In my opinion, you can never go wrong with a lemony dessert. Whether it be lemon bars, lemon pound cake, lemon pudding, lemon meringue pie (still working on that vegan meringue…), or lemon tarts, like these little guys. There’s something about the acidity of lemon mixed with just the right amount of sweetness that creates an unbeatable dessert. Make it from entirely whole, natural foods and you have something incredible.
Today we have a lemon-inspired mashup between two of my older recipes… The crust is from the Chocolate Macaroon Pies, and the filling is similar to my 5-Minute Copycat Coco-roons, but with a lemon kick. This is a no-nonsense dessert that can be whipped up with just a food processor and mini (or regular) muffin tin. They’re also made with only real foods, and can be completely raw if you use raw nuts and agave.
Makes 9 mini tarts
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 1/2 cup walnuts
- 4 medjool dates
- Pinch of sea salt
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil (optional)
- 1/3 cup almond flour
- 1/3 cup coconut butter
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave
- 1 lemon (juice + zest)
Step One
Make the crust by combining all ingredient from the first list (nuts, dates, sea salt) in a food processor until completely broken down. The nuts should be crumbly and the dates should be sticky enough to hold everything together. Pinch a chunk of this crust between your fingers – if it forms a flat disc and holds together, you’re done. If it’s still too crumbly, add 1-2 more dates and continue processing.
Note: If you don’t mind using a little coconut oil, add 1-2 teaspoons to the mix. It will help this crust solidify even better when chilled.
Step Two
Form this crust in a mini-muffin tin, pressing a thin layer along the edges of ~9 holes. You can use a full-size muffin tin, but they will be much bigger than single servings and you’ll only get 3-4 tarts with this recipe. When the crust has been formed, pop the muffin tin into the freezer. Meanwhile…
Step Three
Make the filling. Returning to the food processor, add all ingredients from the second list (almond flour, coconut butter, maple syrup or agave, lemon juice, and lemon zest and process until smooth. This will be very sticky. Remove the crusts from the freezer and add a spoonful of the lemon filling to each.
Notes: If you don’t have almond flour, simply process whole almonds by themselves first until they’re a powdery consistency. Coconut butter is the pureed flesh of a coconut, Artisana makes a great version and it’s widely available.
Step Four
Return to the freezer for at least 1 hour. The reason for this is to allow everything to become hard enough that you can pop them out of the muffin tins. To do that, carefully slide a butter knife around the edges of the chilled tarts and they should pop out. Transfer to another dish and store in the refrigerator until ready to eat. They will keep for 2-3 days if refrigerated.
I agree with you; lemon desserts are great! So refreshing 🙂
Yes! Thanks for the reinforcement, Suzanne! Glad to hear I’m not the only one 🙂
Cannot wait to make these!! I love lemony desserts!!
MMMM! I will have to give these a try right away. Lemon is the flavor of happiness.
Haha, yes! Lemon IS the flavor of happiness 🙂
Delicious, simple & gluten-free&soy-free! – Woo, thank you so much for this recipe!
You’re so welcome! 🙂
Good lord,
I want to eat this so hard. I love lemon!
hahahaha…
I think I found a recipe for Vegan Lemon Meringue Pie, it’s on a website Wikibooks, a division of Wikipedia that focuses on topics such as cooking. https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cookbook:Vegan_Lemon_Meringue_Pie
Wikibooks notes that none of the administrators have tested the recipe yet.
The recipe says to use turmeric, but I think it’s just for color.
Oooh, thanks so much for that! I love the meringue idea, I’ve bookmarked that and I’ll do some experimenting 😀
these were fantastic and easy! it took about 15 min from start to finish with only my food processor to rinse clean. used pecans instead of almonds for the crust because i had them handy. perfectly balanced yumminess. omnivorous boyfriend is all smiles…
Very cool, dre! I’m glad you guys like these 🙂
I like your style – simple! I bet beet juice would be a simple way to give this a lovely reddish hue, cacao nibs would add a wonderful crunch or even a simple sprinkle of dried orange peel would add a new dimension!