Matt grew up eating lemon bars, so naturally we had to make a keto version for old times sake! These Keto Lemon Bars combine the tangy-ness of lemon and the sweetness of a sugar cookie base for the perfect sweet and tart dessert. Make these bars for the holidays or for meal prep and watch them be devoured.
Gluten Free Lemon Bars
We keep these diabetic friendly by using powdered sugar free sweetener, but what about those who are gluten free? Don’t worry we have you covered with a blanched almond flour cookie base to keep gluten out of your kitchen!
A simple cookie base as shown in the video and the recipe below makes the perfect start to any dessert. You can use it in place of a crust for pies, bake it on its own in cookie shape or use it for these keto lemon bars!
Keeping it simple will allow the lemon in this recipe to shine! You also don’t want to cook it all the way when your first bake it since we’ll be baking it a second time once the filling has been added. A partial bake is essential to ensure it doesn’t come out dry at the very end!
Don’t Skimp On The Lemon
You don’t want to get just a hint of lemon when you’re biting into a lemon bar. You want to be hit with it, and to ensure that you need to use enough lemon.
To make sure you get the perfect sweet to sour ratio you will be using lemon juice and zest. Freshly grated lemon zest is essential in a lemon bar recipe. The zest gives the bars a fresher taste and makes the lemon flavor pop.
The cookie base and use of erythritol and stevia in the filling can be over powering so don’t be scared to use a little extra lemon in the filling of this lemon bar recipe.
How to Make Low Carb Lemon Bars
Lemon bars are a must make recipe at least once in your life. Most people skip them because they aren’t a chocolatey dessert, but the bright and poppy lemon flavor is an absolute showstopper!
Ingredients
To make our low carb lemon bars you will need to make a lemon bar base, and a lemon filling. The lemon bar base uses almond flour and coconut flour for the perfect crisp sugar cookie like texture. It also has a bit of low carb powdered sugar substitute, baking powder for rise, and vanilla for added flavor. Finally we add a bit of liquid stevia, an egg, some melted butter, and a pinch of salt to balance the sweetness.
To make the lemon filling in this keto lemon bars recipe you will need eggs and an extra egg yolk, vanilla extract, low carb sweetener, liquid stevia, coconut flour, almond flour, and of course lemon juice and lemon zest. The final ingredient you may not expect is actually beef gelatin powder. This will give the bar its jelly like consistency without extra sugar or carbs.
Gelatin provides a bit of protein as well as collagen which helps with overall hair skin and nail health for a youthful look.
Making Low Carb Lemon Bars
This keto lemon bar recipe is going to make the best keto lemon bars you’ve ever had in your life! The almond flour shortbread crust is sure to knock your socks off, so let’s get cooking.
Shortbread Crust
This is a pre baked crust recipe to make the perfect almond crust lemon bars. Just how lemon bars can’t have too much lemon, you also can’t have too delicious of a crust so let’s start baking this fantastic recipe!
To make the keto crust begin by combining the flours, erythritol sweetener, baking powder and salt.
Mix the vanilla, liquid stevia, unsalted butter, and egg. We like to mix with a food processer to ensure everything is well combined and the egg is distributed throughout the mix.
Now add in half the flour mixture, pulse, and repeat with the rest of the flour mixture. A dough should come together in the food processor. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 and remove the dough from the fridge. Grease an 8×8 baking pan, or line it with parchment paper.
Press the chilled dough evenly into the baking dish and spread it around the bottom. Bake 6-8 minutes, the base dough should be a little undercooked. Prepare the filling while the crust cools.
Lemon Filling Recipe
To make the low carb lemon filling for this shortbread crust begin by lowering the heat to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl add the eggs, egg yolk, lemon juice, sweeteners, and vanilla. Mix very well until the eggs are fully incorporated the the batter.
Now add the coconut flour, almond flour, and gelatin. Leave to thicken after stirring well for 5 minutes. Gelatin takes time to bloom and thicken the mixture.
Pour the filling into your prebaked crust and then bake for another 12-15 minutes. Remove the baked bars from the oven and allow to cool. The crust should be slightly golden brown and smell absolutely delicious!
Once the bars have cooled move them to the fridge to chill and set for another hour.
We love topping these bars with powdered sweetener and slicing before serving. We recommend serving them cold.
How to Store the Best Keto Lemon Bars
Thanks to the fresh lemon juice in this recipe there is already a bit of a natural preservative, citric acid. You will still need to store these bars in the fridge, but like most of our easy keto recipes, simply pop them in an airtight container and they’ll be fine!
You can also freeze lemon bars if desired just make sure they cool completely before going into the freezer. Now you will have a pre-made healthy low carb recipe to enjoy your favorite keto dessert any night of the week.
More Keto Lemon Desserts
We love lemon recipes because they’re perfect for the summer months when you want something a little lighter and brighter, without sacrificing on a decadent flavor and texture. Some of our go to low carb keto desserts are:
- Lemon Cookies– If you think our almond flour crust is good, you’re going to love these almond flour low carb lemon cookies.
- Sugar Free Lemonade– Our sugar free lemonade is gluten free, refreshing, and super low in net carbs. Plus, you can add a little ice and make your own frozen lemonade treat!
- Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Popsicles– Trying to cool off in the hot summer months? These sugar free lemon bars are sure to help cool you down with only 4.8 net carbs each!
Now that we’ve made lemon bars keto it’s time to get creative and make more keto dessert recipes. Make keto lemon bars for fall, lemon cookies for the holidays, and lemonade on a hot summer day! The options are endless when you have a sweet tooth on the keto diet.
Easy Keto Lemon Bars
Whether you are a lover of lemon or not, you ARE going to love these keto lemon bars! They are dense and decadent like any good dessert should be, but they also have a freshness to them from the lemon juice and zest. Who knew making lemon bars keto could be so simple with this healthy lemon bars recipe.
If you have a little extra time and want to impress your friends, top this sweet treat with some powdered erythritol prior to serving. It will add just the slightest sweet compliment to the tartness of the lemon, without increasing the net carbs per serving.
Tip: You can even do a quick swap out for lime and make keto lime bars for your friends and family.
Keto Lemon Bars Recipe
What You Need:
- 8×8 Baking Pan
Ingredients:
Lemon Bar Base
- 2/3 cup almond flour
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tbsp Low Carb Sugar Substitute
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp liquid stevia
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 4 tbsp butter, room temperature
Lemon Bar Filling
- 4 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1 lemon zest
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup Low Carb Sugar Substitute
- 1/2 tsp liquid stevia
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1 tbsp gelatin powder
Instructions:
Lemon Bar Base
- Combine almond flour, erythritol, baking powder and salt. Mix until well combined.
- Add vanilla, stevia, egg and butter. Mix with hand mixer or food processor. Add flour mixture into butter mixture in 2 batches.
- Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.
- Pre-heat oven to 375F and line a 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper or spray the pan with non-stick
spray. - Transfer the chilled dough to the baking pan and press down the dough with your hand or a spatula.
- Bake for 6-8 minutes – base should slightly be under cooked. Make the filling while the base cools.
Lemon Bar Filling
- Turn the oven down to 350F.
- In a large bowl add eggs, egg yolk, lemon juice, lemon zest, erythritol, stevia and vanilla extract. Mix
until well combined. Then add coconut flour, almond flour, and gelatin. Combine and allow to thicken for 5
minutes. - Pour filling into cooked crust and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes.
- Remove the bars from oven and allow to cool. Once room temp, transfer to the refrigerator for 1 hour to continue setting.
- If desired, top with powdered erythritol prior to slicing and serving. Best served cold and stored in an air tight container in the fridge up to one week.
Video:
Notes
Written by
Megha Barot
Megha has always been a passionate cook, but she took this to a new level after starting her keo journey in 2015. She loves creating new recipes and producing educational content for KetoConnect, which she co-founded in 2016 with Matt. Her passion for healthy eating and personal development continues to thrive. She's the proud mom of two awesome kids.
Sareda says
This is a great recipe. It tastes just like lemon bars, except the crust a at times reminds you it’s keto. But it’s really good. I had such a bad lunch today and this saved it. I suggest, making sure the crust cools down before pouring the filling in. Otherwise it’ll just spread everywhere. But yeah SO GOOD!
Miranda (KetoConnect) says
So glad you liked it!
Giselle Black says
Made this today and it is fantastic!
Jennifer says
Made these on Easter for dessert. Such a beautiful way to finish up our meal. So bright and sweet. Next time we want more lemon.
ana amato says
Arg… I could not get my to thicken. WHY? Should i use more gelatin?
David Baker says
well the lemon filling taste fine but was a little thin compared to the crust. The crust on the other hand was like stale bread. Not very tasty, and a little mushy. I think the crust needs improvement and the filling needs to be thicker.
Lianne W says
I was wondering if I could use granular monkfruit sweetener in place of the stevia and erythritol..?
Miranda (KetoConnect) says
Yes you can!
Kathryn Lewis says
Heads up! Someone has copied your recipe, picture and all.
Steve Kelley says
These were a hit with us and our dinner guests! We’ll definitely be making these again! Thanks for the recipe!
Donna Myhre says
I love these!
Shea says
You forgot to add the coconut flour into the instructions for the base. I am assuming you just add it to the dry ingredients.
Alma Lopez de Saenz says
I really love you both im learning a lot
M A says
Just finished making these and they are cooling. They look great!
It’s going to be a long wait! ?
I enjoy your videos, recipes and precious baby!
Thank you!
I’ll let you know!
MA says
P.S.
When is our cool I’m going to cut them into 18 pieces rather than nine. It’s a mental preparation so when I’m putting two on my plate and putting two on my plate rather than one.
I’ve gone in the last 28 years from 370 pounds and I am 10 pounds from my goal of 130 pounds. So I’ve lost 230 pounds so far. Can I get my best results since I started on the keto diet.
I read a book about the hidden secrets of cancer. One of the best ways to avoid cancer at all is eating pasture raised meat, eggs and any dairy products. And of course organic vegetables and other items that we should be organic. Expensive? Yes! It’s my entertainment money I use so that I stay healthy and live a long healthy active life!
Rosalie Comizio says
can i use powdered stevia in lieu of liquid?
Dawn Watts says
Can I use Chia instead of the gelatin? If yes how much? Thank you
Lesley Reitmeyer says
Is it granular erythritol or powdered?
Shelly says
Lesley since it’s being baked you can use granular or either
Brett Layton says
@ Lesley – I believe he said in the video it was granulated erythritol. But as he also said near the end of the clip – read the recipe because Matt kinda wings it on these a bit.
DALEY says
You forgot the erythritol in the filling instructions ?
Miranda (KetoConnect) says
Thanks! Just fixed it.
James says
I haven’t made these yet but gonna do it! I started on Keto and finally starting to learn to cook…because I have to. Everyone else is on the SAD diet. Love you two and love the goof ups, I’m a pro at that. lol
Nancy Kincaid says
Hi Matt and Meghan! I considered going on the KETO plan for quite awhile before I actually started eating KETO two weeks ago, so I’m very new to the plan. It’s been very difficult to actually find out everything I need to know about eating on the KETO plan. Everyone, except for you, requires that I pay an arm and a leg in money, or makes me watch a long video plus buy some expensive pills before they’ll share anything about the plan. I’ve been following you for a couple of months now. Your recipes and the ingredients are so simple and your advice helps me tremendously. Lemon Bars are my favorite and these look delicious! Thank you for this recipe. I hope they taste as good as they look. I’ll know because I’ll definitely try these. Thanks again and please keep up the good work!
Deborah Goldenberg says
You might want to change the pink salt (which is poisonous) to pink Himalayan salt.
Miranda (KetoConnect) says
Thanks! Made the change.
Jane says
Could you use xanthium gum in place of beef gelatin?
cory kirkpatrick says
Papa g youtube has a recipe with xanthan. I going to try both