freezer as it retains its creamy, crumbly texture- however, if it is thawed out completely, the topping seems to change its texture to something more flaky which is definitely not great! So eat straight from the freezer, a couple of minutes at room temperature is fine, but longer than this and fully defrosted, the texture will be kind of strange!
Can lemons be replaced with oranges? Lemons can be replaced with oranges due to their similar characteristics, though the flavour of this recipe will be different as it will taste of orange rather than lemon! Both taste great though so the choice is yours.
These Lemon Cheesecake Bars are…
- Creamy
- Tangy
- Crumbly
- Gluten-free
- Vegan
- Plant-based
- Made using 10 ingredients
Lemon Cheesecake Bars Recipe
Serving size:
Makes 18 bars
Ingredients for cheesecake base:
- 300g gluten-free oat flour (ground up oats)
- 100g gluten-free whole oats
- 50g brown sugar
- 75 ml maple syrup
- 75 ml rapeseed oil
Ingredients for vegan cheesecake topping:
- 100g cashews soaked
- 400ml coconut cream
- Juice and zest of 2 lemons
- 2tbsp cornflour
- 100ml maple syrup
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- For the base, combine all ingredients to get a rough dough.
- Press into a square baking tin and bake for 20 minutes.
- For the topping, blend all ingredients in a food processor into a creamy paste.
- Pour over the base and bake for a further 20 minutes.
- Allow to cool and set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving.
Made this Recipe?
If you had a go at these cheesecake bars please feel free to give me a shout on Instagram at @food_flaneur – would love to see your pics!
If you like cheesecake…
You should definitely give these recipes a try:
Big Thanks to…
Love and Lemons for their inspiration in helping me to create this recipe. You can find their version here.
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