Keto Lemon Bars

Easy Keto Lemon Bars made with 6 simple ingredients! These sugar-free lemon bars include a buttery grain-free almond flour crust with a zesty lemon layer that will knock your socks off!

After making and loving my Low-Carb Lemon Cheesecake Bars last year, I knew I wanted to make a more traditional sugar-free lemon bar recipe.

So here we are with this magnificent blast of citrus essence!

The bright lemon flavor in this keto lemon bars recipe is just unstoppably amazing.

The almond flour shortbread crust for these lemon bars is remarkably similar to the crust I use in my Low-Carb Blueberry Crumb Bars and my Keto Strawberry Crumb Bars. 

All we need is a few simple ingredients to make these low carb lemon bars.

The crust ingredients include almond flour, coconut oil (or butter), sugar-free sweetener, and a touch of kosher salt.

The filling is also a simple combination of eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar-free sweetener, and a little almond flour.

Let’s discuss the ingredients in detail!

Keto Lemon Bars Ingredients:

Almond Flour: Almond flour makes up the rich buttery shortbread crust, which turns out with a nice flaky texture. I use Bob’s Red Mill Almond Flour, but any brand of almond flour or almond meal should work in this low carb dessert recipe.

The one caveat here is that some brands of almond flour absorb more liquid than others, so you may need to adjust the almond flour up or the oil/butter up depending on the consistency of dough you’re left with. You want the dough to have a similar thick consistency as cookie dough.

While coconut flour is a great grain-free flour for keto treats, it requires much more liquid and eggs than almond flour, as it absorbs more liquid. In this sense, the amount of coconut flour and the amount of butter one would need to use would be different, and coconut flour cannot be used in this recipe as a 1 to 1 replacement for the almond flour.

Coconut Oil or Butter: For the fat portion of the crust mixture, you can either use melted coconut oil or melted unsalted butter. 

Sugar-Free Granulated Sugar: The sweetness in these keto lemon bars comes from sugar-free granulated sweetener. Both the crust and the lemon filling use sugar-free sweetener to make them taste nice and sweet while keeping the bars low-carb.

My top three favorite sugar-free granulated sweeteners are Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener, Swerve, and Truvia. Any keto sweeteners (or low carb sweetener) that can be used as a 1:1 replacement for regular sugar will work here!

If you don’t follow a low-carb ketogenic diet, you can swap out the sugar-free sweetener for regular granulated cane sugar or maple sugar for a paleo option.

Eggs: While there are no eggs in the crust, we need a total of five large eggs to make the lemon filling layer. The egg yolk creates a custardy, soft lemon layer that maintains a stable consistency after baked and chilled.

Lemon Juice & Lemon Zest: The star of the show here! Lemon juice and lemon zest bring that bright zingy citrus flavor to the bars. I prefer juicing fresh lemons to use fresh lemon juice rather than using pre-squeezed lemon juice from a bottle, because I think it brings the best, freshest flavor.

Be sure you don’t skip the lemon zest, as it is the lemon zest that brings that complete abundant lemon flavor.

Sea Salt: A pinch of salt is added to both the crust and the filling to help bring out all of the flavors. Sea salt allows all of the flavors to shine, and makes any baked good taste sweeter without the need for more sweetener.

If you have it on hand, you can add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract  to the lemon custard mixture to add some warm flavor, but doing so isn’t necessary.

Let’s bake some keto lemon desserts!

How to Make Keto Lemon Bars:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 9” baking pan with parchment paper.

Prepare the crust recipe by mixing all of the ingredients (melted butter, almond flour, sugar-free sweetener and sea salt), together in a large mixing bowl until a thick dough forms.

Transfer the dough to the parchment-lined pan, then use your hands to press it firmly into an even layer.

Use a fork to poke several holes in the dough, which will allow the crust to bake evenly.

Bake the crust on the center rack of the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden-brown.

While the crust is baking, prepare the lemon bar filling. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir in the sugar-free sweetener and almond flour until combined. Note: you can also perform this step using a food processor if you prefer.

Once the crust is out of the oven, pour the lemon filling mixture over the crust. 

Bake the lemon bars for 15 to 18 minutes, until the filling appears set up but is still soft.

Remove the bars from the oven and allow them to cool on the counter completely before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating for 2 hours.

Once the bars have chilled in the refrigerator, tug on the parchment paper to transfer to a cutting board. Slice into bars, and enjoy!

Store any leftover keto lemon bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Nutritional Information:

If you cut these bars into 16 squares, each bar contains 176 calories, 6 grams of total carbs, and 3 grams of dietary fiber for a total of 3 net carbs per bar.

If you follow a keto diet, these bars should fit your daily macros as long as you aren’t doing a zero carb diet. They are a great option for satisfying a sweet tooth without excess sugar.

And that’s it! Everything you need to know about making these amazing low-carb lemon bars for a healthier sugar-free treat!

More Keto Dessert Recipes:

• Giant Chewy Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Low-Carb Lemon Poppy Seed Blueberry Muffins
• Death by Chocolate Keto Brownies
• Keto Peanut Butter Edible Cookie Dough
• Keto Blueberry Crumble

Enjoy these buttery zesty low-carb lemon bars recipe!

Keto Lemon Bars

6-Ingredient Keto Lemon Bars with an almond flour shortbread crust and a custard lemon layer. These bright, tangy perfectly sweet sugar-free bars are loaded with flavor!

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Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes minutes

16 Bars

Ingredients

Lemon Bar Crust:

• ▢ 2 1/2 cups almond flour*
• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted
• ▢ ¼ cup sugar-free sweetener
• ▢ ¼ tsp sea salt

Lemon Filling:

• ▢ 5 large eggs
• ▢ 1 cup lemon juice, about 4 lemons
• ▢ 1 Tbsp lemon zest, about 2 lemons, zested
• ▢ 1/2 cup sugar-free granulated sweetener
• ▢ 1/2 cup almond flour

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a 9” x 9” baking pan with parchment paper.
• Prepare the crust recipe by mixing all of the ingredients (melted butter, almond flour, sugar-free sweetener and sea salt), together in a large mixing bowl until a thick dough forms.
  
• Transfer the dough to the parchment-lined pan, then use your hands to press it firmly into an even layer. Use a fork to poke several holes in the dough, which will allow the crust to bake evenly. Bake the crust on the center rack of the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden-brown.
  
• While the crust is baking, prepare the lemon bar filling. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest.
  
• Stir in the sugar-free sweetener and almond flour until combined. Note: you can also perform this step using a food processor if you prefer.
  
• Once the crust is out of the oven, pour the lemon filling mixture over the crust. Bake the lemon bars for 15 to 18 minutes, until the filling appears set up but is still soft.
  
• Remove the bars from the oven and allow them to cool on the counter completely before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating for 2 hours. Once the bars have chilled in the refrigerator, tug on the parchment paper to transfer to a cutting board. Slice into bars, and enjoy!
  

Notes

*Depending on the brand of almond flour you use, you may need to add an additional 1/2 cup to 1 cup of almond flour to the crust mixture if it seems overly oily or wet. The consistency of the crust should be slightly crumbly and not overly oily.

Use maple sugar instead of sugar-free sweetener to make the bars paleo. You can also use regular granulated sugar.

Store any leftover keto lemon bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Bar (of 16) - Calories: 176kcal - Carbohydrates: 6g - Protein: 8g - Fat: 13g - Fiber: 3g - Sugar: 2g

Course: Main Dishes

Cuisine: American

Keyword: almond flour shortbread crust, dairy free keto lemon bars, keto lemon bars, low carb lemon bars, low carb lemon bars recipe, sugar free lemon bars, sugar free lemon curd

Servings: 16 Bars

Calories: 176kcal

Author: Julia