Quinoa Protein Lemon Squares (vegan, gluten-free, white beans)

Quinoa Protein Lemon Squares (vegan, gluten-free, white beans).
Fresh vegan lemon squares, such a fresh delicious “dessert for breakfast”.

And the nutrition panel of quinoa really hikes the nutritional value here! Quinoa provides protein, fiber, magnesium, iron, potassium, and more! Quinoa of course makes a wonderful grain-free addition to savory meals, but I am always trying to work it into desserts, and a crust for citrus squares was an obvious move.

The lemon cream is also fun and unusual because it includes – wait for it – white beans!

Actually this was a brilliant match because lemon needs a white creamy palate to shine, and that is exactly what white beans provide. So now the nutrition of this square rises further with tons of bean protein, very little fat, and yet more iron, potassium, zinc, and other essential minerals.

Quinoa, White Beans aannddd Baobab – Can you handle it?

And, in this recipe, we also have the vitamin-c and citrus-flavor from superfood Baobab (actually my favorite superfood of all time), and the inflammation-fighting capabilities of turmeric (although this recipe has no pepper and you do really need to take turmeric with black pepper for best absorption). So how about the taste?

I had to make them three times to get it right. (And we’ve made it dozens of times since!)

I remember the first effort tasted too bean-y, so we reduced the beans. The next too grain-y, so we increased the cashews! This recipe is a perfect balance, although a bit sweeter than I am used to, so perhaps taste test and add or subtract sweetener as you like it.

Hold the Sunglasses

Just don’t add too much turmeric. I did that first time, and I needed sunglasses to take them out of the refrigerator, haha!

And, if I haven’t convinced you yet to try them, how does no-bake sound to you?

Yep, to me too! I hope you enjoy my creamy lemon squares!

Print

Quinoa Lemon Squares (vegan, gluten-free, white beans)

1 (8-inch by 8-inch) pan

Ingredients

makes 16 (2-inch) square slices

Oat Quinoa Crust

• 1 cup gluten-free rolled oats
• 3/4 cup quinoa flour (oat or almond flour can also be used)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil melted
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 6 tbsp water (or more if needed to make crust pressable into the bottom of the pan)

Lemon White Bean Filling

• 3/4 cup cashews, soaked overnight and rinsed
• 1/4 cup white beans (I used this brand)
• 1 cup coconut milk (chill two cans, and use only solid portion from a can of full fat coconut milk)
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 2 tbsp lemon rind (Add more if you can get it; it brings a brightness to the flavor)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tbsp arrowroot (corn starch can be used instead)
• 2 tbsp baobab powder (optional, but adds a citrus flavor and a huge boost of vitamin C)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric for color, optional

Instructions

Prep

1. The night before, set coconut milk cans in refrigerator; you will use only the solid portion that separates out. Two cans should provide 3/4 cup of cream or more. Reserve the liquids and remaining cream refrigerated for smoothies and other recipes. Keeps about 3 days reserved; maybe longer but I'm very cautious about spoilage.

2. Also the night before, set the cashews in water in the refrigerator to soak overnight to improve digestibility, but also soften for a creamier texture in the final bar.
   

3. On baking day, set jar of coconut oil in a pot of hot water to melt it.

   Also, line an 8-inch by 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.

Make Squares

1. Blend or process ingredients for the crust, press into the 8-inch by 8-inch pan. Put pan in freezer while you prepare the filling.

2. Blend all ingredients for the lemon cream. The color won’t be very yellow in the fresh batter; but will intensify after the bars set in the refrigerator so don’t add more than 1/4 tsp of turmeric  unless you want your bars to be screaming yellow, haha. Also beware if you taste-test the batter for sweetness – the blended mixture is different – much tastier! – after chilling.

3. Pour mixture onto crust. We made these three times and once we froze them about an hour, cut slices then returned pan to refrigerator where they stayed fairly solid. Another time we only chilled them in the refrigerator – they were kind of mushy so I highly recommend start with a good freeze.

4. Cut into 16 (2-inch) squares. Garnish with lemon triangles, lemon rind curls, and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Do you like using white 'Navy" beans in recipes? Try my 2-Ingredient Strawberry Protein Pre-Workout Bites and 3-ingredient Chocolate Protein Workout Bites