These Keto Shortbread Cookies have a hint of lemon and are made with a shortbread dough that makes beautiful keto shortbread cookies, or the perfect low carb shortbread crust for a summer fruit tart or lemon meringue pie!
These Keto Shortbread cookies are my new easy, “go to” keto cookie recipe – and once you try them you’ll understand why!
I wasn’t always a fan of lemon flavored desserts – in fact, as a kid I wouldn’t even eat them. In my adulthood though, I’ve come to appreciate the brightness that lemon imparts to a dessert, especially in keto recipes – and now I can’t get enough of it.
I would even go so far as to say that when given the choice of lemon over chocolate, 75% of the time the lemon flavored dessert would win out. Crazy, I know – sometimes I can’t believe it either!
So maybe it’s due to all of the pastel colored foodie magazines showing up in my mailbox, and the promise of Spring and warmer weather just around the corner, but I’ve had lemons on the brain for weeks now.
Anyway, during my crazed obsession with all things lemon last week, I also made these awesome keto shortbread cookies with lemon zest, and they did NOT disappoint!
These keto shortbread cookies require just four ingredients and have an addicting but subtle lemon flavor and crusty shortbread texture that I absolutely love!
Be sure to use a sweetener that is advertised to bake like sugar in these keto shortbread cookies (I prefer granulated erythritol like Swerve, or a monk fruit and erythritol blend like Lakanto) and not a liquid sugar free sweetener or they may not hold together properly.
Also important is that you chill this keto shortbread dough before you cut them into cookies, otherwise they will crumble apart and be impossible to work with.
This versatile keto shortbread dough also makes a lovely low carb tart base or keto pie crust, which does not require pre-chilling. You simply press it into your pan and bake it for 15 minutes.
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Keto Shortbread Cookies
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 1 large tart or 16 cookies (about 2 inches in diameter) 1x
- Diet: Diabetic
Description
Keto shortbread cookies – but the dough also makes the perfect low carb shortbread crust for a summer fruit tart or lemon meringue pie!
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 cups superfine blanched almond flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sweetener (Swerve & Lakanto are my favorites)
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
Instructions
To make the dough:
- Melt the butter in the microwave or a small saucepan.
- Add the almond flour, sweetener, and lemon zest, stirring until fully combined.
To make cookies:
- Gather dough into a ball (it will be crumbly at first, this is normal)
- Then form into a cylinder shape about 10 inches long and 1.5 inches in diameter ( and wrap tightly with plastic wrap to compress.
- Chill in freezer for 30 minutes or until firm, or in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- With a sharp knife, slice into 1/2 inch thick cookies (if they crumble apart your dough isn’t cold enough) and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until firm and golden brown.
- Allow to cool before removing.
To make a tart or pie crust:
- No need to pre-chill, just press dough into tart or pie tins.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees (F) for 15 mins, or until firm and golden brown.
Notes
Approx nutrition info per 1/8th tart crust: 238 calories, 23g fat, 3g net carbs, 6g protein
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Keto desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 119
- Fat: 11g
- Carbohydrates: 2g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
Can’t get enough keto lemon dessert recipes? Me either! Check out this amazing collection of delicious low carb lemon recipes from some of our favorite bloggers!
Sharlene says
I made them exactly like described except I didn’t use the lemon. I don’t like lemon so I used a tsp of vanilla extract. They were so good my husband ate half of them. I will be making more! Anyone ever try using half almond flour and half coconut flour?
Andrea says
Oh wow! I just made the dough for these (didn’t have lemon zest so I used a bit of lemon juice) …I tasted the dough and it was INCREDIBLE!!! now I have to wait for the dough to chill!! Ahhh! I can’t wait to taste the cookies once they’re baked! Thank you!!!
Blanche says
you just saved my low carb life. Thank you.
Elissa says
These are sooo good! I made a batch, put aside 7 for one week’s worth, and froze the rest. Yesterday I had some carbs left for the day so I decided to eat a second one for dessert but didn’t want to dig into the 7 I put aside for the week. So, I ate a frozen one…omg….even better! So good that I put the ones I set aside for this week in the freezer too! Thanks for another great recipe!
Mellissa Sevigny says
These are still on of my very favorite cookies Elissa! I have also flavored them with maple and walnuts, and I’ve done a pecans sandies style too. You can flavor this base with almost anything and it will be great – even a savory version! Glad you liked them! :)
Susan says
I would love to make these but am unsure as to your measurements – could they be given in the UK imperial or grams please. Thanks
Mellissa Sevigny says
I’m sorry, but no. Here is a link to a metrics converter you can use – hope you like the cookies! http://www.metric-conversions.org/
Wendy says
Oh my goodness. Okay, so I didn’t have any lemon extract and made them without, but WOW. Shortbread texture, eating them warm because I couldn’t wait to try them. OH MY WORD. How can these be low carb and so delicious, these are AMAZING!
Flo says
I made these for the first time last night and they were absolutely wonderful. Mine turned out a little softer and less crusty because the granulated splenda I have on hand isn’t the “bakes like sugar”. The end result was something akin to a lofthouse sugar cookie in texture.
Today I made a second batch with a couple of small changes since I was out of lemons to zest. I added 2 Tbsp of dark cocoa powder and 1/4tsp of vanilla. They turned out like soft delicious oreos. I’m sure with baking splenda they’d be delicious milk dunking, ice cream crumbling replicas.
If anyone is having issues getting the dough wrapped tightly enough for cookies that won’t crumble when you slice or bake them I recommend googling “saran wrap frosting” A few quick twirls and you have a tightly wrapped and even cylinder ready for easy slicing.
Thanks, Melissa. Keep on doing what you do. You’re great at it.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much Flo, I appreciate the feedback! Can’t wait to try your oreo version, thanks for sharing!!!!!!!
Aimee says
Has anyone tried these with lavender? I love lavender shortbread cookies!
Melanie E. says
Made these last night and they were delicious! I didn’t have lemon, so I instead used 1/4 tsp of vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract. Delicious! I had read the comments about the dough crumbling after chilling, so I took extra care in how I shaped it in the plastic wrap! I thought I had it pressed well, but when I tried rolling it over to round it out, it did split in two. So I just kept working at it until it all stayed together when I rolled it over! No egg, and it worked for me! These were a huge hit. It had that great buttery almond flavor, and a texture that I don’t think people would guess was gluten-free. YUM!
Melanie E. says
I might try these out tonight–certainly love the very minimal list of ingredients! Yay! The serving size should be 1 cookie or 1/16 of a tart, though, right? (Or should it be 2 cookies and 1/8 of a tart?)