Tender cookie cups filled with creamy keto lemon curd! These keto lemon bar cookies are a sweet and tangy treat that’s sure to please.
Spring is here and lemon desserts are popping up everywhere! Especially here on this keto recipe website, because I can’t help myself. I have so many delicious ideas for lemon treats and not nearly enough time to make them all.
And I already have such a large archive of sweet lemony recipes, like keto lemon cheesecake bars and lemon sour cream pie. But what’s one more? Or five more? Or 10 more?
Because as far as I am concerned, there are never enough lemon desserts in the world. It’s a brighter, happier place when that sweet-tart flavor is in abundance.
So let’s make some keto lemon bar cookies!
Recipe inspiration
You know I am always poking around the food blogging world, looking for recipes to ketofy. I enjoy this recipe research so much and I discover so many great ideas.
This particular idea came from Six Sisters Stuff. I spotted it a few weeks ago and thought it was ripe for a keto makeover. And I knew just how to do it, using the cookie cups from my Keto Boston Cream Pie Bites, as well as my ever-popular keto lemon curd.
One great tip I borrowed from their recipe was to form the wells in the cookies AFTER they’ve been baking for a bit. This keeps the edges from cracking as you press it into the muffin cups.
It all tastes the same in the end, but the keto lemon bar cookies look better when they are finished. And appearances matter!
Ingredients
No crazy products needed here! Just basic keto baking ingredients.
- Almond flour
- Keto sweetener (granular and powdered)
- Baking powder
- Butter,
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Lemon (juice and zest)
- Salt
How to make keto lemon bar cookies
These adorable lemon treats are essentially keto sugar cookies made into tiny tart shells and then filled with sugar-free lemon curd. Dusted with a little keto sweetener, they taste just like lemon bars!
The cookie cups
- Prepare the pan: I highly recommend a silicone mini muffin pan or some silicone muffin liners for this recipe. Parchment liners work too but the cookie cups brown more quickly.
- Make the cookie dough: This is an almond flour recipe, although you could use other nut flours or seed meals. However, the cookies won’t be as fine or as light in color if you switch out the flour.
- Roll into balls: Try to get 24 balls, which means making them just barely 1-inch in diameter. Leave them as balls at this point and bake for 5 minutes. Allowing the cookies to bake for a bit softens the dough so that it cracks less as you press it into the pan.
- Press wells into the center: Use a blunt, rounded instrument like teaspoon or the end of a wooden spoon, or even your thumb. I use the end of my stone pestle, as it’s the perfect thickness.
- Bake until just barely golden: To mimic lemon bars, you want the cookie cups to be quite light in color. Don’t let them get too browned!
- Remove and let cool: If the wells in your cookies have puffed up a bit, reshape them when the cookies are still warm.
The lemon filling
- Prepare a half recipe of keto lemon curd: This is a very simple recipe and results in deliciously tangy-sweet curd.
- Whisk nearly constantly: The trick to a smooth and creamy curd it stand there, whisking the whole time, so that your eggs don’t curdle.
- Spoon into the cookies: Let the curd cool for a few minutes and then spoon it directly into the cookie cups. Chill for at least one hour to help set the filling.
- Dust with powdered sweetener: To get that classic lemon bar look, dust the cookies lightly with powdered sweetener before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, coconut flour will not work in this recipe. You can try using sunflower seed flour, but be sure to add a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to offset the green reaction.
If you want crisp cookies, you must use an eyrthritol-based sweetener in that part of the recipe. Swerve or Lakanto both work very well. For the filling, you want to use a powdered sweetener to avoid any grittiness. I do find that allulose requires more time to set properly in a custard or curd like this.
Lemon curd is best fresh and should be eaten within 4 days. So if you want to prep these cookies in advance, I recommend making the cookie cups and storing those. Then make the curd on the day you plan to serve them.
As long as your pan is a really good non-stick, you can still make the cookie cups. Grease it very well. The cups will likely get much darker in colour because they are right against the metal.
Certainly! You should be able to get 12 larger cookies in a regular pan. Don’t try to press the cookie crust all the way up the sides of the pan, as it will make them too thin and fragile. About halfway up is right.
Storage information
Lemon curd is a custard-style dessert and is thus best served within a few days. Store the completed lemon bar cookies in the fridge in a covered container for up to 4 days.
More bite-sized keto desserts!
- Easy Keto Ice Cream Truffles
- Keto Cheesecake Bites
- Strawberry Shortcake Cups
- Keto Peanut Butter Cups
- Raspberry Cheesecake Bites
- Churro Fat Bombs
- Chocolate Fat Bomb Bites
Keto Lemon Bar Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Cookie Cups
- 1 ¾ cup almond flour
- ½ cup Swerve Granular
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter melted
- 1 large egg white
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Lemon Curd Filling
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- ⅓ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- 2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoon butter cut into four pieces
- Additional powdered sweetener for garnish
Instructions
Cookie Cups
- Preheat the oven to 325F and line a mini muffin pan with 24 silicone liners (or use a silicone mini muffin pan).
- In a large bowl, whisk togehter the almond flour, sweetener, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the melted butter, egg white, and vanilla extract until the dough comes together.
- Roll the dough into scant 1 inch balls and place in the prepared muffin cups. Bake 5 minutes in ball form, then remove from the oven and use your thumb, a rounded teaspoon, or another blunt rounded instrument to press a deep well into the center of each ball.
- Bake another 10 to 12 minutes, until just browning lightly on the edges. Remove and let cool completely in the pan. If the wells in your cookies have puffed up a bit, reshape them when the cookies are still warm. Once cool, pop the cookie cups out of the silicone molds.
Lemon Curd Filling
- In a glass or ceramic bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, whisk together the egg, egg yolk, sweetener, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Whisk continuously until the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Watch carefully as it will thicken all of a sudden.
- Immediately remove from heat and add the butter. Let sit a few minutes to melt and then whisk until smooth and creamy. Let cool 15 minutes.
- Spoon the curd into the cookie cups, filling all the way to the top. Refrigerate at least 1 hour to firm up, then dust lightly with powdered sweetener. Serve cold or room temperature.
Abigail says
These were yummy. I did think there was too much crust, so next time I’d make them in bar form, with at least twice as much lemon curd. My lemon curd set up plenty thick enough to use in bars. Some people would probably like the amount of crust, but it is more dense so it was just too much for those of us that ate it. I loved the lemon curd though.
christine says
Hi! is it okay if I just use your keto lemon curd recipe as filling to this cookie recipe?
Carolyn says
This is the lemon curd… just cut down to size so you don’t make too much for the cookie cups.
Alexis says
I used 1/2 allulose and 1/2 Lakanto. Cooked at 300 for 17-20 min. Worked great!
Christa says
I have made SO MANY of your recipes and they turn out great every time without any sort of alteration, and I’m so grateful for you! Purely for nostalgia’s sake I’m considering altering this recipe to make a more traditional “lemon bar” (flat square bar) instead of a cookie. Any thoughts on that? My assumption would be that I’d need to at minimum double the curd recipe…
Thank you again for the hard work you put into this site! As a T1D, you make my life much sweeter. 🙂
Carolyn says
The lemon curd won’t hold up in a bar, it’s much too soft. If you have my baking book, I have a very good lemon bar in there.
Janet says
I don’t like all the adds
Carolyn says
For an ad-free experience, you can always purchase one of my cookbooks! https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/keto-cookbooks/
Free content for you on my blog… but I still need to get paid for my hard work. So… your choice.
Christina White says
Delicious!! Thank you for a fun recipe. Grandma and granddaughter enjoyed making these together!
Carolyn says
Lovely to hear!
Sandra W. says
I made this recipe for a “cookie bar” we were having at our church. I wanted to make something that I could eat but that all the ladies would eat, too without telling them they were “keto” or “diet” (you know what I mean). I made these beautiful little magic little guys and they were just a huge hit!! Everyone loved them immensely.. I have made so many of Carolyn’s recipes I was still shocked at how yummy they tasted.
I can see this little “crust” recipe being used for so many other recipes.
You can’t go wrong with these guys – Make them TODAY!!!
Wish I could post a picture of mine – they turned out so cute!! 🙂
Jill Franks says
My almond flour started off brown, not white, so the cups are much more brown. However, these are seriously good!!! Are used Stevia because erythritol tends to bother my stomach. And they were crispy! The lemon curd is so very good! I did use Swerve Confectioner’s sugar i in it. The only problem I faced was the curd only filled half of the cups! So, I do have to make more lemon curd to fill the other half of them. But, oh, my!!
Anj says
These were great! I am going to aim next time for a less sweet cookie part. If I cut the sweetener in half what do you suggest my adjustment should be? More flour? If so how much? Thanks!
Carolyn says
No adjustment needed.
Heather says
Can you use line instead of lemon for a key lime pie flavor?
Carolyn says
That would be delicious!
Wendy says
Can these be frozen?
Annabelle says
My lemon curd didn’t thicken up. I followed the recipe exactly except I put half teaspoon Lemon extract instead of lemon zest. Do you think this might have something to do with not thickening? I put small pinch of xanthum gum before putting butter in. Its ok but not real thick. Otherwise, the biscuit part is great.
Carolyn says
I don’t think it’s the lemon extract. Did you use a different sweetener at all? You said “biscuit” for the cookie part so I suspect you are in the UK and have different sweeteners… But it may also simply not have been cooked quite sufficiently.
Jill says
The curd took a full half hour to thicken for me, simply because I did not have the water hot enough yet before I started mixing it. Once the water heated up to a simmer, it went much more quickly!
Missy Morrill says
Can I use Lankanto sweetener and powdered sugar instead of Swerve?
Carolyn says
Yes, those should work.
Joan Springer says
Your lemon curd is fantastic. I have found I can make it in my vitamix without any stirring at all. I add everything but the butter and process on high (which heats the mixture) for about 5 minuets, till thickens. Next reduce speed to half and add the butter in pieces through the plug. I blend once again on high for 10 seconds and it’s perfect!
Roberta says
Thanks for sharing this strategy to make this recipe even easier in a hurry!
RebeccaJ says
Can I substitute something for the butter? I can’t have dairy.
Eileen says
Do you have to use the silicone liners or muffin tin? Could you use the paper liners?
Carolyn says
Never use paper liners for keto recipes. Parchment yes, regular paper, no. Everything sticks too much.
Marcia says
I sprayed the mini cupcake liners with baker’s joy. That usually works for all my panned baked goods. They don’t stick and the paper pills off pretty easily; as with these lemon cups.
Kate says
Can’t wait to make. Lemon bars are my favorite dessert and I loved your lemon curd tart recipe.