Creamy Vegan Lemon Bars Recipe (gluten and dairy-free) | The First Mess (2024)

FAQs

Why do my lemon bars look like scrambled eggs? ›

Make sure you haven't skipped out on the zest and are using freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best flavour. Make sure your oven isn't too hot as this can cause the eggs to scramble instead of baking into a delicious lemon bar.

Don't Over-Bake.

If you leave them in the oven too long, it can cause your bars to crack.

Acidic ingredients can cause the metallic pots or spoons to leach into the ingredients. Whenever making things with lemon, vinegar or other highly acidic ingredients it is best to stick with heatproof glass bowls and pans, stainless steel pots and silicone utensils.

Black or green spots inside the egg may be the result of bacterial or fungal contamination of the egg. If you come across an egg with black or green spots discard the egg. Off color egg whites, such as green or iridescent colors may be from spoilage due to bacteria.

I often have trouble cutting up any sort of cookie bar, not just lemon bars. I have found that a hot, wet, very sharp knife helps quite a bit. Also, make sure the bars are completely chilled before cutting.

Serving: Lemon bars are fine to keep out at room temperature for up to 6 hours or so. Storing: Store cooked lemon bars or leftovers in the refrigerator. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and store for up to 2 days.

Set a timer for 5 minutes after pulling the crust from the oven to ensure it doesn't cool too much—if the shortbread is allowed to reach room temperature, the uncooked lemon curd will slip off the top and pool in the bottom of the dish, turning your lemon bars upside down (sounds bananas until it happens to you!).

Your eggs or milk are too cold!

The blobs in the batter are pieces of butter. This butter breaks out of the batter when the fat gets too cold and seizes. It's important that all fat and dairy, including butter and eggs, should be brought to room temperature before you use them in batter.

Why did my lemon meringue curdle? While making the lemon filling, it's important to temper the eggs by slowly adding the lemon mixture to the egg yolks while constantly whisking. This way, the temperature of the eggs is raised slowly instead of all at once.

Cake batter breaks when the ingredients you are attempting to emulsify are too cold and unable to combine. The most common cause of broken cake batter is cold eggs. When cold eggs are added to room temperature batter they bring down the temperature of the entire mixture and cause it to break.

Does lemon make egg curdle? ›

However, it's important to be mindful of the amount of juice you use since eggs tend to curdle with excessive acid. You could also end up with a runny dish from adding too much liquid. For the right balance, whip two or three eggs with ½ teaspoon of lemon juice.