These delicious keto lemon muffins have a tender lemon muffin base, with a crunchy streusel topping and a sweet and tart lemon glaze – it’s everything you’ve ever wanted a in a keto muffin recipe! With 8g protein per muffin, these are great for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert…
This keto lemon muffins recipe post has been updated since I created it back when we were living on an island in Belize. We are back in New York now after 5 years in Central America – but I still remember how excited I was to get lemons in a country that didn’t seem to know they existed! This gluten free lemon muffin recipe is one of my most popular recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, AND Facebook – so be sure to try them out and let us know what you think!
As most of you know by now, I live on an island in Belize where the weather is perpetually summer-like. The temperatures here range from HOT most of the year, to spontaneous combustion is imminent if you’re outside more than 5 minutes in August.
So it’s not easy for me to get in the mindset of “yay, Spring!” like it used to be when I lived in New York and froze half the year. Still, I got very excited when out of the blue, lemons showed up on the island about a month ago.
They don’t have yellow lemons here usually – it’s all limes all the time in Belize. Which I’m OK with for the most part. But this time of year still means lemon flavored everything to me – so I bought a huge bag of them.
I was amused by the cashier’s obvious confusion – first at the weird yellow limes, and second that I was buying at least 20 of them! ? I couldn’t wait to get started cooking lemon flavored everything – the only problem was that I was leaving for the states for 3 weeks and had no time to use them before they went bad…
So I froze my lemons out of desperation, which I’d never done before. ❄️
I was terrified that they’d be ruined when I got home from our trip – but it worked great! As an added bonus, when I thawed and cut them in half to juice them with my hand-held citrus crusher thingy, it was easy to get every last drop out of them – much more so then when they were fresh.
The moral of this story is that if you have more lemons then you can use – you can totally freeze them whole and thaw them as needed! I even zested them for my grated lemon zest with no problems!
So, long story long – against all odds I was able to get lemons in Belize and I made you these keto lemon muffins with them. And THEY TASTE GOOD. SO. GOOD.
There is lemon juice and/or lemon zest added to every component, so it’s sooooooper lemony people – in the best possible way.
Lemon lovers rejoice!
Basic Recipe Steps
Don’t be intimidated by the multiple layers in these keto lemon muffins, they are very easy to make I promise! The muffin batter is made in the blender, with the wet ingredients and dry ingredients being all thrown in there together and blended until smooth – no need to fold or cream or mix in a stand mixer.
The streusel topping you simply stir together with a fork in a bowl until crumbs form, then sprinkle over the batter in the muffin cups before baking.
Finally, the easy lemon glaze is made by using a whisk or fork to blend the erythritol and lemon juice together until smooth – which literally takes seconds to do. Then you simply drizzle it over the top of each muffin (after baking) and you are ready to go!
Why is there sour cream in this keto muffin recipe?
It’s an honest question. I wasn’t sure about it myself, but I used to order an amazing lemon sour cream pound cake years ago, and it was so very tasty that I thought I’d try it in these keto lemon muffins.
The sour cream made the muffins very tender, super rich, and the tart cream flavor really complemented the lemon. I’m hooked, and you will be too!
Can I make this recipe in a loaf pan instead?
I made these both as muffins and as mini loaves, to see if it would bake up ok both ways. It totally did, and I’m on the fence about which way I liked it more. Both tasted the same, but I liked being able to just slice off a small piece of the loaf without committing to an entire muffin.
That being said, my keto muffins were pretty large – so if you make them average sized then you’ll probably be getting about the same amount either way.
The point is – you can make these keto lemon sour cream muffins in almost any format and they will be great. I’m including baking times for multiple sizes in the instructions, but please be aware that ovens and cooking times may vary. Bake it until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and you’ll be in business.
If using a muffin tin, then I definitely recommend using muffin liners so that they don’t stick to the pan – even a non-stick muffin pan isn’t always a guarantee that they won’t stick. If baking in a loaf or cake pan, make sure to line the pan with parchment paper for the same reason. This will ensure that you get them out without sticking.
Can these lemon muffins be made dairy-free?
Yes, you can replace the butter with coconut oil and the sour cream in these keto muffins with 1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk. The resulting muffin won’t be quite as rich, but the recipe will still work. If you find that your muffin batter is very wet, you can another tablespoon of coconut flour to help dry it out.
What is the best sweetener for these keto muffins?
I prefer to use granulated erythritol in the batter, and confectioners style erythritol in the glaze of these muffins. You can also use a monk fruit sweetener like Lakanto in these with excellent results. I have an allergy to stevia so I don’t use it anymore, but if you have a brand that you like and you don’t mind the flavor then that will also work.
Any of these sweeteners will keep your carbs per serving down, and the net carb count shouldn’t be affected by switching them up.
More Low Carb Muffin Recipes
So glad you asked, why yes I do have more low carb muffin recipes – both sweet and savory, with more being developed as we speak!
- Keto Zucchini Muffins (chocolate with mocha frosting – yum!)
- Keto Blueberry Muffins
- Keto Pumpkin Spicy Monkey Bread Muffins
- Keto Cheesy Herb Muffins
- Keto Cheddar & Jalapeño Cauliflower Muffins
Keto Lemon Muffins – Low Carb and Gluten-free
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 8 to 12 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Keto lemon muffins with a tender lemon cake layer, topped with crunchy streusel and a sweet tart lemon glaze! Keto, low carb, Atkins friendly, and gluten free
Ingredients
For the muffin:
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated erythritol sweetener
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 1/2 cup superfine almond flour
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum or arrowroot powder
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup full fat sour cream (or 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk)
- pinch of salt
For the streusel topping:
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3/4 cup superfine almond flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated erythritol sweetener
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
For the lemon glaze:
- 1/2 cup confectioners style erythritol sweetener
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
For the muffin layer:
- Combine all of the muffin ingredients in a blender and blend for 2-3 minutes or until smooth. The mixture is thick so you’ll have to stop a few times and scrape the sides down with a silicone spatula to get it going the first minute or so.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F) and then start your streusel topping.
For the streusel topping:
- Combine the melted butter, almond flour, sweetener, lemon zest and coconut flour in a small bowl and stir well with a fork until a crumbly dough forms.
- Spoon the muffin batter from the blender into 8 large or 12 regular muffin cups (if you’re using foil or thin paper then place inside a muffin tin to support them) – or into a small loaf or cake pan.
- Crumble the streusel topping in pea sized pieces over the top of the batter.
- Bake on the middle rack of your oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes (large muffins) or 25 minutes (average sized muffin) or 50 minutes (loaf or cake pan) OR until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
For the lemon glaze:
- Combine the erythritol and lemon juice in a cup or small bowl. Stir with a fork until smooth.
- If too runny, add another tablespoon of erythritol (or more) until an opaque but still pourable glaze forms.
- If too stiff to pour, add another teaspoon of lemon juice to loosen.
- Pour the glaze over the muffins after they are baked and slightly cool. Serve warm or room temperature.
- Store any leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Notes
** For best results, see what brands I use and recommend for my recipes over on the IBIH pantry recommendations page!
Approximate nutrition info is as follows:
1 average muffin (1/12th of recipe) or loaf slice contains:
290 calories, 25g fat, 4.5g net carbs, 8g protein
1 gargantuan (bakery sized) muffin or 1/8th of recipe contains:
435 calories, 37g fat, 7g net carbs, 12g protein
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: keto Muffin Recipe
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 290
- Fat: 25g
- Carbohydrates: 4.5g net
- Protein: 8g
If you love lemon desserts like I do – you should also try my low carb Lemon Cloud Pie from last season! It’s a stunner for sure! Oh and my favorite keto lemon bars are pretty awesome too – just sayin’.
Can’t get enough delicious low carb recipes? Download all five of my e-cookbooks (over 150 delicious low carb recipes) for just $19.99 for a limited time!
Marvelle says
Can I use sweet drop stevia instead of errbritol? What would the conversion be? Thank you!
Mellissa Sevigny says
It won’t bulk up the same so I think the muffins would be much denser – the glaze definitely wouldn’t work. You might get away with it in the muffin and streusel, I can’t say what will happen to the texture though. Since erythritol measures like sugar, just use the amount of drops that you would use for the same amount of sugar in the recipe.
Lauren Perez says
I never leave reviews but I have to . These muffins are absolutely amazing,! The flavor and texture are spot on perfect.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much Lauren!!! I’m always a little nervous when I rave, just in case people don’t have the same experience as I did, so I’m thrilled to get your feedback – thanks for taking the time! ?
Carleen says
So I had a handful of lemons that needed to be used and I opened your email tonight, saw your lemon recipe and decided to give these a try. They turned out great! So nice to have a good low carb lemon recipe for spring. I enjoy your Instagram and website. Thank you for doing the hard work for us! I’ve been eating LCHF for 2 years and I’ve kept 25 lbs off. Your recipes certainly help me stay on track. Thank you!
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks for making them and reporting back Carleen, I’m so happy you liked them too! And congrats on keeping the weight off!!
Jana says
Hi! I’m allergic to almonds also so I’m wondering if I can substitute peanut flour for the almond flour? I’ve done that before but not sure if it would work in this recipe.
Thanks!
Mellissa Sevigny says
Not sure how the peanut flavor would interact with the lemon – might be overpowering a bit? Maybe sunflower could work and is a little milder?
Krissy says
I’m allergic to almonds, I have recently seen macadamia or walnut flour–have you ever worked with either of these to know if you could possibly substitute with the macadamia or walnut flour? So much of low carb and keto is made with almond flour, how I miss almonds!!!! I”m so glad I have found your website recently, such a great resorce for recipes!
I’m also wondering if you ever use stevia in any of your recipes, I mainly use the brown (less processed)?
Must be wonderful to live on an island, I bet it’s much easier to keep up your vit. D levels:)
Thank you!
Mellissa Sevigny says
I haven’t worked with either of those but in theory they could work just as well as almond flour. I would check the fat content – I know Macs are high so you might need a little less butter. Let us know if you try it and how it turns out!
Gail Morrison says
Melssa, you really scored on the lemons! I used to live in San Pedro (so glad the Palapa Bar got rebuilt!) too and I missed fresh herbs and lemons so much! I love your creativity and your photographs, you amaze me!
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much Gail – and so you know from experience how shocked and excited I was when I saw them! ???? There is a small grocery on the island now called Greenhouse and they have fresh herbs at least, but I’ve never seen lemons there either. So I still have some in the freezer that I’m hoarding for later recipes. I also just got spaghetti squash on the mainland which I couldn’t believe! It’s amazing the things you take for granted when you live in the states ha ha!
Louise Triggs says
I never dreamed lemons could be frozen! I am forever in your debt for that. I love lemon ANYTHING and will be making this as soon as I post this!
Deby says
These are To DIE For! I love anything and everything ‘lemon’ so was hoping they would be as good to eat as they looked! And WOW … they didn’t disappoint!!! In fact, making these has motivated me to get back to my baking passion and start converting my long-loved recipes into Keto-friendly versions!
I always have lemons on hand but for those of you who don’t, keep a batch of “Lemon puree” in the freezer. When I have lemons about to start going bad or get a good buy on bulk lemons I’ll process them in my Ninja – the entire lemon, skin, seeds and all. Pour the puree into ice cube trays or small muffin pans; freeze til solid then pop into a baggy. I use this in smoothies, baking and for cooking!
Lia says
I just made these! They came out perfect! Thank you! (also, I am always jealous when you talk about Belize! I want to visit!)
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much Lia, that was fast ha ha!
Deborah says
These are simply gorgeous. If they taste even half as good as they look, we have a winner.
Perfect for Spring ….and my Easter Brunch.
Well done Melissa!
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much Deborah – hope they are a hit! Be sure to report back!
Melissa H says
This looks amazing, I’ll have to try it out soon :)
Mellissa Sevigny says
You won’t regret it Melissa!
Mary says
These look amazing and just oooze springtime. BUT, do you think I could reduce the lemon and add blueberries, or sub out the lemon all together? I’ve been looking for a recipe like this but I have a hard time with lemon in my breakfast breads. I don’t know why and I have considered the possibility that I am defective. Thank you for any suggestions.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Mary what you are describing sounds like my Blueberry Streusel Muffins – give those a try, they do have a little lemon but it’s subtle and you can definitely omit it!