Vegan Lemon Pie Recipe
This Vegan Lemon Pie is a light, creamy and refreshing dessert that comes together with 10 ingredients! It has a crunchy gluten-free oat crust and is best enjoyed topped with fresh fruit or coconut whipped cream.
Servings: 12 pieces
Calories: 340kcal
Equipment
- Pie tin
- Rolling Pin
- Sauce pot
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ⅔ cup (165g) oat flour (gluten-free if needed)
- ⅓ cup (37g) tapioca flour or corn starch
- 1 batch flax egg (2 tablespoons flaxseed meal mixed with 4 tablespoons water)
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- ⅓ cup (70g) solid but scoopable refined coconut oil
- ¼ - ½ cup cold water
- Pinch of salt
Filling
- 2 cups full-fat coconut milk (from a can)
- 1 cup soy milk
- ¾ cup granulated sugar use up to 1 cup of sugar to make it sweeter
- 8 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon agar agar powder
- ½ cup lemon juice
- Zest of 2 lemons
- ½ teaspoon turmeric (for color, optional)
- 25 g vegan butter optional, for richness
Aquafaba meringue (optional)
- ½ cup aquafaba liquid from a can of chickpeas
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Crust: In a medium bowl add the dry ingredients - oat flour, tapioca starch, sugar, and salt. Mix until well combined. Then, add the coconut oil, half of the water, and flax egg, and use your hands to mix everything until a dough is formed. Add more water as needed. The dough shouldn't be sticky nor dry.
- Get two pieces of parchment paper and place the dough between them. Use a rolling pin or any flat-bottomed object to roll the dough until it becomes an inch wider than your pie dish. Try to roll it out evenly, there shouldn't be any "bumps".
- Peel the top layer of parchment paper and transfer the rolled dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Use your hands to press and form the dough into an even, flat pie crust, pushing the dough up the sides as well.
- Then use a fork to poke the crust, this will prevent the dough from puffing when it's in the oven. Freeze the crust for 10 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 180C (356F).
- Bake the crust for 20 minutes. Set it aside to cool.
- Filling: To a medium pot, mix all of the ingredients - coconut milk, soy milk, sugar, corn starch, agar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and turmeric. Make sure the corn starch dissolves well.
- Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once it starts to bubble, turn the heat to medium-low and start whisking constantly for 5-8 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and taste and adjust the flavor if needed. At this point, you can add more sugar or lemon juice if needed.
- Pour the mixture into a medium bowl, and cover tightly with plastic wrap or parchment paper. Make sure the plastic touches the surface of the mixture. Let the filling cool to room temperature.
- Assemble: Once the crust and the filling are cooled, assemble the pie. Using a whisk, mix the filling until creamy to make sure there are no big clumps. Pour it into the crust and use a spatula to smooth it out. Let the pie rest overnight in the fridge before slicing.
- Meringue (optional): If you don't have a blow torch pre-heat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC).
- In a bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, add aquafaba and beat on high speed until foamy. If you don't have a stand mixer you can also use a handheld mixer.
- Stop beating and add the rest of the ingredients - sugar, vanilla extract, lemon juice, and cream of tartar. Continue beating for 5-8 minutes, until stiff peaks.
- Spoon the meringue over the pie. If you have a blow torch blast the peaks of the meringue until they're golden brown. If not, bake the pie for 5-6 minutes or until the tops are golden. Make sure to stay nearby to rotate and watch it constantly because it tends to burn easily.
Notes
- Use solid but scoopable coconut oil. This is a key ingredient when making this vegan lemon tart.
- When cooking the filling, whisk constantly. The mixture tends to burn easily, so make sure to whisk non-stop and turn the heat low.
- Let the filling cool down completely. This is an important step so make sure to take the time and let it cool for as long as it needs to.
- Let the pie rest in the fridge for at least one night. The lemon curd needs enough time to set and firm up.
- To avoid a soggy pie crust, blind bake it first! This means that you bake the crust before adding any filling to it.
- Use full-fat coconut milk. Since we're not using egg yolks, which is the traditional way to make lemon custard, you'll need to use full-fat coconut milk. Make sure the coconut cream is not separated from the liquid and mix well before measuring.
- Oat flour. To make your oat flour, blend rolled oats in a food processor until a fine powder has formed.
Storage
- Fridge: This pie will last for a week in the fridge, but it's best in the first 3 days.
- Freezer: I haven't tested freezing this pie but I suspect it may not work.
**I use a 22 cm (8.6 inches) pie dish.
**Nutrition information is a rough estimate calculated without optional ingredients.
Nutrition
Calories: 340kcal