A perfect blend of sweet and tart, with a chewy yet delicate crust, these keto lemon bars are irresistible and well worth the little bit of time it takes to put them together.
Perfect any time of the year, this sweet, zingy dessert has just 4 grams of net carbs per serving.
If you've enjoyed our other keto desserts, like Keto Cheesecake and Keto Pumpkin Bars, you'll definitely love this one.
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Why you'll love this recipe
A buttery, chewy crust topped with a sweet and tart lemon filling, creating an amazing flavor and texture combination.
This dessert is always a hit at a cookout, a birthday celebration, or a potluck dinner.
Key crust ingredients
Grass Fed Butter- Start with your butter at room temperature so it's easy to blend. We love nutrient dense grass fed butter.
Almond Flour - This low carb flour is my favorite for Keto baking. Look for finely milled almond flour for best results.
Coconut Flour - Often we blend both almond and coconut flours together to improve the texture of gluten free and keto baked goods.
If you have any questions about this recipe, please leave a comment below and we will get back to you.
Our almond flour crepes can be enjoyed sweet or savory!
Key filling ingredients
Lemon Juice - You'll need the juice of 3-5 lemons, depending on how juicy your lemons are.
Eggs - Large eggs are needed for this recipe. Allow them to come to room temperature for best results.
Liquid Stevia - A combination of stevia and erythritol works well for a good balance of sweetness.
Coconut Flour - Acts as a binder for the filling set up firmly.
Also try our keto blueberry muffins for a fresh, sweet treat.
Substitutions
How to make dairy free
Replace the butter in this low carb lemon bar recipe with your favorite vegan butter substitute and this recipe will be low-carb, gluten free, and dairy free.
Pair this dessert with Italian inspired recipes, such as our easy Tuscan chicken and Burrata Caprese.
How to make keto lemon bars
Step 1: In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat together the butter and erythritol until creamy and well combined.
Step 2: Add the flours and salt. Mix until a dough forms.
Step 3: Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan and bake until just lightly golden brown. Allow to cool.
Step 4: In a small saucepan set over low heat, add lemon juice and erythritol. Heat just until dissolved, then remove from heat and cool.
Step 5: In a large bowl, add eggs, the cooled lemon juice mixture, lemon zest, stevia, and vanilla. Whisk together until combined.
Step 6: Stir in coconut flour and allow to thicken for about 5 minutes.
Step 7: Get your prepared crust ready. It should be cooled before you add the filling.
Step 8: Pour the lemon bar filling into crust. Then bake as directed.
Once cooled after baking, sprinkle with powdered erythritol. A powdered sugar dusting is traditional for lemon bars. You can also serve them topped with Keto Whipped Cream.
For the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please see the printable recipe card below.
This is the perfect dessert to serve after a savory meal, like our marry me chicken recipe.
Expert tips
Use Fresh Lemons for this recipe. You want to use fresh lemon juice, not bottled or frozen juice. We only use fresh lemons in our keto lemonade recipe.
When zesting your lemon, you want to be careful not to zest any of the white part of the lemon. That part is bitter. Use just the bright, shiny, yellow skin. The best tool for zesting a lemon is a Microplane grater.
It's important to chill after you bake them. This will allow everything to finish setting. You'll have a difficult time trying to cut the bars if they aren't cold. They are also best-served cold.
FAQs
For a crispy crust result. Partially baking the crust before adding the wet filling prevents the crust from absorbing liquid from the lemon filling.
It's common to get cracks on the top, this is normal.
We all have different ideas about how tart lemon bars should be. We think this recipe has the perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors, but If you find that you'd like to make yours sweeter, don't add extra sweetener.
Swap out some of the lemon juice for orange juice. This will keep the bars just tart enough, but sweeter than if you used all lemon juice. Note that oranges have more carbs than lemons, so your carb count will be a bit higher if you choose this route.
Serving cold is best. These are perfect straight out of the refrigerator. They are tasty at room temperature, but have a better texture and mouthfeel when served cold.
Storage instructions
Refrigerate for up to 5 days. Freeze in an air-tight container for up to three months.
More keto dessert recipes
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📖 Recipe
Keto Lemon Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
CRUST:
- ½ cup grass-fed butter at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons granulated erythritol
- ⅔ cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- Pinch of salt
FILLING:
- ⅔ cup lemon juice 3-5 lemons
- ⅓ cup granulated erythritol
- 4 large eggs
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 10 drops stevia
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
Instructions
FOR CRUST:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line an 8x8 inch pan with cooking oil and parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer, beat together the butter and erythritol until creamy and well combined. Add the flours and salt and mix until a dough forms.
- Press the dough evenly into the prepared pan and bake until just lightly golden brown, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool for 30 minutes.
- Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees.
FOR FILLING:
- In a small saucepan set over low heat, add lemon juice and erythritol. Heat for 2-3 minutes until dissolved, then remove from heat and cool.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, cooled lemon juice mixture, lemon zest, stevia, and vanilla, mixing until well combined. Stir in coconut flour and allow to thicken for about 5 minutes.
- Pour filling into crust, then bake for 15-20 minutes until the center is slightly wobbly.
- Remove from oven and let bars cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate 5-6 hours, or overnight.
- Sprinkle the top with powdered erythritol.
Virginie
The best bars I have ever made. Only thing I changed was instead of vanilla, I used pure lemon extract. Now my only problem will be not eating the whole pan at one sitting. 🙁
Mary
Delicious! I made these exactly as written and they came out perfectly. I love the tip about using parchment paper to line the pan so that they are easy to lift out. Genius!