I am so excited to share today's Vegan Grapefruit Bars recipe with you guys. This sweet and tart grapefruit dessert recipe is perfect for Spring. It's made with simple and clean ingredients, and so addictive!
I have always loved Spring desserts. They're perfectly light and refreshing and not too rich. My all time favorite dessert is my Creamy Vegan Lemon Bars, and after seeing the success they have had, I knew that it was time to create some more vegan citrus dessert recipes!
Jump to:
- Ingredients For These Grapefruit Bars:
- How To Make Grapefruit Bars:
- Grapefruit Bar Substitutions:
- Grapefruit Bars Variations:
- What You Will Need To Make These Grapefruit Bars:
- How To Store These Grapefruit Bars:
- Top Tip:
- Frequently Asked Questions:
- Related Vegan Citrus Dessert Recipes:
- Grapefruit Bars
- More Spring Recipes:
- Food Safety
Ingredients For These Grapefruit Bars:
These Grapefruit Bars are the perfect healthy vegan dessert recipe. They don't require any crazy ingredients, and everything used is whole foods plant based.
For The Gluten-Free Crust:
- Cassava Flour - I love using cassava flour for gluten-free crusts. It doesn't puff up like other flours, and therefore bakes into a perfectly flat and slightly crisp crust. Cassava flour also has a slightly sweet taste which is a great addition to any baked good!
- Medjool Dates - It's no secret that I love using dates to naturally sweeten desserts. I always opt for medjool dates, because they're sweeter and softer than other date varieties. I also highly recommend buying dates in bulk, it is so much more affordable that way (I've linked my go-to dates).
- Vanilla Extract - In my opinion every dessert needs a bit of vanilla extract. I always go with Mexican vanilla, because it has a much deeper flavor. It's slightly more expensive, but 100% worth it in my opinion!
- Grapefruit Zest - Whenever baking with citrus, it's super important to include the zest in the recipe. It adds so much flavor. Make sure you wash the citrus well to ensure you are getting the true flavor of the fruit, and not the dirt from the outside world.
- Maple Roasted Cashew Butter - This gives the grapefruit bar crust the perfect sweet touch without being too overpowering. As always, my code: "VEGAN10" gets you $10 off your purchase!
- Water - This will help hold the crust ingredients together.
For The Grapefruit Filling:
- Grapefruit Juice - Adding fresh squeezed grapefruit juice to the grapefruit bars is the best way to achieve that tart and refreshing grapefruit flavor.
- Unsweetened Almond Milk - This is what gives these bars the perfect creamy filling. Technically any plant based milk will work, however I recommend using unsweetened almond milk. It has a neutral flavor that won't overpower the grapefruit, and it's low in calories.
- Grapefruit Zest - Again, this will help to elevate the grapefruit flavor.
- Maple Crystal - Are one of my all-time favorite natural sweeteners. They're sweeter than sugar yet have a lower glycemic index. Therefore a little goes a long way, and you won't have a massive blood sugar spike like you would with cane sugar. As always, my code: "VEGAN10" gets you $10 off your purchase!
- Cornstarch + Water - This is what gives the grapefruit bars the perfect gooey/chewy filling.
- Erythritol - (optional) It is a bit of a grey area whether erythritol is a whole foods plant based ingredient. Therefore I made it optional for this recipe. It will be absolutely delicious without it on top, however it does add to that classic look.
See recipe card for quantities.
How To Make Grapefruit Bars:
These Grapefruit Bars are great for bakers of all levels, because they're super easy to make. They only take a couple quick and simple steps.
Begin by combining the dates, cashew butter, vanilla extract, and lemon zest together in a food processor and blend until smooth. Preheat the oven to 350.
Add the cassava flour and blend again. Add the water and blend a final time until a powdery dough forms.
Press the crust into a greased or lined brownie dish and poke holes in it with a fork.
Bake for 12 minutes, or until slightly golden.
Make the filling by melting the maple crystals with the grapefruit juice. Once melted add the zest and almond milk. It will curdle and separate, but be patient and continue mixing and it will form a solid mixture again. Mix the cornstarch and water together. Pour into the mixture and whisk until it thickens. Once thickened, remove from heat and pour over the crust. Place in the fridge to cool for at least 2 hours.
Once the bars have chilled, sift erythritol on top and serve immediately!
Hint: The grapefruit bar mixture should be thick like cake batter when pouring on top the crust.
Grapefruit Bar Substitutions:
If you need to make a substitution due to an allergy/diet, or you don't have a certain ingredient on hand, there are plenty of easy substitutions you can make in this recipe.
- Starch - you can substitute the cornstarch in this recipe with any other starches such as arrowroot, tapioca, or potato starch.
- Plant Based Milk - If you're not a fan oof almond milk, or need to sub it out for allergy reasons, you can use other nut milks. I'd recommend using coconut milk, or seed based milks. If you prefer to use homemade nut milks, you can try my: Sunflower Seed Milk, or my Coconut Macadamia Nut Milk.
- Nut-Free - If you are looking to make these grape fruit bars nut-free, you can easily do so. I recommend subbing out the cashew butter for sunflower butter, or coconut butter. Make sure to also use a nut-free plant based milk.
Grapefruit Bars Variations:
These bars are great, because you can enjoy them as-is, or you can mix it up with a few simple variations.
- Pink- If you want to make these grapefruit bars pop, you can add 2 teaspoons of pink pitaya powder ( I get mine from Wilderness Poets with the code: "VEGAN10" for $10 off)
- Pulp- You can blend the entire peeled grapefruit and use the juice and pulp for a higher fiber grapefruit bar recipe.
- Citrus - You can use a variety of citruses combined to make a citrus bar recipe that is exploding with flavor.
What You Will Need To Make These Grapefruit Bars:
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Luckily this recipe does not require any crazy equipment. You probably already own everything you will need for this recipe.
- Food Processor - You will need a food processor to make the crust for these bars.
- Brownie Pan - I prefer using springform pans for recipes like this, because it is much easier to serve the bars. You can also line the pan with a horizontal piece of parchment paper to easily remove the bars.
- Sifter - You will need a sifter to sift the erythritol on top if using.
How To Store These Grapefruit Bars:
These grapefruit bars are very tricky to store. I honestly wouldn't recommend storing them for more than a day (they probably won't last that long anyways because they're so good).
If you do plan to make these ahead of time, do not sprinkle the erythritol on top until the very last minute. It turns into a liquid rather quickly, so I suggest waiting to the last minute to use it.
Top Tip:
The quality of the grapefruits can make a significant difference in the taste of these grapefruit bars. Make sure to carefully choose the grapefruits you use to achieve the best grapefruit bars.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Typically I don't use zero calorie sweeteners in my recipes. I opt for recipes that are made with unprocessed, or minimally processed ingredients. However sometimes there is just not an unprocessed version of an ingredient - powdered sugar is one of those ingredients.
For this reason I sometimes use Erythritol in my recipes as a healthy plant based substitute for powdered sugar. Is it perfect? No, it is highly processed, does not contain any fiber/vitamins/minerals.
However it is a better optional than powdered sugar which is highly processed, high in calories, and extremely high in refined sugars. Therefore I include it as an optional ingredient in recipes like these grapefruit bars.
If you're looking to cut down the steps of this grapefruit bar recipe, or speed up the process, you can use grapefruit juice from a bottle instead of fresh squeezed. In my opinion this won't taste as good, but it makes the recipe easier.
Related Vegan Citrus Dessert Recipes:
Looking for other healthy vegan dessert recipes like these grapefruit bars? Try these:
Grapefruit Bars
Equipment
- 1 sifter
Ingredients
For The Crust:
- 9-10 Medjool dates
- ¼ cup Maple Roasted Cashew Butter "VEGAN10" for $10 off!
- 1 cup cassava flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon grapefruit zest
- 4 tablespoon cold water
For The Grapefruit Filling:
- 1 ¼ cups grapefruit juice
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- ½ cup Maple Crystals "VEGAN10" for $10 off
- 2 teaspoon grapefruit zest
- ¾ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup water
Instructions
- Begin by combining the dates, cashew butter, vanilla extract, and lemon zest together in a food processor and blend until smooth. Preheat the oven to 350.
- Add the cassava flour and blend again until a smooth crumble forms. Add the water and process one final time until a powdery dough forms.
- Press the crust into a greased or lined brownie dish and poke holes in it with a fork.
- Bake for 12 minutes, or until slightly golden.
- Make the filling by melting the maple crystals with the grapefruit juice. Once melted add the zest and almond milk. It will curdle and separate, but be patient and continue mixing and it will form a solid mixture again. Mix the cornstarch and water together. Pour into the mixture and whisk until it thickens. Once thickened, remove from heat and pour over the crust. Place in the fridge to cool for at least 2 hours.
- Once the bars have chilled, sift erythritol on top and serve immediately!
More Spring Recipes:
These are my favorite dishes to serve with this grapefruit bars recipes:
Food Safety
It's always to practice good food safety habits when in the kitchen.
- Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
- Never leave cooking food unattended
- Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
- Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove
See more guidelines at USDA.gov.
April
I love grapefruit and I've never seen them used in a dessert! These were delicious and the perfect Spring dessert bar!
Helene
I've always found it difficult to include grapefruit in a dessert. I'm so happy to have found your recipe, which is perfect and full of flavor.
Nancy
Love the citrus and bright flavours of grapefruit. These makes a great treat