Lemon Cake Mix Cookies

These soft and chewy Lemon Cake Mix Cookies are keto, low carb, and PERFECT for Spring! Turn a simple keto yellow cake mix into a citrusy cookie the whole family will love. A simple 2-ingredient lemon glaze brings these over the top adds a fantastic sweet, bright flavor.

At under 1 net carb per cookie, this is an easy keto dessert perfect for beginners. It’s versatile and can be altered for different flavors, too (swapping out lemons for oranges would make a great creamsicle flavor, I think!).

Why You’ll LOVE This Recipe:

• EASY – These little cookies have just 0.9 net carbs each with glaze (0.8 without), and they don’t require a ton of ingredients! One store-bought keto cake mix is jazzed up with lemon juice, zest, and extract for super easy cookies that don’t take a ton of measuring or investing in alternative flours and sweeteners
• SOFT & CHEWY – The beauty of cake mixes lies in their moisture and their ease. Using a keto yellow cake mix means you’ll get a thick, chewy cookie that stays nice and soft for several days. They can stand up well to sugar free white chocolate chips as well if you’d like to make them extra special!
• FREEZER FRIENDLY – It’s hard to keep keto treats in the house because it’s so tempting to have them all at once! This recipe is perfect for making and freezing a big batch, then you can take out a couple each day for a lunchbox treat or midnight snack. It’s also perfect for freezing multiple batches to prepare for holidays, cookie swaps, and special occasions.

Ingredients for Keto Lemon Cake Mix Cookies

Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll need for this recipe. Keep scrolling down to the printable recipe card below for exact measurements.

• Keto Yellow Cake Mix – Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find a lemon cake mix that’s also keto. So to improvise, we’ll start with a yellow cake mix and add that great lemon flavor on our own. I used Duncan Hines Keto Yellow Cake Mix.
• Eggs, Melted Butter – Melted butter could be swapped out for vegetable oil if you prefer this, but I love the buttery flavor. Eggs should be size large and room temperature.
• Lemon zest, juice, and extract – This is where that bright, citrus flavor comes in! For the amount of zest, you’ll need 2 large or 3 small lemons. You can use fresh or bottled juice if you must. Lemon extract helps provide a lemony flavor in every bite.
• Optional: Confectioners sweetener, additional lemon juice – These two ingredients combine to make an easy, delicious glaze to cover the cookies.

Keto Lemon Glaze

The optional lemon glaze is made with just TWO ingredients! All you need is lemon juice (bottled or fresh will work) and a keto-friendly confectioners sweetener. I used Lakanto’s Confectioners Monk Fruit. You can thin this down (using water) and cover the whole cookie, or keep it just thick enough to drizzle stripes across your cookies.

How to Make Keto Cookies

This recipe is so easy–You’ll need 2 mixing bowls (one large, one small), a baking sheet and liner (parchment paper or silicone liners), a small ice cream scoop, and a spoon. Here’s a step-by-step guide for creating these tasty keto cookies.

Prep

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet (or 2) with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. If you don’t have either of these, make sure to spray the pan with a nonstick spray so that the cookies can easily be removed later. Melt the butter in a small bowl and give it time to cool.

Mix

Pour your keto cake mix into a large mixing bowl, then use a spatula or spoon to create a well in the middle for all of the wet ingredients. Place the melted (and cooled!) butter into the bowl along with the eggs, lemon extract, juice, and zest.

Begin gently whisking the wet ingredients to break the eggs, then slowly begin incorporating more and more of the flour mixture. Keep whisking until there are no air pockets with unmixed pockets of flour and the mixture is nice and thick. Chill for at least 10 minutes to let the almond flour absorb the liquid.

TIP: If you’re prepping, you could simply store this dough in a container for 5-7 days in the fridge, then scoop and bake later. Alternatively, you could form it into a log and wrap with plastic for slice-and-bake style cookies.

Shape

Scoop the dough using a small ice cream scoop, then roll each piece into a nearly perfect sphere. Place them at least 2″ apart from one another until the pan is full. Finally, gently press each piece with a spoon, slightly flattening the top of the dough.

Why press the cookies?

Keto and gluten free mixes have less elastic, stretchy properties, so they don’t spread out like your average cookie made with all-purpose flour. If you don’t press the cookies, they come out very sphere-shaped, and it can be difficult to keep the glaze on.

Bake

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Remember, they will continue cooking a bit on the pan, so remove them from the oven when they look just BARELY cooked. Allow them to cool on the pan while you make the glaze.

Glaze

In a small bowl, mix together your sweetener and lemon juice. Whisk until nice and smooth, then use a spoon to drizzle this in stripes over the cookies. If you prefer a pour-over glaze the covers the whole cookie, simply thin the glaze with a bit of water or more lemon juice. Don’t touch the glaze for at least ten minutes (preferably not for an hour, but self control is difficult).

Store

• COUNTERTOP: Cookies in an airtight container on the counter will last about 5-7 days. They can begin to feel a bit stale after day 4, but 10 seconds in the microwave soften them up beautifully!
• FRIDGE: Cookies stored in the fridge will stay fresh for 7-10 days. The cookies are a bit harder when cold, so allow it to sit and come to room temperature for the best soft and chewy texture.
• COOKIE DOUGH: If you’re not ready to bake the cookies, the dough will last 5-7 days in the fridge. This is perfect meal prepping before a party or when you want fresh cookies multiple days in a row!
• LEMON GLAZE: Lemon glaze will last about a week in the fridge, but it does thicken up quite a bit. You’ll likely need to thin it out with a bit of water to get it back to drizzling consistency.

Freeze

Cookies in the freezer are best when eaten within 3 months. Freeze on a baking sheet in a single layer (not touching) for 1-2 hours, then transfer to a freezer bag for the remaining time. To protect against freezer burn, you could double wrap cookies in batches in plastic wrap.

You can freeze the cookie dough, too! Before baking, simply store in an airtight container, roll it up into a log for an easy slice-and-bake cookie, or scoop, roll, and gently press the dough into shape. Place the individual dough pieces on a baking sheet (not touching) in a single layer, then freeze for 1-2 hours. Finally, transfer to a freezer bag and cook within 3 months.

If you like these low carb lemon cookies, you’ll love these easy keto desserts!

• Keto Cake Mix Cookies – If you don’t need the citrus flavor, consider adding some chocolate chips for a tasty, easy keto cookie!
• Lemon Cookies with White Chocolate & Macadamia Nuts – The perfect blend of soft and crisp, chocolatey and crunchy!
• Air Fryer Cookies – This keto recipe gives you 2 single serving cookies or a nice deep dish cookie perfect for special occasions and splurging!
• No Bake Almond Butter Cookies – We love how simple and easy this recipe is! These are also perfect straight from the freezer for a quick sweet treat.
• Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies – This is, hands down, the BEST keto chocolate chip cookie you will ever have. Even non-keto friends can’t get enough of these!
• The BEST Keto Cookies – Here’s a list of all of our favorites!

FAQs about Keto Lemon Cake Mix Cookies

Yield: 24 small cookies

Keto Lemon Cake Mix Cookies

Print

These Keto Lemon Cake Mix Cookies are just under 1 net carb each and bursting with citrus flavor! A box of keto yellow cake mix has never tasted SO good.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 box Duncan Hines Keto Yellow Cake Mix (10.6 ounce)
• 2 eggs, large
• 1/2 cup melted, cooled butter (or vegetable oil)
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract (increase to 2 teaspoons if not adding lemon glaze)

Lemon Glaze:

• 1/3 cup confectioners sweetener
• 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice (more ore less depending on your preferred consistency)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper (or simply spray the sheet with nonstick spray).
2. In a large mixing bowl, pour in your keto cake mix. Create a well in the center, then pour in the melted (but cooled!) butter or oil as well as the eggs, lemon extract, juice, and zest.
3. Using a whisk, begin beating the eggs and mixing the liquids, carefully incorporating the cake mix as you work. The mixture gets nice and thick. Once there are no pockets of unmixed flour, place dough in fridge to chill for 10-30 minutes. Do not overmix.
4. Once chilled, scoop out the dough into 24 pieces using a small ice cream scoop. Roll the pieces of cookie dough into perfect spheres, then place them at least 2 inches away from one another on the baking sheet. Gently press the tops of the cookie dough with a spoon, slightly flattening the top of the dough.
5. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven, then allow to continue cooking on the hot pan for 5-10 minutes before removing.
6. In a small bowl, mix together the confectioners sweetener and lemon juice until it reaches a smooth consistency. You can drizzle this on in pretty stripes, or you could thin it out with water and pour directly over each cookie to coat it in a tasty, lemony glaze.
7. Allow glaze to set for at least 30 minutes before touching to prevent any fingerprints from messing up your decorations.

Notes

Nutritional values calculated with lemon glaze. Without the glaze, simply subtract 1 calorie and 0.1 net carbs.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

24

Serving Size:

1 Cookie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 47Total Fat: 4.5gCholesterol: 25.7mgSodium: 11.5mgCarbohydrates: 1.2gNet Carbohydrates: 0.9gFiber: 0.3gSugar: 0.4gProtein: 0.7g

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