You only need 7 ingredients to make these lemon bars. The lemon curd filling is extra thick and creamy and sits on an irresistible buttery shortbread crust. Always bake lemon bars at a lower temperature to avoid over-baking. They’re simply the best lemon bars and are perfect for picnics, bake sales, spring brunches, baby showers, and bridal showers.
Today I’m teaching you how to make lemon bars. I love this lemon dessert recipe so much that I published it in my 1st cookbook, Sally’s Baking Addiction. These are the best lemon bars and I don’t use that statement lightly. After 1 taste, I’m confident you’ll agree. Everyone needs this recipe.
The process is pretty simple and I’m walking you through each step in the video tutorial below. Pick up some fresh citrus and let’s get baking. Spring is in the air!
Video Tutorial: Lemon Bars
These are classic lemon bars featuring a soft butter shortbread crust and a tangy sweet lemon curd filling that’s baked to the perfect consistency. The lemon layer is thick and substantial, not thin or flimsy like most other lemon bar recipes.
Only 7 Ingredients in these Lemon Bars
- Butter: Melted butter is the base of the shortbread crust.
- Sugar: Sugar sweetens the crust and lemon curd filling layers. Not only this, it works with the eggs to set up the lemon filling. If reduced, the filling will be too wet.
- Flour: Flour is also used in both layers. Like sugar, it gives structure to the lemon filling. These days, I add slightly more flour to the shortbread crust compared to my cookbook version. You can get away with 2 cups, but an extra 2 Tablespoons really helps solidify the foundation of the lemon bars.
- Vanilla Extract: I use 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract in the shortbread crust. Not many lemon bar recipes call for vanilla extract and I promise you it’s my best kept secret.
- Salt: Without salt, the crust would be too sweet.
- Eggs: Eggs are most of the structure. Without them, you have lemon soup!
- Lemon Juice: I highly recommend using lemon juice squeezed from fresh lemons. You can also use another citrus like blood orange, grapefruit, or lime juice. For extra flavor, add some fresh zest as well.
How to Make Lemon Bars in 5 Steps
- Prepare the crust: Mix all of the shortbread crust ingredients together, then press firmly into a 9×13-inch baking pan. Interested in a smaller batch? See my recipe note.
- Pre-bake: Pre-baking the crust guarantees it will hold up under the lemon layer.
- Prepare the filling: Whisk all of the filling ingredients together. No cooking on the stove!
- Bake: Pour the filling on the warm pre-baked crust, then bake for around 20 minutes or until the center is just about set. I slightly increased the baking temperature from my cookbook version. Either temperatures work, but 325°F is preferred.
- Cool: I usually cool the lemon bars for about 1 hour at room temperature, then stick the whole pan in the refrigerator for 1-2 more hours until relatively chilled. They’re wonderful cold and with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar on top!
Prepared in only 2 bowls and a baking pan, clean up is a breeze. These lemon bars win 1st place every time because they’re the perfect balance of tangy and sweet. In fact, I made them for my friend’s baby shower last weekend and they were the first dessert to disappear. And that’s saying a lot considering the competition: homemade chewy fudgy frosted brownies and adorable mini animal cracker cookies. 🙂
2 Guaranteed Tricks to Make the Best Lemon Bars
- Use a glass pan. Ceramic is fine, but glass is best. Do not use metal. I always detect a slight metallic flavor in the lemon bars when baked in metal pans.
- Use fresh juice. Store-bought bottles are convenient, but you miss out on a lot of flavor. You will definitely taste the difference! I have a super old citrus juicer, but I recently purchased this juicer for my mom and she loves it. Highly recommended.
White Air Bubbles on Top of Baked Lemon Bars
Do you notice air bubbles, perhaps even a white layer of air bubbles, on top of your baked lemon bars? That’s completely normal. It’s the air from the eggs rising to the surface. Some batches have it, some don’t. Regardless, the lemon bars taste the same and a dusting of confectioners’ sugar covers it right up!
Blood orange bars! See my recipe note about substituting flavors.
Want to kick it up a notch? Here are my lemon meringue pie and lemon cheesecake recipes.
Craving lots of texture with your bars? You’ll love my oatmeal lemon crumble bars.
Plenty of lemon recipes to love on my site including these lemon crinkle cookies and lemon thumbprint cookies! Regardless of what you choose, lemon desserts are always a great choice when looking for springtime or Easter dessert recipes.
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Lemon Bars
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 50 minutes
- Yield: 24 bars
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
You only need 7 ingredients to make these lemon bars. The lemon curd filling is extra thick and creamy and sits on an irresistible butter shortbread crust. Always bake lemon bars at a lower temperature to avoid over-baking. See recipe notes for important tips. They’re simply the best lemon bars and are perfect for picnics, bake sales, spring brunches, baby showers, and bridal showers.
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (265g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
Lemon Filling
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 6 Tablespoons (46g) all-purpose flour
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup (240ml) fresh lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest, optional
- optional: confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Line the bottom and sides of a 9×13-inch glass baking pan (do not use metal) with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on the sides to lift the finished bars out (makes cutting easier!). Set aside.
- Make the crust: Mix the melted butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the flour and stir to completely combine. The dough will be thick. Press firmly into prepared pan, making sure the layer of crust is nice and even. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven. Using a fork, poke holes all over the top of the warm crust (not all the way through the crust). A new step I swear by, this helps the filling stick and holds the crust in place. Set aside until step 4.
- Make the filling: Sift the sugar and flour together in a large bowl. Whisk in the eggs, then the lemon juice and lemon zest (if using) until completely combined.
- Pour filling over warm crust. Bake the bars for 22-26 minutes or until the center is relatively set and no longer jiggles. (Give the pan a light tap with an oven mitt to test.) Remove bars from the oven and cool completely at room temperature. I usually cool them for about 2 hours at room temperature, then stick in the refrigerator for 1-2 more hours until pretty chilled. I recommend serving chilled.
- Once cool, lift the parchment paper out of the pan using the overhang on the sides. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cut into squares before serving. For neat squares, wipe the knife clean between each cut. Cover and store leftover lemon bars in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- Freezing Instructions: Lemon bars can be frozen for up to 3-4 months. Cut the cooled bars (without confectioners’ sugar topping) into squares, then place onto a baking sheet. Freeze for 1 hour. Individually wrap each bar in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and place into a large bag or freezer container to freeze. Thaw in the refrigerator, then dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.
Notes
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-inch Glass Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Silicone Spatula | Silicone Whisk | Juicer | Fine Mesh Sieve
- Halve the Recipe: Halve each of the ingredients to yield around 12 squares in a 9-inch square baking pan. Same oven temperature. Bake the crust for 16-18 minutes and the bars for 20 minutes or until the center no longer jiggles.
- Sifting: More often than not, the flour doesn’t fully incorporate into the lemon filling unless it’s sifted with the sugar. As directed in the recipe, sift the two together before adding the eggs and lemon juice. I don’t always do this (and didn’t even do it in the video above!) but it’s preferred to avoid any flour lumps. If you have a sifter, it’s worth using. If you forget, it’s not a huge deal. Here is my favorite sifter. You use it again to dust the lemon bars with confectioners’ sugar.
- Lemon Juice: For exceptional taste, I highly recommend fresh lemon juice. Here is a wonderful inexpensive juicer if you don’t have one. Or use another fresh-squeezed citrus like grapefruit, blood orange, lime, or regular orange. You can slightly reduce the sugar if using a sweeter citrus. I recommend no less than 1 and 2/3 cup granulated sugar in the filling as it’s needed for structure.
- Room Temperature: Bringing the eggs and lemon juice to room temperature helps them mix easier into the flour and sugar. However, I never notice a taste or texture difference when using cold. Room temperature or cold, use whichever!
Reader Comments and Reviews
Delicious! My shortbread wasn’t just right, though so we will have to try again to get it just right!
I have my moms recipe for lemon bars but this one was just as good! I like the idea of trying other citrus.
It’s only March 3 and I couldn’t wait to make these for this month’s challenge! With only two bowls, it was the easiest lemon bar recipe I’ve ever followed! Thanks for the tips and tricks along the way 🙂
These were delicious and SO much easier than my normal lemon bars where I have to cook the filling on the stovetop first. I made with lime and will definitely be making them again!
My husband loves lemon bars, and he was so excited when I told him that I was making these.
I used a slightly larger dish to make them because for some reason I don’t own a normal 9×13, but they still turned out perfect. I thought I would have to shorten the bake time (since the dish was bigger it would make thinner bars which would bake quicker) but I actually had to extend the baking time from the original recipe. I didn’t keep track of how much longer, I just put them back in for a couple minutes and then checked (and repeated when necessary). I also have a slightly older oven, so that might have made a difference.
Other than the adjusted bake time, these were easy to make and my husband has been eating them nonstop. Great recipe!
Thanks for another beautiful and delicious recipe, Sally. I made lime bars today using this recipe. They were delicious. I loved the tart flavor which was a perfect compliment to the sweet shortbread crust. I am making soup and desert for a local food shelf fundraiser and I plan to make this recipe again. They will be a hit!
Oh my, so delicious and lemony!
Just made these and they turned out delicious! Can’t wait to share them with some friends/family!! Awesome recipe!!
Another great recipe! Lemon bars were already a springtime favorite and this recipe is a definite keeper. I love that I can easily freeze these lemon bars too.
I really enjoyed the simplicity of this recipe, and the fact that it was undeniably LEMONY. I’ve made lemon bars recipes before that were mostly sweet with a hint of lemon, definitely not the case here! The contrast of the tart lemon and the buttery shortbread is delicious. Will definitely be making these again, and will likely try with different citrus fruits.
These lemon bars turned out perfectly. Yummy!!
Hi Sarah! This is a great question. Melted coconut oil would be the best choice for replacing the butter in the crust.
This was my first time participating in your baking challenge tradition and it was good fun! I went with the savoury vegetable tart from November, but switched up the veg for gently saute’d broccoli with garlic: https://bit.ly/2SBWQBL
May try this one next – thanks for wonderful recipes!
I used Meyer lemons, reduced the sugar in the lemon curd just ever so slightly, and used whole wheat white flour instead of all purpose. These turned out amazing!
I love lemon bars! They look amazing!
Super easy and delicious, mine took much longer to bake for both the shortbread and filling, but I suspect my oven is to blame for that. Dusted mine with confectioners sugar mixed with crushed freeze dried strawberries, yum! Will definitely make again!
Yumo! It’s been so dreary January & February in Oklahoma! I came home from celebrating my sweet uncles life today and decided to bake a pan of “sunshine!” I know my uncle is smiling down! They are super easy and delicious!
I made these today using grapefruit, since that’s what I had at home. I can’t believe how quick and easy these come together! And the flavor is wonderful! I’m excited to make them again with lemon for more tartness.
I LOVE how easy this recipe is! So much easier than other ones I’ve tried before, and just as tasty!
My first time ever making lemon bars and with this recipe and videos it was so easy.
Loved these bars and my husband loved them too! The crust is awesome and I can’t wait to try different fillings. Loved that they don’t require a mixer and clean up was easy too, especially with the parchment paper lining! Thanks Sally!
This is a family favorite! Everyone gets excited when it bring it over. I’m excited to try it with some different flavors
I’ve never made lemon bars from scratch before, these were easy to make and they came out delicious! I love the thickness of the lemon layer! didn’t have any confectioners sugar but honestly I didn’t even miss it.
Delicious and easy to make. I hate that the powdered sugar dissolves into the bars. Makes it hard to transport the finished product.
Hi Karen! As the lemon bars cool, the powdered sugar shouldn’t dissolve into the bars as much- feel free to add this sugar after the bars are cool next time!
Delicious! A little more tart than I expected but they were a hit with my family. I was washing some dishes while the crust baked, so I wasn’t able to pour the filling on right away. I ended up having to bake the custard about 12 minutes longer, which lead to a few cracks, but it was still delicious. My first time ever making lemon bars!
Yum!! I halved the recipe and made them in an 8×8 pyrex. They turned out great!
After 21 mins the curd was still verrrry jiggly. Any ideas why? I have it still at 325.
Thanks!
Simply varying ovens and pans. Nothing to worry about. Continue to bake until the center is just about set.
I made these for my daughters sleepover, they were a big hit!
Loved these! Made them this morning, and they turned out perfectly! I already have requests to make them again soon.
Made these lemon bars today and they’re super delicious! Never had anything like it, I guess this might be mostly an American dessert, but I really love how well the flavors and textures of the shortbread and the lemon filling go together. I made it in a 9×9 pan and did all the ingredients x 0.7 (which, in case anyone is wondering, means 4.2 eggs or 210 g).
This won’t be the last time I make these. Next time I’ll try them with oranges or blood oranges.