This one-bowl Coconut Flour Lemon Cake with a lemon glaze is Paleo, gluten-free, and keto-friendly. This easy cake can be whipped up quickly for the perfect weeknight dessert.
This coconut flour lemon cake is bursting with lemon flavor. The cake is moist and soft. When I was creating it I used lite coconut milk to replace some of the eggs and it made the cake taste extremely moist.
The lemon flavor comes from 2 fresh lemons plus the zest of the lemons. My lemons were medium size so it took 1 and a half lemons to get 1/4 cup of lemon juice. If your lemons are huge then one lemon will work just fine. You can use store-bought lemon juice instead of freshly squeezed.
I created this recipe to be a one-bowl recipe. There is no need to use a stand mixer. Just make sure your coconut oil is liquid. Simply add all of the ingredients to the bowl starting with the wet ingredients and then whisk to combine. Then add all of the dry ingredients and whisk again and then pour the batter into a cake pan and bake until golden.
The glaze is a simple glaze made with powdered sugar substitute and lemon juice. The lemon glaze adds the perfect extra bit of lemon flavor to this cake.
You could always take this cake and make a 2 or 3 layer cake out of it by baking extra layers and then using lemon buttercream frosting.
Coconut Flour Lemon Cake Ingredients
Lots of ingredients, and lots of substitutions you can do (just check out the FAQ below).
Cake Ingredients:
- 1 cup lite coconut milk or carton coconut milk (or you can just make your own coconut milk)
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted (or again – you can make your own coconut oil)
- ¼ cup lemon juice (2 lemons) + the zest of the lemons
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (did you know you can DIY vanilla extract? It’s easy, delicious, and a CLEAR step-up vs storebought)
- ¾ cup + 2 tbsp coconut flour
- ½ cup swerve, lakanto, or coconut palm sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder (you can make your own baking powder at home!)
- ½ tsp salt
Lemon Glaze:
- ¾ cup powdered sugar substitute (lakanto and swerve are my favorite brands)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
*Note: this makes a thick glaze. You can add more lemon juice or water to thin it out if you prefer thin glaze.
Coconut Flour Lemon Cake FAQ
Help! I can’t eat eggs. How do I make this egg-free?
I have never tested an egg-free version of this coconut flour lemon cake. I did decrease the number of eggs by using coconut milk. You can try replacing the eggs with a “chia egg”, bananas, applesauce or whatever you usually use in place of eggs. The cake will be denser using an egg replacer.
Can I substitute almond flour for coconut flour?
No, you can’t substitute coconut flour 1:1 for almond flour in this recipe. There are ways to convert a coconut flour recipe to an almond flour recipe but it would also require decreasing the eggs. For this recipe, I suggest you use only coconut flour or search for a Paleo lemon cake recipe. Why does this recipe use barely any coconut flour? Coconut flour is highly absorbent. Think of it like sawdust haha (you’ll understand once you start baking with it). Coconut flour recipes soak up all of the liquid so that’s why you need a higher amount of eggs and liquid ingredients. When you see a coconut flour-based recipe don’t be alarmed when the amount of coconut flour seems too low and DON’T be tempted to add more coconut flour unless you are used to baking with this special flour.
Can I use store-bought lemon juice instead of fresh lemons?
You can use store-bought lemon juice instead of fresh lemons in this coconut flour lemon cake. You don’t have to add the lemon zest but it does help to add extra lemon flavor.
If you love this lemon cake recipe, then check out my coconut flour cake, coconut flour chocolate cake recipe, keto mug cake, and keto lemon bars!
PrintCoconut Flour Lemon Cake
One-bowl Coconut Flour Lemon Cake with a lemon glaze. This cake is Paleo, gluten-free, and keto-friendly. This easy cake can be whipped up quickly for the perfect weeknight dessert.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 44 minutes
- Total Time: 1hr 10 minutes
- Yield: 1 8 inch cake (8 slices) 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 cup lite coconut milk or carton coconut milk
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (2 lemons) + the zest of the lemons
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/2 cup swerve, lakanto, or coconut palm sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar substitute (lakanto and swerve are my favorite brands)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper and grease the sides.
- In a large mixing bowl, add all of the wet ingredients: the coconut milk, eggs, coconut oil, lemon juice, zest, and vanilla extract. Whisk together to combine.
- Next, add all of the dry ingredients: coconut flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together. The batter should be thick.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 35 to 44 minutes, until golden and a toothpick can be inserted and comes out dry.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then gently remove the cake and allow it to fully cool on a cooling rack.
- When the cake has cooled, make the lemon glaze. To make the lemon glaze mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl and whisk. Pour the glaze over the cake and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition info is based on using swerve sweetener. Sugar alcohols don’t count towards your net carbs since they aren’t digested. There is 3.9g net carbs per slice of cake.
Nutrition Facts
- Serving Size: 1 slice (8 slices total)
- Calories: 200
- Fat: 15.8g
- Carbohydrates: 33.5g (3.9 net carbs)
- Fiber: 4.5g
- Protein: 5g