This recipe for keto lemon bars is an absolute low carb dream! With only 4g of net carbs per serving, you’ll be happy to indulge in this bright and tangy treat without a shred of guilt!
Are you missing fruity goodness on your keto diet?
I’m not one who subscribes to the belief that keto is a “no fruits” diet, and this is because I think many fruits are still great whole food options, that are nutritious than other artificial foods.
But some fruits are very high in NET carbs (total carbs minus fiber minus sugar alcohols) for someone following keto. This is mostly because of the high amount of natural sugars.
For example:
An apple is about 20.6g net carbs, an orange is about 8.3g net carbs, and a banana is about 23.9g net carbs. (source: Google)
Because of this, I would say those aren’t great options for Keto, but other fruits, like berries are much better.
One cup of blackberries is about 6 net carbs, one cup of raspberries is about 7 net carbs, and a cup of whole strawberries is about 8.1g net carbs. Those numbers are much better, and when you think about it…one cup of any of these fruits is a pretty significant amount!
I love to put lower carb fruits into my desserts, like in my Keto Yogurt Recipe so I’m super excited to share this recipe with you…it’s a real winner!
Keto Lemon Bars
Thanks so much to Tasteaholics for letting me share this recipe! It comes straight from their Dessert in Five, eCookbook, which features 30 DELICIOUS recipes that all can be made with just 5 ingredients and are only 5g (or less) of net carbs per serving!
There’s also Breakfast in Five, Lunch in Five and Dinner in Five. The best option would be to buy the whole bundle. You won’t regret it!
The fruit in this recipe is lemons…which are about 3.4g net carbs per fruit. And you’re not using very much of it so the carbs stay low!
The other hero of this recipe is what makes it sweet…erythritol. Erythritol is a mild sugar alcohol with a glycemic index of 0. It’s my favorite sweetener, and I believe the powdered version is the very best. It tastes and bakes like confectioner’s sugar, AND really cuts down on the cooling effect that erythritol typically carries.
And what’s REALLY cool, is Tasteaholics has their own brand called So Nourished that manufactures affordable erythritol!
You can buy it on Amazon along with their Ketone Test Strips and Hand Held Spiralizer. If you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you know that I love to support small business, so I’m so happy to promote this quality brand!
Back to the recipe. When I tried the Keto Lemon Bars I was so impressed. It tastes so fresh and natural, unlike the processed junk you might be used to if you’re new to Keto. And the nutrition info is great! Here’s a breakdown per serving:
Calories: 272
Net Carbs: 4g
Fat: 26g
Protein: 8g
Here’s how you make them!
Keto Lemon Bars
You and your guests will be left satisfied after these dense, wonderful lemon dream bars! Finish them off with lemon and a sprinkle of erythritol.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 3/4 cups almond flour
1 cup powdered erythritol
3 medium lemons
3 large eggs
Instructions
- Mix butter, 1 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup erythritol, and a pinch of salt. Press evenly into an 8×8″ parchment paper-lined baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. Then, let cool for 10 minutes.
- Into a bowl, zest one of the lemons, then juice all 3 lemons, add the eggs, 3/4 cup erythritol, 3/4 cup almond flour & pinch of salt. Combine to make filling.
- Pour the filling onto the crust & bake for 25 minutes.
- Serve with lemon slices and a sprinkle of erythritol.
Notes
If adding vanilla extract to crust is something you’re used to, feel free to mix 1/2 tsp into the crust.
I recommend letting the bars cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting.
Cutting the bars with unflavored dental floss is a GREAT way to get a clean cut.
Please note that I am not a certified nutritionist. If nutrition is important to you, I highly encourage you to verify any data you see here with your favorite nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 272
- Fat: 26g
- Carbohydrates: 4g net
- Protein: 8g
You may also enjoy…
-
- Keto Pumpkin Cheesecake
-
- Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bites
-
- The Best Keto Chocolate Cake
Karen says
I made these last night and my crust portion is way too greasy. It won’t hold together. Seems like too much butter. They taste good but next time I’ll use half the amount of butter.
★★★★
Suz says
After reading several posts regarding the crust not holding, I put the oven rack up one above the middle, it came out great! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
★★★★★
Heather Dozier says
So I followed the recipe, but the “crust” didn’t set. Not sure if that’s normal, or should I bake longer before pouring in the lemon filling. Anyone have any experience with this? Looks like an amazing recipe and I can’t wait to try it al many others on this lifesaving website!
Sam says
If the crust isn’t fully set don’t hesitate to pop it back in the oven. Almond flour is softer than regular flour but firms as it cools. If it looks actually wet, put it back in for a few minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Sometimes ovens can slightly vary in temperature
Lindsay Brown says
Hello, can you explain how you only get 4g of carbs? I plugged everything in myfitnesspal app and everything came up matching to what you have except the carbs. I got 30g. Thank you
Sam says
hi! Have you subtracted the fiber and sugar alcohols (from the erythritol) from the total carb count? That should bring the number down quite a bit
Lindsay Brown says
Hi! I have not. So if the carbs are 3g and the sugar alcohol is 3g then it’s 0g correct? I’m excited to make these
Amee E says
I doubled the recipe and used a 9×13 pan, cutting them into 24 pieces at 1 net carbs each!
SandraTucker says
This is one of the easiest and best low carb desserts I have ever made. Outstanding!!! Mine wasn’t as pretty but OMG
Cassie says
Hi – I made these and the topping is very gooey and doesn’t seem to have cooked all the way through. Is that the right consistency or is it supposed to be firmer?
Sam says
It was slightly jiggly but did firm up. If you make these again, definitely do add it back in the oven briefly if it seems gooey until fully cooked.
Rita says
Made these today came good but the crust was a little crummy. What did I do wrong?
Sam says
Mine were a little bit crumbly too. Were they fully cooled? sometimes if they’re even a bit warm still it can be overly crumbly. Once I stored mine in the fridge and ate them chilled, it improved even more.
Jane says
Omg these are wonderful! Do you have to refrigerate them?
★★★★★
Amee E says
Should I refrigerate the left overs?
Sam says
yes I believe so
Lisa says
Mines turned out delicious!! Crust was great!! I’ll make these often. Thank you!!
★★★★★
Jane says
These are awesome! I want to make again, using the crust recipe and then changing it up and maybe doing a blueberry or strawberry topping.
Lillian says
I don’t have lemons, but I have lemon juice. Could I substitute that for the real deal? How much would I use?
Sam says
I would definitely recommend the real lemons because the taste will be much better/fresher, especially with the lemon zest. Unfortunately I’m not sure how much lemon juice you could substitute with.
Chef Mettler says
1 lemon is worth about 2 tbsp on average, therefore you would use 6 tbs of lemon juice and 1 tbs of juice as a sub for the zest.
★★★★
Ioana says
I really love lemon desserts. Seems pretty simple to make, definitely going to try it! Booked marked the recipe
Aaron says
What did you put on top? It looks like some kind of frosting
Sam says
That’s just powdered erythritol 🙂
Allie says
911! Is the filling supposed to be loose? I think my lemons were too big. I added more almond flour but it’s very runny. Should it be like cake batter?
Lindsay says
They taste so good!! However, the erythritol seemed to recrystillize in the crust. Has this happened to anyone? Any tricks to prevent this?
Debbie Manek says
I used to Monk sugar because it’s all I had, and it wasn’t powdered, but it seems everything turned out fine. I also used french butter, and it was the first thing you tasted. It was my first time using french butter, you should try it, there is a big difference from the Land O Lakes I’ve been using prior.
Melanie says
I made these last night but used granular Swerve instead, as that is what I had. I was a little light handed with it – so maybe a quarter inch below top on my steel 1 cup measure. I was still worried it would be too sweet due to the difference in granular and confectioners. It actually turned out perfect for us. Husband and I both love them. Crust held together, but was really buttery and a little loose while still warm, but so, so good. Stored in fridge, it firmed up nicely and is delicious cold as well. A great recipe. Will order the powdered erithritol for next time.
Amy says
Looks so good! Would you recommend any alterations for high altitudes?
Sam says
Thank you! Unfortunately I’m not familiar with high altitude baking differences
Mandy says
Could I use real lemon juice with this instead of going out to buy the lemons ? And how much would I need ?
Sam says
Yes you can but I don’t know how much. I would recommend using fresh if at all possible. I do think the fresh lemon flavor is different than bottled juice. Also this recipe calls for lemon zest which I think adds an important depth of flavor.
Lorene says
My husband has a nut allergy. Is there an alternative to almond flour?
Sam says
You can use coconut flour but I personally haven’t tried it. It’s more absorbent and requires a different amount than the almond flour and may make it taste like coconut. There are some good recipes for crusts on google that should work. Hope that helps!
Shree says
Is there some type of icing on those in the picture?
Sam says
Nope, that’s just powdered erythritol.
Sammie says
Anyone try the lemon bars without the crust? What did you think??
Tay Battan says
These were absolutely delicious!!!
★★★★★
Elaine Hochheiser says
I am a reluctant cook and baker however since switching over to Keto woe I have been baking a lot more. I made these today and they taste incredible. So yummy. I often make substitutions and hope for the best. I did substitute a few things here and they still turned out great. I can’t eat anything with sugar alcohol so finding a great sugar substitute was a challenge. I have been using Kakato sugar substitute and it worked great. For the filling I only used 1/2 cup instead of 3/4. I also did not have lemon zest or fresh lemons. I used non-GAO lemon juice—8 tablespoons and it tastes fantastic. For those that asked about type of butter….I always use Kerrygold or another grass-fed butter. I also baked the crust for 5 extra minutes since it was still so wet. I also baked the entire dish for 5 extra minutes. The crust was awesome due to the buttery crunch with the extra baking. I hope this helps other novice bakers out there.
Valerie says
I made this tonight and used pyure organic stevia blend (granular) and it came out very bitter. Do you think if I use the powdered version would taste better? Or I don’t know maybe my lemons were to tangy.
Sam says
Do you typically use stevia in your desserts?
Powdered may help but I’m not sure. I don’t really use stevia because it tastes extremely bitter to me in most forms. I think that varies by person.
Sometimes products blend erythritol and stevia to make them less bitter and counteract the cooling effect of erythritol, which I think helps. You may try one of those blends if stevia alone is too bitter to you.
Amy says
I can’t rate the full recipe, since I only madethe crust portion as a bottom for my lemon curd tart. But it is yummy! I used liquid monk fruit sweetener and it can out delicious and perfectly cooked in 20 mins. Thank you!
★★★★★
Lauren says
Can the sugar substitute be swerve instead??
Sam says
Yep! Swerve is erythritol
Bethany K. Reddy says
I just attempted these and because I was apparently having a brain cramp 😀 I put in coconut flour instead of the almond flour in the crust. I knew as soon as the scent hit my nose but by that time I had a choice of going with it or wasting the coconut flour and an entire stick of butter. I had my doubts, but I went ahead and made the crust as was. It seemed okay after baking, so I went ahead and made the lemon layer. These bars are amazing! The lemon set up just right and has the perfect amount of tang. I still want to try it with the almond flour crust… It will probably be a bit more crisp. But the coconut flour version wasn’t bad at all!
★★★★★
Hana says
If I wanted to double the serving size, how much would the amount in the ingredients change?
Sam says
To double the serving multiple all the ingredients by 2
Emma says
My very first keto treat and WOW! I can’t speak for the baking dish route but I had to use a cast iron frying pan and everything cooked PERFECTLY. Nice browned crust that didn’t crumble, perfectly cooked and non-gooey top. Next time I’ll add some rosemary or lavender because this recipe is going to be hard to move on from. Thank you!
★★★★★
Annie says
So delicious! I’ve made these for my non-keto family a couple of times and they love them, too. Definitely one of my go-to desserts. Easy to make too!
★★★★★
Lucy says
These are absolutely spectacular – thank you so much for sharing! Mine turned out perfect – i baked the base until firm, let it cool, then added the lemon layer. Sliced when still warm, but put into the fridge to firm up – looked beautiful (even when sliced with a knife) and held together perfectly!
★★★★★
Heather W says
Dude are we sure these bars are only 4 net carbs? Cause if it makes 8 bars they are very large potions! I’m so scared to love them as much as I do. They taste so good it seems too good to be true. I’m not dreaming, right?
One of the things I’ve really missed on Keto is tart sweet things. I loooove sour gummies. This completely satisfied that craving. I’m so happy!!!!
★★★★★
Melanie says
These were delicious , however mine were quite flat and dense,,, nothing like the picture , any idea where I went wrong ,,,
★★★★★
Bridget says
Tried these Keto Lemon Bars for the first time last night. As my second ever Keto friendly dessert, these are absolutely amazing. They don’t taste “modified” or “lighter” at all. I followed the recipe exactly, adding 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla to the crust, as the notes offered. The bars have that familiar lemon bar texture once set in the fridge for a while. I definitely recommend fresh lemons, because the natural flavor can’t be beat. Thanks for a delightful new staple!
★★★★★
Kristine says
Hi do I need to have the parchment paper up on her sides of the pan also? Or just on the bottom?
Sam says
I found it helpful to make sure it went up the sides too!
Gaye says
I made this today. When adding liquid butter it appeared to liquid. I added an extra Tbsp almond flour and coconut. My husband loved these. Thank you for your recipe. Good job!
Heidi says
I’m going to try this recipe in individual ramekins. That way the crust and the filling will be intact and portion-controlled. I’ll try to remember to come back here and report on my success or failure with that technique. Sounds like an awesome recipe.
★★★★★
Heidi says
Actually, my silicone muffin pan is a better idea for baking these individually.
Shayma says
Im stunned a cake can be so good on keto
Loved it! Was perfect but mine tasted too lemony maybe mine were kinda large il put less juice in next time! Will be making many though. Thank u!!
★★★★★
wendy says
these were super dry, i recommend adding more fat or eggs to the mixture
★