Keto Lemon Bars

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5 from 788 votes
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Keto Lemon Bars are a sugar free and low carb twist on classic lemon dessert bars. A buttery almond flour shortbread covered with a delicious lemon filling, all covered with sugar free powdered sugar. A delicious keto dessert that is sure to impress! 6 ingredients and 3 grams net carbs per bar. 

When I need a simple and delicious keto dessert to impress, I love serving keto chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, and these low carb lemon bars.

keto lemon bars

One of my good friends has a huge lemon tree in their backyards. Whenever I see them, they give me bagfuls of fresh lemons, which I always use to make keto lemon desserts.

Now, I’ve been meaning to do a Keto Lemon Bars recipe for quite some time, wanting to adapt my mum’s classic recipe (which isn’t keto, but incredibly delicious).

Not to toot my own horn, but these lemon bars may very well be even BETTER than the original. A buttery, almond flour crust, topped with the most gooey lemon filling. I brought these to an event recently, and I got rave reviews from everyone- Nobody could tell they were sugar free AND low carb

Ingredients for keto lemon bars

Here are the ingredients you’ll need for the lemon bars. It’s just 6 simple ingredients and with several easy substitutions. See my tips further down to make vegan lemon bars.

lemon bars ingredients
  • Almond Flour– This is used for the shortbread crust. Be sure to use blanched almond flour, not almond meal.
  • Butter– Either traditional butter or dairy free butter can be used. Unsalted butter works best. 
  • Sugar free powdered sugar– Homemade keto confectioners’ sugar, that takes 30 seconds to make! 
  • Lemon juice– Either fresh lemon juice or bottled lemon juice. 
  • Eggs– Room temperature eggs, not refrigerated ones. 
  • Egg Yolk– In addition to the whole eggs, the extra egg yolk gives the filling the gooey texture and gorgeous yellow color. 
  • Coconut Flour– Thickens the filling, without the need for any grain based flour. 

How do you make keto lemon bars

Start by preparing your shortbread crust. Combine your almond flour, butter, and keto powdered sugar and transfer to an 8 x 8-inch pan. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown, and remove. While the crust is baking, prepare your lemon filling. Whisk together your softened butter, lemon juice, and powdered sugar, until combined. Whisk in the eggs and egg yolks, and finally the coconut flour. Once the crust is cooked, remove from the oven and quickly pour the lemon filling over the top. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until the center is no longer jiggling. 

Let the lemon bars cool completely, before transferring to the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours, to firm up. Once firmed up, sprinkle with extra powdered sugar. 

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Can I make these vegan/without eggs? 

Yes, you can easily make these lemon bars vegan, with a few tweaks.

Use dairy free butter for the crust. Once it has been baked, let it cool completely. Prepare a vegan lemon curd and refrigerate the bars, until firm. 

Tips to make the best keto lemon bars

  • You must transfer the lemon filling onto the shortbread crust, as soon as it has been baked. This ensures the mixture remains thick, and the eggs don’t separate.
  • Do not overbake the bars. They continue to cook as they are cooling down, and will thicken more once they have been refrigerated. 
  • If you can’t tolerate coconut flour, you can try xanthan gum, but start with a tiny amount (1/4 teaspoon). If you have no dietary restrictions, you can use all purpose flour (6 tablespoons). 
  • For a more pronounced lemon flavor, add some lemon zest to the filling. 

Storing and Freezing Lemon Bars

  • To store: Lemon bars should always be stored in the refrigerator, in a sealable container. Refrigerated bars will keep well for up to 2 weeks. 
  • To freeze: Place bars in a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. 
low carb lemon bars

More Keto Dessert Bars to try

keto lemon bars

Keto Lemon Bars

5 from 788 votes
Keto Lemon Bars are an almond flour shortbread crust topped with a gooey lemon filling! Creamy and full of lemon flavor, you only need 6 ingredients to make this keto dessert bar!
Servings: 12 Bars
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Total: 35 minutes

Ingredients  

For the shortbread crust

For the lemon filling

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line an 8 x 8-inch pan with parchment paper and set aside.
  • In a mixing bowl, combine your almond flour, melted butter, and powdered sugar, and mix well. Transfer the mixture into the lined pan and press into place.
  • Bake the shortbread crust for 15 minutes, or until golden. While it is baking, prepare your lemon filling.
  • In a separate mixing bowl, mix your softened butter, lemon juice, and powdered sugar. Once it is glossy and smooth, add your eggs, extra egg yolk, and mix well, before adding the coconut flour.
  • Remove the shortbread crust from the oven. Moving quickly, add the lemon filling and smooth it out evenly.
  • Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until the center is firm but still jiggles slightly.
  • Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan completely, before refrigerating for at least 2 hours, to firm up more. Once ready to serve, sprinkle with extra powdered sugar.

Notes

* See the post for ways to make this vegan and egg free.
TO STORE: Lemon bars should always be stored in the refrigerator, in a sealable container. Refrigerated bars will keep well for up to 2 weeks. 
TO FREEZE: Place bars in a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for up to 6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. 
 

Nutrition

Serving: 1BarCalories: 247kcalCarbohydrates: 5gProtein: 7gFat: 23gSodium: 134mgPotassium: 39mgFiber: 2gVitamin A: 487IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 56mgIron: 1mgNET CARBS: 3g
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Author: Arman Liew
Tried this recipe?Give us a shout at @thebigmansworld or tag #thebigmansworld!

Arman Liew

I’m a two time cookbook author, photographer, and writer, and passionate about creating easy and healthier recipes. I believe you don’t need to be experienced in the kitchen to make good food using simple ingredients that most importantly, taste delicious.

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  1. For those of you having trouble with curdling. If you haven’t tried this already, make sure all of your wet ingredients are room temperature. That should help with curdling. Hope this is helpful.

    1. Donna, It’s likely happened to everyone. I wrote Arman but didn’t get a reply. I asked if you could cream the butter with the sugar first and then add the lemon juice slowly. After that, follow with the eggs. I added 1/2 tsp of vanilla too at this point. I added a little sea salt (1/4 tsp) to the shortbread and lemon filling. I’m going to try it one day. Regardless, they came out great even though the butter curdled so to speak. Everything else was on point.

  2. Your my go too!!! When it comes to all my keto recipes!!! When will your cookbook be available? Thanks for all your delicious recipes!

  3. 5 stars
    1st, I highly recommend these, thank you for the recipe, it made delicious Lemon Bars!! 2nd, I made them in an air fryer!
    My notes on the Bars (not negatives – just preferences going forward):
    1. There is quite a lot of butter in the crust, and while yummy, and it did set, I prefer a dryer shortbread bottom. I used Bobs Super Fine Almond Flour. When I make again, I might either use a little less butter, or add a tbsp of coconut flour to try to off set that. Shredded coconut in the crust would be good too…hmm.
    2. I added the zest of 1 Lg Lemon to the crust, and zest of 1 Lg lemon to the custard. I am glad I did, most lemon desserts are never “lemony” enough for me 🙂
    3. These are super rich, with all the butter and eggs, so I cut into small bite size squares, so in turn, this recipe made a lot for me. I am freezing half!

    Notes on Airfryer, for anyone curious (as I was, and had to research):
    1. I have a Gowise oven/air fryer. Between it being summer, and gas prices, running my oven just doesn’t make good sense. I literally got it 3 days ago, and these bars were my first experiment! So far so good.
    2. I put a rack in the middle of the oven. This oven has a “dual heating element”. You can use one, or both. I turned both on.
    3. I used an 8×8 pan, parchment lined, no need to grease pan, it has a lot of butter in it
    4. I preheated the air fryer to 320 F
    5. I baked the crust at 320 for 10 min, and it was golden brown. Probably could have taken out closer to 9 minutes, but ovens vary, so Id start watching at 7 minutes
    6. Once I added the custard, I baked again at 320, for 14 minutes. Checked at 12min, and it was a little to jiggly in the middle.

    Really good, glad I found you, and looking forward to trying more of your recipes, they look and sound so good.

  4. I’ve made this several times and had the same results. turned out fine even though the butter separated. I found if I drizzled the lemon juice into the creamed butter and sugar very slowly while whipping, the butter didn’t separate.

  5. 5 stars
    How do I get to the glossy part? Made these two times now with the butter room temp and the lemon juice room temp. The butter always chunks up. I ended up microwaving the mixture so it could all be mixed together. They tasted amazing! I added zest and increased the lemon juice to 3/4 cup, though. 🙂 Still confused about the butter and juice. Thank you for this delicious recipe!

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