This lemon sheet cake is incredibly soft, moist, and very delicious, even though it’s completely oil-free! The recipe is vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and very easy to make. Watch the video below to see the simple instruction steps.
Healthy Lemon Sheet Cake
I don’t know where to begin, because this vegan lemon cake recipe actually left me speechless! It’s oil-free, vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, yet it turned out moist, soft, and very flavorful. I really didn’t expect it to be that good.
If you check out other lemon cake recipes, almost all of them contain lots of eggs, butter, regular flour, and tons of sugar. But not this lemon sheet cake. It’s quite healthy and the taste doesn’t disappoint.
11 Simple Ingredients
Maybe you already have most (or all) of the ingredients at home. If not, they should be easily accessible in all supermarkets. The 11 ingredients are:
- Rice flour
- Oat flour (ground oats)
- Liquid sweetener of choice
- Canned coconut milk
- Aquafaba
- Powdered Erythritol (or powdered sugar)
- Turmeric
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Lemon juice + zest
I used white rice flour, however, this easy lemon sheet cake might also turn out great with brown rice flour. Also, I always make my own oat flour by simply processing oats in a blender or in an electric spice/coffee grinder. It takes only 20 seconds and saves a lot of money! You can use regular oats or certified gluten-free oats.
Maple syrup, rice malt syrup, Yukon syrup or agave syrup are just some examples of liquid sweeteners which can be used in this recipe.
I prefer using canned coconut milk because it’s rich, and adds a nice flavor. However, if you are a coconut hater, I would suggest using any other plant-based milk and adding 2 tbsp of oil. Why? Because the recipe is completely oil-free and relatively low in fat. Boxed plant-based milk is basically just water, and I am afraid the cake might end up too dry if you use it without oil!
Powdered Erythritol makes the best icing, in my opinion (and I tried many). Furthermore, it’s refined sugar-free and has zero calories (which isn’t important to me, however, I prefer not to use refined sugar). You can use powdered sugar though if you don’t have access to Erythritol.
Turmeric adds a nice yellow color and since we are only using 1/8-1/4 tsp the taste isn’t noticeable in the finished vegan lemon cake.
I am sure the other ingredients (baking powder, baking soda, lemon, salt) don’t require an explanation. 🙂
How To Make A Lemon Sheet Cake?
It’s really very simple to make this vegan lemon cake. All you need is the ingredients which I mentioned above, a bowl, a whisk, a baking pan, and an oven.
- First, mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients and mix with a whisk to combine.
- Pour the batter into a lined baking pan and bake the cake in the oven for about 25 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let the cake cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make the icing and pour it onto the cooled cake.
- Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes and cut the cake into squares.
- Check my step-by-step VIDEO right under the recipe instructions!
How To Store?
You can store the lemon sheet cake in the refrigerator (for up to 5 days) or for up to 3 months in the freezer. When you freeze the squares, make sure to let them thaw for about 30 minutes before serving.
This Lemon Sheet Cake Is:
- Vegan (dairy-free, egg-free)
- Gluten-free (use certified GF oats if you are a celiac)
- Refined sugar-free
- Oil-free
- Low-fat
- Healthier than most lemon cakes (vegan or not)
- Quick and easy to make with only 11 ingredients
- A healthy-ish dessert or even breakfast
Should you try out this delicious vegan lemon cake recipe please leave a comment and rating below. Also, don’t forget to tag me in your Instagram or Facebook post with @elavegan and #elavegan because I would love to see how it turned out!
If you love fresh and light cakes, definitely make sure to also check out the following vegan cake recipes:
Lemon Sheet Cake
Ingredients
Dry Cake Ingredients
- 1 cup (160 g) rice flour (I used white)
- 1 cup (90 g) oat flour (gluten-free if needed)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 1/8-1/4 tsp turmeric (for nice yellow color)
Wet Cake Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) canned coconut milk (see notes)
- 1/3 cup (110 g) maple syrup (see notes)
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) lemon juice
- 3 tbsp (40 g) aquafaba (see notes)
- Zest of one lemon (about a heaped tsp)
Icing
- 3/4 heaped cup powdered (100 g) Erythritol or powdered sugar (see notes)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp plant-based milk
Instructions
- I recommend using a kitchen scale for this recipe.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius) and line a baking pan (or sheet pan) with parchment paper with an overhang for easy removal. My pan measures 9"x6" resp. 23x15 cm (see pictures above in the blog post).
- Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl with a whisk.
- Add the wet ingredients and mix with a whisk until combined (don't over mix).
- Pour the batter into the lined pan. Bake for about 25 minutes in the oven or until a toothpick (inserted to the center) comes out clean. It took 24 minutes in my gas oven.
- Let cool completely. Meanwhile, make the icing/glaze.
- Simply add all ingredients to a small bowl and mix with a whisk. The icing should be runny but not too thin. If it's too thin, add more powdered Erythritol/powdered sugar. If it's too thick add a little more lemon juice or plant-based milk.
- Pour the icing onto the cooled lemon cake and put the cake in the fridge for about 20-30. The icing will firm up pretty quickly when you use Erythritol (what I did).
- Cut into squares and enjoy! Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days. Check the recipe notes below.
Notes
- Oat flour: To make your own oat flour, simply process oats (regular or gluten-free) in a blender or electric coffee/spice grinder.
- Milk: Since the recipe is oil-free, I used canned coconut milk, which is higher in fat than any other plant-based milk. If you don't like coconut, you can use your favorite plant-based milk and add 2 tbsp of oil in addition.
- Sweetener: You can use any other liquid sweetener (e.g. agave syrup, rice malt syrup, etc.) instead of maple syrup.
- Aquafaba (also known as chickpea brine) is the liquid of a can of chickpeas.
- I used Erythritol which I processed in an electric coffee/spice grinder. You can use powdered sugar instead, however, I noticed that Erythritol actually makes a better icing than white processed sugar.
- Nutrition facts are for one piece when you cut the cake into 6 squares (1/6 of the recipe).
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
Equipment
If you are using Pinterest, feel free to pin the following photo:
Hi Ela, this recipe looks delicious, I can’t wait to try it! Would you recommend storing the cake in the fridge and adding the icing a couple of hours before being eaten (if it is made the day before)? Also, do you think a baking pan that is less wide would work as well? If yes, how much longer would you leave it in the oven? And does brown rice flour work too? Thanks for answering all my questions:)
How can I replace aquafaba??
You could probably use a chia egg (1 tbsp ground chia seeds mixed with 3 tbsp hot water) or a flax egg.
This looks great! I’ve been trying to find oil-free cake recipes. I was wondering, how much oil did you substitute the coconut milk for?
Hi Sachie! 🙂 It’s mentioned in the recipe notes: “If you don’t like coconut, you can use your favorite plant-based milk and add 2 tbsp of oil in addition.” 🙂
Can I add some ginger ? Do you think ginger taste can fit in this recipe?
Yes, I think it would add a nice flavor but I wouldn’t add too much. 🙂
If I add extra sweetener will that mess up the balance? Will it still rise ok?
Hi Coletha, I would suggest adding a granulated sweetener like regular sugar, Erythritol or Xylitol and not more of the maple syrup. Hope this helps. 🙂
Thank you. Sorry, I posted twice. I couldn’t see the first response.
No worries, Coletha! ????
My cake came out very moist. It rose nicely. We were pleased. My only questions is can I add extra sweetener without messing up the balance if the cake? The icing was plenty sweet but the cake wasn’t. Maybe the issue was that I didn’t have any lemon zest?
If instead of the canned coconut milk I use almond milk and applause with apple cider vinegar mixed in to relax the coconut canned milk? And can I use oat flour in general , not rice flour and oat flour just oat flour
Please check the recipe notes:
I wouldn’t leave out the rice flour, otherwise, the cake will turn out too dense.