Keto Lemon Cookies
By Carine Claudepierre
Published on 05/15/2019 - Last updated on 10/10/2023
This recipe may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
These Keto Lemon Cookies are soft, buttery low-carb cookies with tangy lemon glazing.
Bonus, these keto lemon drop cookies are also egg-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free.
Are Classic Lemon Cookies Keto?
No, the classic lemon cookie recipe is made with sugar and wheat flour. Both contain lots of carbs that are not suitable for a keto diet.
If you’re after a low-carb alternative to classic lemon cookies, the recipe below is what you need!
How To Make Keto Lemon Cookies
To make keto cookies with lemon juice, you need to use a combination of keto-friendly sweeteners and keto-friendly flours.
In fact, lemon is in the keto-allowed fruits, and therefore lemon juice is excellent on keto.
Ingredients
All you need to make these simple keto lemon cookies are the following ingredients:
- Almond Flour – make sure you use ultrafine blanched almond flour to avoid a dark color in your cookies or a gritty texture. Learn how to choose your keto flours.
- Coconut Flour – you need a combination of flour to create the best soft keto lemon cookies. Don’t skip coconut flour or replace it with more almond flour, or the dough won’t hold together. Also, make sure you use a fresh bag of coconut flour without lumps. In fact, if you see lumps in coconut flour, it means that your flour has already absorbed moisture. Consequently, the fibers are already activated, and they won’t absorb moisture as well in the recipe.
- Melted Coconut Oil – I like to use unrefined coconut oil because it adds a lovely coconut flavor to the cookies – lemon coconut keto cookies are truly the best! But also, unrefined oil is much more natural. However, if you are not a coconut lover, choose refined coconut oil. It doesn’t add a coconut flavor to recipes. I didn’t try melted butter in this recipe.
- Erythritol – use my converter to convert from one sweetener to another.
- Lemon juice – I use fresh lemon juice from my garden lemon tree. They are organic, meaning I am confident to use the zest.
- Lemon zest – make sure you use untreated lemons, organic ones, or lemons from your garden. They are the best to avoid contamination in the lemon zest.
- Lemon extract for a boost of lemon flavor.
- Baking soda – or use double the amount of baking powder if you can’t use baking soda.
Combining Ingredients
First, in a large mixing bowl, combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, and erythritol.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the remaining liquid ingredients to form a cookie dough.
Place the mixing bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes to set the cookie dough.
Tip: Make Your Own Powdered Sweetener
You will need a sugar-free powdered sweetener to make the glazing. If you can’t find some in your store, make your own powdered sugar-free sweetener!
Cover the blade of a blender with crystal sugar-free sweetener (erythritol or Monk fruit). Blend on high speed until it forms a powder.
Store the homemade sugar-free powdered sweetener in an airtight glass jar in the pantry for up to 3 months.
Rolling Cookie Balls
Next, scoop out about 2 tablespoons of dough, roll between the palm of your hands, and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
These keto low-carb lemon cookies won’t expand in the oven but leave 1 thumb space between each.
This makes it easier to remove the baked cookies from the baking sheet later.
Slightly flatten each cookie ball with your hand. If cracks appear on the sides of the cookies, wet your fingers with water and smoothen them.
Baking
Bake the cookies in an oven preheated at 350°F (180°C) for 12 minutes to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Cooling
These cookies are low-carb vegan cookies. They don’t use eggs, butter, or dairy, so they are softer than regular cookies when out of the oven.
Their texture forms with time, when they cool down as coconut oil firm up and make the cookies hold together, creating a melting center.
Make sure you follow the 20 minutes of cooling down time on the cookie tray without touching the cookies. It is tempting as they smell good but don’t!
Then, make sure they cool down up to room temperature (70°F or 20°C) before adding the glazing.
If your room temperature is higher, bring the cookies to a cooler place like a garage, cave, by the window, or in your fridge for a few minutes.
Sugar-free Lemon Glazing
It is up to you to add lemon glaze to your lemon cookies. I use a low amount of sugar-free sweetener in the cookie batter.
It means the cookies are not too sweet with a high zing of lemon.
I do love my sugar-free lemon glazing to balance the lemon flavor, add a subtle sweet touch, and melt-in-your-mouth icing.
Storage Instructions
These cookies store very well in the fridge for up to 6 days.
You can also freeze your keto lemon cookies and thaw them a few hours before eating at room temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
They are egg-free keto lemon cookies, which means they are soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookies with a delicious almond lemon flavor.
They are the best keto afternoon snack with a cup of bulletproof tea. Since they are covered with tangy lemon glazing, they taste pretty similar to lemon drop cookies.
Their sides are crispy like shortbread, while the center is soft, buttery as you will expect from a lemon drop cookie.
A classic lemon cookie contains about 230 kcal and 34 grams of net carbs.
This keto lemon cookie recipe loads your body with healthy fats, and protein and contains only 3 grams of net carbs and 176 kcal per glazed cookie.
More Keto Cookie Recipes
If you like keto cookies, you’ll love these:
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Keto Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup Almond Flour
- 2 tablespoons Coconut Flour
- ¼ cup Granulated Sweetener can go up to 1/3 cup for a sweeter flavor
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
Liquid ingredients
- ¼ cup Lemon Juice fresh or organic
- ¼ cup Melted Coconut Oil
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Zest optional
- 1 teaspoon Lemon Extract
Keto lemon glazing
- ¼ cup Powdered Erythritol
- 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
- 1 teaspoon Coconut Oil melted
- 1 tablespoon Lemon Zest optional, to decorate
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a cookie tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, sugar-free crystal sweetener, and baking soda.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add melted coconut oil, lemon juice, lemon extract, and lemon zest. Combine until it forms a sticky, soft cookie dough. The batter should be soft, buttery, and not dry. If dry, adjust by adding 1-2 teaspoons of water. If too wet, add an extra teaspoon of coconut flour.
- Refrigerate the dough for 10 minutes, wrapped in a piece of plastic wrap or in the mixing bowl covered with a silicone lid.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and shape 8 even cookie dough balls. You can weigh the dough if you want precision and divide it into 8 portions of the same weight.
- Roll each ball in your hands to shape smooth cookie dough balls.
- Place each ball on the cookie tray, leaving a thumb-size space between each ball. The cookies won't expand in the oven, so you don't have to leave a big space between them.
- Press the balls slightly with the palm of your hand to flatten cookies. Don't flatten too much, or the sides will form cracks, and they won't be as soft and moist. The thicker, the moister!
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden on the sides. The middle will stay slightly soft, and that is the texture you want.
- Remove the cookie tray from the oven and cool down on the tray for 20 minutes before transferring it to the rack to cool down to room temperature. Don't touch the cookies during the first 20 minutes. They are soft and need time to firm up.
Prepare the keto lemon glazing
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the sugar-free powdered sweetener, coconut oil, and lemon juice. Play with the texture, adding more sweetener, 1 teaspoon at a time for thicker glazing, or more lemon juice for thinner glazing.
- Drizzle the glazing onto the cold cookies. Don't decorate warm or lukewarm cookies or the glazing will melt and be absorbed by the cookie dough.
- For lovely, white glazing, place the cookies 2 minutes in the freezer just after adding the glazing. This step sets the glazing fast and makes beautiful cookie decorations.
- Sprinkle lemon zest on top if desired.
- Store the lemon cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the pantry or in the fridge if you prefer your cookies firm.
Notes
Tools
Getting Started What Is Keto? Macro Calculator Sweetener Converter Intermittent Fasting Keto Fruits Keto Vegetables Keto Flours Fighting Keto Flu Healthy SweetenersWant My Kitchen Equipment?
Nutrition
About The Author
Hi, I'm Carine, the food blogger, author, recipe developer, published author of a cookbook, and founder of Sweet As Honey.
I have an Accredited Certificate in Nutrition and Wellness obtained in 2014 from Well College Global (formerly Cadence Health). I'm passionate about sharing all my easy and tasty recipes that are both delicious and healthy. My expertise in the field comes from my background in chemistry and years of following a keto low-carb diet. But I'm also well versed in vegetarian and vegan cooking since my husband is vegan.
I now eat a more balanced diet where I alternate between keto and a Mediterranean Diet
Cooking and Baking is my true passion. In fact, I only share a small portion of my recipes on Sweet As Honey. Most of them are eaten by my husband and my two kids before I have time to take any pictures!
All my recipes are at least triple tested to make sure they work and I take pride in keeping them as accurate as possible.
Browse all my recipes with my Recipe Index.
I hope that you too find the recipes you love on Sweet As Honey!
Disclaimer
The recipes, instructions, and articles on this website should not be taken or used as medical advice. You must consult with your doctor before starting on a keto or low-carb diet. The nutritional data provided on Sweetashoney is to be used as indicative only.
The nutrition data is calculated using WP Recipe Maker. Net Carbs is calculated by removing the fiber and some sweeteners from the total Carbohydrates. As an example, a recipe with 10 grams of Carbs per 100 grams that contains 3 grams of erythritol and 5 grams of fiber will have a net carbs content of 2 grams. Some sweeteners are excluded because they are not metabolized.
You should always calculate the nutritional data yourself instead of relying on Sweetashoney's data. Sweetashoney and its recipes and articles are not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose, or treat any disease. Sweetashoney cannot be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or advice found on the Website.
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My niece made these lemon cookies with grass-fed butter. I tried a small bite and it was delicious! Unfortunately, I am allergic to coconut. Any thoughts on what other flour I might try in place of coconut flour? Thanks, in. advance.💛
You can replace coconut flour by more almond flour, usually 1 tablespoons coconut flour need 4 tablespoons almond flour to reach a similar texture. Enjoy.
BLESS YOU for having an entire Vegan Keto section of recipes!! These are all so delicious and I’m so grateful. 🙂
Please don’t stop coming up with Vegan Keto recipes, good ones are so hard to find!
is there a substitute for coconut flour? My husband is anaphylaxis to coconut so I don’t even bring it in thr house
Unfortunately, I didn’t try the recipe with something else and coconut flour is 4 times more liquid absorbent than other flours than its hard to guess a swap. It is a new recipe to create. For now you can try my almond flour shortbread or peanut butter cookies, they are coconut flour free. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
These were PERFECT!! My husband and I loved every bit of it. It was such an easy and quick recipe. We are making the pop tarts next! Thank you for having great vegan options.
Hi there! If I need to leave out the powdered sweetener (I may only be able to use a bit of honey), would I need to up the flour or another dry ingredient amount to compensate for a moisture change?
The powdered sweetener is only for the icing, the dough is crystal sweetener. If you eat sugar, you can replace erythritol by coconut sugar without impacting the texture but since the recipe is egg-free a liquid sweetener won’t work. The dough will be too liquid and never form as a cookie even with more keto flours. Enjoy the recipe, XOXO Carine
These cookies are amazing!!! I add wild blueberries to the lemon icing until it reduces to a syrup. Delicious and beautiful as a topping to the cookies. I made some extra batter and was wondering if it’s ok to leave in the fridge overnight?
Thanks, Carine, for this amazing recipe!!
Hi,these look scrumptious! Could I substitute butter if I’m out of coconut oil? Thanks!
Yes it should work, they might be a bit more fragile/shortbread like texture tho but taste good. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
These are heaven!!! Mine aren’t holding together great can I add psyllium or some other egg sub to hold them together? If not I’ll just eat them with a spoon because they are that good!
Yes sure you can add 1 tsp xanthan gum or 1 tbsp. psyllium husk. Enjoy, XOXO Carine
Hi – I love your recipes – so far I have baked the lemon cookies and the vanilla diabetic birthday cake – wow – my first stab at baking and I feel like a pro. My husband and I absolutely loved the cake (I turned it into a victoria sponge i.e. cream and jam in the middle). Can’t wait to try out more of your other recipes.
These cookies are amazing!!! I add wild blueberries to the lemon icing until it reduces to a syrup. Delicious and beautiful as a topping to the cookies. I made some extra batter and was wondering if it’s ok to leave in the fridge overnight?
Thanks, Carine, for this amazing recipe!!
I am sure the batter will store well in the fridge! Otherwise, you can bake all the cookies, they store very well in a cookie jar for 1 week or even freeze them ! Thanks for the icing recipe idea! It sounds wonderful XOXO Carine
Thank you SO much for being here with me and I can’t wait to read your feedback on my other recipe. I LOVE your idea of a Victoria sponge, it sounds fabulous ! Talk to you soon, XOXO Carine
Can you freeze these cookies?
Sure! But I wont freeze them with icing on top, it is usually coming out tastier without the icing. Enjoy, XOXO Carine.
I did this recipe today and it was so good, nice texture, perfect sweetness and flavor. You make my keto life easy peacy ????✌️
Thank you !!! I am so happy you find my blog. Enjoy the keto recipes around here. XOXO Carine.
Hi Carine, I did it today. But the cookies taste a bit bitter, i think I used too much baking soda like 1Tsp！???? am I guessing right? Besides, I use muffin baking cup instead of round cookies. Why my cookies taste too moisture? I have baked 180 degree for 30 mins. Thanks and I’d love to try one more time!
Hello! Thanks for trying the cookie recipe !!! Those are cookies and must be baked on a cookie sheet. Muffin cups are made to keep moisture inside muffins that is why cookies shouldn’t be baked in muffin cups or the moisture in the center stays resulting in very moist/soft cookies. The bitterness is probably coming form baking soda as you used twice the amount recommended it is too much. If you don’t like bakin soda flavor use double amount of baking powder for same result and no bitter aftertaste. Enjoy the recipes on the blog. XOXO Carine.
Hi, I love these cookies !! Made them many time. But I recently learnt I should avoid almonds, any suggestion for a replacement of the almond flour? Thanks !
Sure, you can always replace almond flour by the same amount of sunflower flour. Both are keto low carb flours. Enjoy the cookies, XOXO Carine
I love lemon flavored cookies! Before I went low carb, I loved the Oreo lemon thins – crispy cookie with lemon filling. wonder, do you think, that if I made these cookies thinner, would they crisp up like those processed cookies? I know that you mentioned that flattening them too much would cause the edges to crack but I think that could be overcome by shaping them differently. Then, I would make the glaze and “fill” the cookies by placing some glaze on one and topping with a second one. What say you??
I am sure it will work pretty well ! That is a great tasty idea and let me know how it goes ! XOXO Carine.
Do you think I could swap sunflower flour for almond flour? I have a coworker with nut allergies
This is so kind for you to bake for your friend. I guess you meant swap almond flour for sunflower flour 🙂 I guess yes, it is usually working well as a 1:1 ratio. Enjoy the recipes on the blog. XOXO Carine.