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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Hi! These look amazing! Can you use unrefined coconut oil in this recipe as well as your paleo lemon cookies?
Thanks!
Hi there! Most definitely. :) Hope you’ll enjoy them! I’d love to hear how they come out.
Can I use whole wheat flour instead of almond?
Unfortunately wheat isn’t interchangeable with nut flours. Sorry about that! You could use almond meal or another type of nut flour / meal.
Wow!!! The recipe for these tarts looked good, but I was trying not to be too hopeful – paleo desserts are limited! These are the real deal. They taste amazing!!!! I love lemon curd. Always have. Have had to move to paleo for health reasons and I thought I’d give these a go thinking “they might be okay”. They far exceeded my expectations – the curd is DELICIOUS! Thank you Erin. Amazing.
Haha. Best not to be too hopeful when trying out paleo desserts. ;) I have loads of other paleo desserts that you might like (I’m not even paleo but love them!). You’re very welcome for the recipe and I’m so glad to hear that you weren’t disappointed! Thanks a bunch for your comment. :)
These honestly look incredible! Right up my street – have pinned these so I can make them!! Thanks so much for the recipe :) x
You’re welcome! Hope you’ll enjoy them. Thanks for pinning!
This looks good! I’m excited to try the crust! I love graham crackers so an alternative will be nice.
Thanks! Hope you’ll enjoy it. :)
Thanks for sharing! I am excited to try this. I love the Paleo mini sweet treats!
I’m so very sorry for just now seeing your comment (that landed up in spam for whatever reason). Hope you’ll enjoy the tarts! :)
Hi can I use butter in the crust instead of coconut oil? Thank you
I haven’t tried it so I’m not positive. I think it’d probably work with 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon butter but it’s just a guess. I hope you’ll enjoy them!
I used this crust for a df gf key lime pie. I made it in a 8 x8 glass baking dish and baked it with the filling on top for 25 minutes. My company really enjoyed it. Will make again.
Awesome! So happy that it worked out well. Thanks for sharing how you made it in an 8×8! I’ll probably try that myself. :) Thanks again!
I was short on almond flour and had about 7/8 of a cup. I added about 2 tbsp of coconut flour to the dough mixture and baked up 10 instead of 12 in the cupcake pan. Turned out to be a really tasty base, a bit less granular than the original recipe – and the final product held together much more firmly as well.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll have to try that myself. I hope you enjoyed the tarts. :)
Hi,
Looks wonderful. My muffin pan is a bit dodgy-what do you think of using paper liners? I would remove them right before filling the crusts. Also thought the liner would create a fluted, tart-like edge.
Hi there! I haven’t tried it but I think it’d work. I hope you’ll enjoy them. :)
Hi, sorry just a quick one. Do you think I can use erytrit instead of honey, not to have added sugar? Thanks :)
Hi there! Sorry but I’ve never tried it or actually used it in any recipe so I have no idea. Sorry about that! If you try it out, anyway, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Hi, it works perfectly with erythrit :) thanks a lot for the great recipe, it was super delicious! X
Awesome! That’s great. :) Thanks for letting me know!
Hi angel, I really want to make this but almond flour is so expensive where I live… so, I was wondering: is it possible to use sunflower seed flour? like, putting the seeds on the food processor and grinding them… thanks! pics are amazing!
Thanks! I’m happy you like the pictures. :) I’ve never used sunflower seed flour in anything so I unfortunately have no idea. I know that other people use it as a sub for almond flour but since I haven’t tried it myself, I really can’t say. Sorry about that!
Can i use bobs red mill almond flour? I find almond flour a little heavy to digest, does this have a light texture?
Well the crust is like a regular crust. So not light and airy. Bob’s Red Mill is what I used. :)
Loved the lemon curd but my tarts crumbled when I lifted them out after 10 mins . Followed all instructions …any ideas ??? As flavours so good .
Hmm. After 10 minutes, mine just popped right out. If you want to try again, chill them first before removing from the pan and that should firm them up even more. Or, did you use scratched up pans by any chance? I’ve had that issue with scratched up pans. I’m happy they at least tasted good. :)
It is going to sound weird- but I needed a crust “cookie” and successfully used your crust to create that. After mixing, I took a good handful, smashed it into a ball-ish shape, then pressed and formed them into circles on a parchment lined cookie sheet, sprayed lightly with coconut oil.
I baked as instructed and let cool. They are soft cookies and perfect to stick in my lemon merengue parfaits.
I got 6 cookies out of a single crust batch. I might try smaller version in the future and adjust the baking time.
Thanks for sharing!
It doesn’t sound weird! It sounds fantastic. :) Thanks for the tip! I’ll have to give that a try because it sounds great. Thanks a ton for your comment.
what did you use for tart molds?
I used a 12-cup muffin pan.
Thank you. Regular size muffin tins or mini ones?
I used a standard-sized 12-cup muffin pan.
Thank you. I am making them today. If I am going to wait awhile before filling the crust, should I keep them in the refrigerator the whole time
Before filling?
You could refrigerate or leave them at room temp. 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). But you still need to chill for about 30 minutes before filling so that the crusts firm up. Hope you’ll enjoy them!
Hi Erin! This recipe looks great but I wanted to know if I could sub the coconut oil with butter in the crust. Thank you!
Hi Karen! I haven’t tried it so I’m not positive. I think it’d probably work with 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon butter but it’s just a guess. I hope you’ll enjoy them!
Thanks, Erin! Am definitely trying this coz I seem to have a lot of lemons …. and this seems much more exciting than lemonade 😍
Haha. I think it is, too! Hope they come out well. :)
Would you recommend coconut flour instead? It’s all that’s available for me at the moment.
Unfortunately, coconut flour’s not interchangeable with any other type of flour as it absorbs so much more liquid. Sorry about that! The only sub for almond flour is other nut flours.
I want to make this crust, but as one tart not minis. What alterations do I need? Also, is this okay on a group who won’t notice it’s healthy?hehe thanks!!
I really wouldn’t recommend making this crust as a full-sized tart. I don’t think it’d work (but I could be wrong!). It doesn’t taste like regular crust so they’ll probably notice it’s different! I know this isn’t even remotely similar to lemon tart, but a lot of people have said that they actually prefer these paleo chocolate fudge pie last week and the filling tastes just like a regular chocolate fudge pie! Actually, the crust I used there should work for the lemon tarts in a 9″ tart pan. :)
Is the recipe for the curd enough for one whole tart, though? I am planning on using a different crust
The curd recipe yields about 1 cup. I don’t think that’d be enough.
Hi, I’m really looking forward to making these however I wanted to know if the tartlet cases can freeze? Looking to make the cases in advance and freeze them.
Hello! Yes, I think they’d freeze well. I hope you’ll enjoy them! :)