These paleo mini lemon tarts have an easy press-in crust and are totally honey-sweetened.
You don’t see me posting too many pies or tarts around here. Chocolate cookie crusts I can do and love. But regular crust? I’m not a huge fan. And paleo crusts… ugh. What a nightmare!
I think the issue is that I prefer sugar cookie-like crusts. With lots of white sugar. That doesn’t work for paleo so I’ve been fiddling with this recipe for waaay too long. Everything I tried was either too crumbly, soggy, totally lacking in flavor, or just plain bad.
When I make anything individual like mini tarts, cookies and the like, I bake one by one so that I can make changes to the recipe as I go. I have to haul almost all my flour and other baking ingredients with me from the US to Germany and those ingredients are way too precious to be making a full batch at a time. ;)
I’ve baked more than 100 mini tart crusts, one at a time, over the past few weeks. And I’m over it. I want to go back to cookies. :D
But I’m finally happy with this crust. I used honey in the crust and a little cinnamon to make it taste slightly reminiscent of a graham cracker crust. But please don’t make this expecting it to taste exactly like a regular graham cracker crust! You’ll be disappointed.
If a paleo crust isn’t your thing, try this Gluten-free Lemon Tart from Fearless Dining for more of a traditional crust!
For these mini lemon tarts, I also tried coconut crusts, macaroon crusts, regular crusts and lemony crusts. The lemon curd has such a strong lemon flavor that you couldn’t taste any flavor in the crusts. The crust recipe below was the exception!
To fill the tarts, I used my paleo lemon curd. I thought I’d take a shortcut this time and change the instructions a bit to make it easier but that was a mistake. It tasted weird and took SO long to make. I should have known there was some kind of reasoning for writing up the recipe I did. So be sure to follow it and don’t get creative. ;)
For another great paleo dessert recipe, try this paleo nectarine tart. It looks amazing!
Paleo Mini Lemon Tarts (grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 12 mini tarts
The lemon curd recipe yields enough for 4 teaspoons of curd per tart. If you'd like a more generous portion of curd, double the lemon curd recipe (you'll have some leftover after filling the tarts).
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup (80 grams) honey
- zest of 2 lemons (about 1 tablespoon)
- pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup (56 grams) refined coconut oil or regular unsalted butter (use coconut oil for paleo / dairy-free)
- 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (94 milliliters) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons (42 grams) refined coconut oil, softened
- 2 tablespoons (40 grams) honey
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups (150 grams) blanched almond flour
For the lemon curd:
For the crust:
Directions
- Make the curd. Mix together the eggs, honey, lemon zest and salt in a medium non-reactive (ceramic, stainless steel, or nonstick) saucepan or pot. Do not use any reactive (aluminum, copper, iron, and steel) utensils when making this recipe. This applies to any recipe with acidic ingredients.
- Heat over medium-low heat and once everything is well-combined, add the coconut oil or butter and continue stirring.
- Once melted, stir in the lemon juice.
- Cook the lemon curd over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens – about 4-10 minutes. It's ready once the curd coats the back of a spoon and a clear path is left when you run your finger through it. Do not let the curd go over 170 °F (77 °C). Eggs scramble around 185 °F (85 °C) so be careful!
- Place a strainer or food mill over the storage container you want to store the curd in. Strain it and then let it cool completely and chill for at least 30 minutes before filling the tart shells.
- Prepare the tart crust. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C) and get out a 12-cup muffin pan. No need to grease it.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the coconut oil, honey, cinnamon and salt. Add the almond flour and stir until well combined. The dough will be crumbly but should stick together when pinched.
- Divide the dough between the 12 molds (18 grams per cup) and press the dough over the bottom and only about 1/4 or 1/3 up the sides.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from the oven and run a knife around the sides of the tarts (this makes dislodging them later easier). Let sit for 10 minutes or until they've hardened and are easy to remove. They should pop right out with the help of a knife.
- Let cool completely and then place in the refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes or until firm. Fill with the cold lemon curd (4 teaspoons per cup) shortly before serving. I recommend only filling the crusts a few hours before serving to ensure that the crusts don't get soft. If you want to prepare the crusts ahead of time, don't let the crusts sit at room temperature very long before putting away in an airtight container (they get soft if you let them sit uncovered at room temperature). The lemon curd can be prepared 3 days ahead of serving and refrigerated.
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104 comments on “Paleo Mini Lemon Tarts (grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free)” — Add one!
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I made these for a baby shower and they were so delicious!!! Thank you for the recipe. Im most likely going to make these often.
Awesome! I’m so happy to hear that they came out well. :) Thanks a bunch for your feedback!
Why can’t people just follow the GD directions?? You CHANGE THINGS AROUND…you change the outcome…c’mon!!
I think the person below you, if that’s who you’re referring to, did follow directions (or maybe she didn’t – she didn’t answer my question about that!) and just added the butter after they fell apart in the oven. If you mean in general, then YES! Drives me crazy when people leave a bad rating on my recipes although they changed huge elements.
hi…tried this out, and was very pleased with the curd itself! perfectly lemony with a touch of honey. As for the crust…it completely fell apart in the oven and didnt come out and crumbled. I tried crumbling it and mixing it with butter, but that failed.
I’m happy the curd came out well! What do you mean that the crust fell apart in the oven? I’ve never had that happen with any crust recipe so I’m a little confused. Did you make any subs or changes at all to the recipe? And did you use a muffin pan for the crust or something else? Because if you try it using something other than a muffin pan, I can see there being issues with it.
It looks so good! If I made a lemon pie with this crust do you think it would held ok during a week? Since you said one should fill the tart only before eating I wonder if it would be ok.
Thanks! I don’t recommend using this crust for a pie. I haven’t tried it, so it could work, but I’m not very hopeful that it would (I’ve had a bad experience using tart crusts in pie pans!). Do you mean you’d like to make the crust a week ahead of time and then fill before serving? I think it may be okay but I’d recommend making the crusts only a few days before serving, if possible. :) If you mean make the crust and fill it, then no, it wouldn’t be okay for a whole week. I hope you’ll enjoy them if you try it! :)
I am unable to have nut flours or coconut due to allergies. Any other options? Would a gluten free graham cracker work for the crust? Looks heavenly!!!
I think that could work! At least if the graham crackers aren’t all that flavorful. I tried this recipe with so many different crusts and a problem I often had is that the flavor of the crust overpowered the lemon flavor or it just didn’t go very well with the lemon flavor. I hope you’ll enjoy them if you try them! :)
Wow! It sounds & looks like your persistence paid off with the crust! And lemon curd?? Yes please!
Thanks! :)
What would happen if I prepared these and froze them? Or refrigerate empty crusts and freeze the curd? I need these in 4 days and I made them today 😁
I’m not sure if the lemon curd would freeze very well due to the eggs. I wrote that the lemon curd can be prepared 3 days in advance but I’m pretty sure 4 or even 5 days is fine. So I’d keep that and the crusts refrigerated (both in airtight containers) until the day of serving. :) I hope you’ll enjoy them!
Being the lemon lover I am these are definitely going on the must try list!!
I hope you’ll enjoy them! :)
You have WAY more patience than I do…haha. No way I could bake so many little tarts just to get it right. I wold probably give up – I’m the worst. However, I’m glad you were able to make it work because these look ahhhhhmazing! Love that shell looks crunchy and that lemon curd – perfection!
Haha. I was so mad at those crusts. I’m just thankful it’s all over. :D
Oh my gosh, I couldn’t imagine having to drag my baking stuff from the US back to Germany! What a pain! are the ingredients here just a ton different from there? Whoo wee and 100 mini tarts? You’ve got more will power than I do because I would have gone bonkers hahaha.
Glad you finally got a crust that you’re happy with! I think it looks wonderful!
They are totally different! If I make an American cookie recipe with German “all-purpose” flour, it just won’t work. It’s a disaster! We don’t have the same kind of baking powder, no brown sugar, etc. And believe me, I did go bonkers. I just REALLY wanted to post these. :D
That is what I call persistence! But it certainly looks like your hard work paid off. ;) These tarts look perfect!
Thanks, Carrie! :)
Oh boy these look to die for. I most certainly would devour 3 or 4 at least!
They’re tiny so that totally makes sense. ;)
These are adorable, I could eat a million of these. They’re small so that’s totally acceptable, am I right? I love that you conquered the crust, it looks like perfection. I can’t wait to try it.
Thanks! And of course it is! :D
Mmmmm….love these little tarts, especially with that crust!
Thank you, Cathy!
I love how these look! It’s Mother’s Day this weekend in Australia and these will be perfect!
Thank you! It’s Mother’s Day here, too, this weekend. :) Or at least in the US. I have no idea what’s going on in Germany. Haha.
YUM!!! I am a lemon person too. I need to try this crust for the GF, DF family members.
I hope you’ll enjoy it! Don’t expect it to be like a regular wheat-based crust, though. Grain-free crusts are totally different. It’s still yummy, though. :)
That’s real dedication! These look perfectly delicious!
Thanks! :)
These look perfect!!! How the heck are you friend. I miss your face!
I’m doing okay! What about you? :)
I do the same thing with baking one at a time with tarts/cookies, etc!! I find I waste a lot less ingredients that way. Love these tarts and the honey added to the crust!
Right?! I couldn’t imagine making full batches! I’d throw soooo much away.
Looks like your hard work paid off. The crust looks perfect!
Thank you! :)