Yes, we have these delightful Vegan Meyer Lemon Bars for you today, but first we need to share an issue we’ve been dealing with and get your thoughts.
Vegan Meyer Lemon Bars … And a Moral Dilemma
A few days ago we discovered one of our recipes — word for word, with our photos — published on the website of a well-known fitness personality who had taken full credit. We contacted them and asked that they either remove the post or give proper credit. They apologized and said the post was published by someone who no longer works with them, promising it would not happen again.
That answer didn’t feel right, so I started looking through their site. I found many posts containing other bloggers’ content with no attribution: some were only images, others were complete recipes copied exactly. The deeper I dug, the more examples I found.
I felt increasingly upset. How could a public figure who promotes a healthy lifestyle claim other people’s work as their own? To me, taking someone else’s recipe and images without permission is the same as walking out of a store without paying — it’s stealing.
This kept bothering me, even after they complied with our request, because it’s not only wrong, it’s unfair. As food bloggers we invest time, creativity and care into each recipe and photograph. When someone takes the easy route and benefits from that work, it undermines the effort and livelihood of creators who are doing this honestly.
My main concern is that we were lucky enough to catch it. Many bloggers may never realize their work has been used without permission. Don’t they deserve to know so they can decide how to respond?
That brings me to the moral dilemma: should I contact the other bloggers I found on that site to warn them, or should I let it go since the site removed our post? I’m not looking to be vindictive — I want to do what’s fair and right.
If you have any thoughts or advice, I would really appreciate hearing them. Thank you for listening.
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Vegan Lemon Bars
5 Stars
4.6 from 25 reviews
- Author: https://mayihavethatrecipe.com
- Total Time: 2 hours 55 mins
- Yield: 8 bars
Description
Creamy, tangy and delicious vegan lemon bars that work as dessert or a bright snack. They’re refreshing without being overly sweet and make a lovely treat any time.
Ingredients
Scale
- For the Shortbread:
- ½ cup coconut oil
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp confectioners’ sugar
- ½ tsp natural vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp water
- Pinch of salt
- For the Lemon Curd:
- 1 cup canned light coconut milk
- ½ cup Meyer lemon juice (about 2 large)
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 ½ tbsp corn starch
- Pinch of turmeric (optional, for color)
- Pinch of salt
- 2–3 tbsp confectioners’ sugar (to taste)
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1–2 tsp natural vanilla extract (to taste)
Instructions
- To prepare the shortbread:
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, cream together coconut oil and granulated sugar for about one minute. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and beat until creamy.
- Reduce speed, add flour, water and salt, and mix until just incorporated.
- Using your hands, bring the mixture together to form a dough.
- Press the dough evenly into the lined pan, allowing it to come slightly up the sides. Prick the surface with a fork to prevent bubbling.
- Bake at 325°F for 30–33 minutes or until lightly golden. Set aside to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, prepare the lemon curd: combine coconut milk, lemon juice, maple syrup, corn starch, turmeric and salt in a small saucepan and whisk to combine. Cook over medium heat until thickened, about 5–6 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Remove from heat and whisk in confectioners’ sugar, coconut oil and vanilla. Let cool about 10 minutes.
- Pour the lemon curd over the cooled shortbread crust and refrigerate for 2 hours or until set. Cut into bars.
Notes
These bars are creamy, tangy and satisfyingly bright. Serve chilled as a dessert or a refreshing snack — they’re easy to love.
- Prep Time: 2 hours 20 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Category: dessert
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 286
- Sugar: 11 g
- Sodium: 295 mg
- Fat: 20 g
- Saturated Fat: 17 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 25 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 2.5 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
