These soft and creamy keto lemon bars will MELT in your mouth! If you like lemon desserts, this is definitely the recipe for you.
Easy keto lemon bar recipe
With just 6 ingredients, you will fall completely in love with the impossibly smooth and melt-in-your-mouth texture of these low carb lemon squares.
The sweet lemon dessert will remind you of something between a lemon bar and a lemon cheesecake, which basically makes them impossible to resist.
I’ve already made the recipe at least a dozen times, and each batch almost instantly disappears as soon as I set it down!
Also try the popular Keto Brownies
Sugar free lemon squares
The keto lemon squares are great for company or for an easy weeknight dessert. And there’s no sugar required.
Just blend everything together, layer it into a pan, and let the oven do the work.
With no eggs or dairy, and with flourless, sugar free, gluten free, low carb, paleo, and vegan options, these classic homemade keto lemon bars are sure to be a hit with everyone who tries them.
Note: If you’re not on a low carb or keto diet and want to use regular sugar for the lemon bars, there’s a non-keto version of the recipe as well.
Still craving lemon? Make Keto Lemon Bread or Lemon Sorbet
Above, watch the keto lemon bar recipe video
How to make keto lemon bars
Start by reading through the recipe and gathering all ingredients.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If you’re using a crust, combine all of the crust ingredients in a mixing bowl. Then smooth the dough evenly into a parchment-lined 8 inch baking pan.
Combine the cream cheese, yogurt, lemon juice and zest, powdered xylitol or powdered sugar, almond flour or cornstarch, and optional turmeric in a blender just until smooth. (Beating too much can cause cracking due to beating in added air.)
Pour the smooth lemon filling into the prepared baking pan. Cook on the oven’s middle rack for 25 minutes.
Once time is up, leave the oven door completely closed and turn off the heat. Let the pan sit in the closed oven for 8 minutes, during which time it will slowly cool down.
Remove the underdone lemon bars and set them on the counter to continue cooling gradually. Once cool, refrigerate a few hours or overnight, during which time they will firm up considerably.
Leftover lemon squares can be refrigerated or frozen to thaw and enjoy in the future.
Readers also like these Coconut Flour Cookies
Lemon square tips and tricks
In general, high heat, over-beating, and sudden changes in temperature can all cause cracking in cheesecake square recipes. But I’ve picked up a few great tricks over the years to make cracked bars a thing of the past:
The best of these tricks is to fill a baking pan about two thirds of the way with water and place it on the lower oven rack. (You’ll bake the cheesecake bars on the middle rack.) The water will add moisture to the oven so that your low carb lemon bars won’t dry out as they bake.
Bring the cream cheese to room temperature before starting so that you won’t have to beat it as long to get the batter smooth.
And avoid rapid temperature changes by letting the bars cool – first for a few minutes in a turned-off oven, and then on the counter – before refrigerating until firm.
Keto lemon bar ingredients
You will need cream cheese, plain yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest, powdered erythritol or xylitol or sugar, almond flour (or cornstarch for a non keto lemon bar), and an optional pinch of powdered turmeric or natural yellow food coloring for the smooth lemon filling.
Make the bars crustless, or use the simple keto crust below that calls for only almond meal and butter or coconut oil. It’s like a keto version of a graham cracker crust.
Even more than the lemon juice, it’s the lemon zest that gives these fancy dessert bars their bold lemon flavor. So do be sure to include it.
To make your own lemon zest, simply wash a lemon and use a zester or grater to shred the peel. If you don’t have one of these gadgets, use a vegetable peeler. Then finely dice the skin with a sharp knife.
For keto vegan lemon bars, use vegan cream cheese and dairy free yogurt.
Leftover lemon? Use it up in this Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce
If desired, top with sliced lemons and Coconut Whipped Cream.
Keto Lemon Bars
Ingredients
- 12 oz cream cheese or vegan cream cheese
- 1 cup yogurt, dairy free if desired
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 cup powdered xylitol, or powdered sugar for non-keto
- 3 1/2 tbsp almond flour (or 1 tbsp cornstarch)
- optional 1/8 tsp turmeric for color
Optional Crust
- 1 1/2 cup almond flour
- 4 tbsp melted butter or coconut oil
Instructions
- *The lemon zest is important, so be sure to include it. I like to use a water bath (see above for explanation) but it's not required. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Combine the crust ingredients, if using. Press into a parchment-lined 8×8 pan. Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. (Don't over-beat, which could cause cracking.) Pour over the crust, and bake 25 minutes. Do not open the oven door (not even to check), but turn off heat and let sit 8 minutes. Take out the still-undercooked bars and let cool completely, then refrigerate a few hours until firm. Leftover bars can be refrigerated or frozen.View Nutrition Facts
Notes
Have you made this recipe?
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More Healthy Low Carb Desserts
Liv13 says
OOOHHHH! Katie! I needed a lemon dessert! These are to die for! Are you in quarantne?
Peachy Wavez says
Yoooo katie! I’m from HI and do u have a lemon muffin/cupcake recipie?
CCK Media Team says
This one can be done as cupcakes or muffins 🙂
https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/vegan-lemon-bread-recipe/
Peachy Wavez says
Yoo! Thanks man!
Alice says
Hi! No it can not D: i tried your recipe several times and the loaf always turns out undercooked i feel like its because of the yogurt i dont know x.x i asked you guys for some Tips on how to make sure it does not turn out undercooked on the inside and almost Black on the outside O.O i used coconut oil and skyr instead of greek yogurt i rly hope that this change does not cause the Problem and i used stevia and in General less sugar x.x i rly hope you guys answer me this time lol
Amy Grayson says
If you substituted stevia and cut out the sugar in her recipe then it sounds like you didn’t make her recipe so how is it a surprise it turned out different than if you’d followed Katie’s recipe?
MrsVrrrrooooomba says
So this is what it’s like to be addicted to food p*$/ 🤤🤤🤤
Random. says
is that a sex joke?
Amy Grayson says
I made these last night, with orange instead of lemon and oh my they were even better than the pictures make them look! Thank you for this recipe 🙂
Patti says
Do you think these could be cooked in individual silicone cupcake molds? Like you would for mini-cheesecakes? I can’t normally trust myself with a whole pan of anything!
CCK Media Team says
Hi, do you mean like this sort of thing? https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/cheesecake-cupcakes/
Or you can also slice and freeze the lemon squares and then just thaw one at a time too.
Cathy says
I made these using regular cream cheese and Greek yogurt. (We don’t need to be dairy free) So yummy and lemony! This will be my go to recipe for baked cheesecake from now on. I can’t wait to try this with chocolate. Definitely a hit in my house
Random. says
When is katie gonna post a new reicpie?
Sonserae says
Good Lawd! These were AMAZING plus as an added bonus they fit in perfectly with the custom keto meal plan I have been following for the last 6 weeks.
Nicole says
I’ve made these twice now and they have a great flavor and nicely offset the cooling effect you sometimes get with artificial sweetener. Could I substitute an egg for the cornstarch? I’ve tried blending the corn starch straight in to the batter and mixing it first with the lemon juice, but both times I’ve ended up with significant lumps in the batter that don’t melt out all that well. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Kathleen Beyer-Paulsen says
These were very good, and easy to make; the water bath idea and having the cream cheese at room temperature helped avoid cracking. I didn’t make the keto version; just used cane sugar.Almond flour crust was good too. I guessed a bit at the measurements of the vegan cream cheese and the yogurt because they don’t sell them in 12- ounce and 8- ounce sizes but it was fine; even substituted a couple ounces strawberry yogurt when I ran out of plain. Didn’t use whipped topping.
Kathleen Beyer-Paulsen says
These were very good, and easy to make; the water bath idea and having the cream cheese at room temperature helped avoid cracking. I didn’t make the keto version; just used cane sugar.Almond flour crust was good too. I guessed a bit at the measurements of the vegan cream cheese and the yogurt because they don’t sell them in 12- ounce and 8- ounce sizes but it was fine; even substituted a couple ounces strawberry yogurt when I ran out of plain. Didn’t use whipped topping.
Heather Walter says
For the yogurt, do we need plain? Greek? Unsure what type to get, thanks!
CCK Media Team says
Hi, either plain or greek both work!
Juanita says
Would this recipe work in a mini-muffin tin? Would I need to make any changes and, if not, how many mini-muffin cups would 1 recipe fill? Trying for easy portion control here! 😉
Jessica says
Thank you for the lemon bar recipe base ( I say ‘base’ because I almost always have to change things for dietary reasons). They turned out pretty decent. I was excited to try them after a good many years without. I will add more lemon zest next time, as these were a little weak in that area for me. I can’t do dairy, so I used unsweetened coconut yogurt and vegan cashew cream cheese. I only use stevia, so I substituted 3/4 tsp, that was just about right. I put a pinch of salt in the crust, because I like the contrast.
Karen says
AMAZING recipe!! I made it keto except for the Greek honey vanilla yogurt. I used 1 tsp of lemon extract for the lemon zest. This the only cheesecake I will make from now on! I was skeptical about your detailed baking instructions, but I followed them, had no cracks and the texture of the filling was perfect: creamy yet firm. I added chopped walnuts to the crust and that was delicious; I might add cocoa powder next time. Thank you!!
CCK Media Team says
Thank you for making them 🙂
Donna says
The nutrition, does it include the crust?
CCK Media Team says
Nutrition facts below are for the lemon keto dessert with the almond flour crust included, and the nutrition label above is for if you want to make the lemon bars crustless.
Judy says
These bars were so good they reminded me of key lime pie. They are refreshing and I would serve these at a party and not even mention they were keto. You cannot tell.
CCK Media Team says
Thank you so much for making them!
Liz says
Best lemon bar recipe I’ve ever tried, thank you so so so much for this brilliant recipe!
Will says
Nothing wrong with cracks on a cheesecake. It lets you know it’s a cheesecake.
Thanks for the recipe. I shall give it a whirl but first i want to research more on the crust to make it more ‘interesting’…