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
I was very disappointed in this recipe. The shortbread came out like a slab of dough – in fact, even the photographs illustrate this. The filling was floury and rather bland. I made these bars to compare with another recipe, which used a different method for the shortbread, cream instead of flour as the binding agent for the filling, and lemon zest as well as juice. The other recipe was much superior. the only thing this one had going for it was that it was easier to cut.
I think the instructions could be more precise and accurate.
I followed the recipe exactly and 22 mins was not enough to achieve the nice texture of a shortbread. Mine was soggy.
As well, THOROUGHLY COOL the shortbread before pouring the lemon mixture on or you will get clumps formed due to temperature.
Finally, I used Meyer lemons but this recipe was too tart and did not have the usual smoothness of true lemon curd.
Because of all the above — not a good recipe for me.
Delicious!! First time making lemon bars and glad it was with this recipe.
These were delicious! They went fast. Only one thing:
My filling had a bit of a crust on it that I was not expecting.. Any ideas on how to fix it for next time?
Hi Ray, was it a white-ish layer with air bubbles? That’s completely normal. See “White Air Bubbles on Top of Baked Lemon Bars” above.
I made these according to the recipe, they’re good flavors, but after they’re all done and cooled down, etc. the middle of the crust looks uncooked and as well as the middle of the lemon filling. Thoughts? Normally my oven runs ‘normal’ temperature. Is it supposed to taste on the uncooked side?
And, is there a way to fix this? I can’t imagine I can pop it back into the oven a day later…
Hi Jessica, thank you for trying this recipe. Lemon bars are meant to be on the gooey side but if they seem under-cooked (especially the crust), the bars may benefit from a couple extra minutes in the oven. (Just in case you try them again.)
Hi! I am about to start this recipe for someone who has many allergies. Do you have any experience using gluten free dough and dairy free milk? Thank you, excited to try, looks DELISH.
Hi Sally, I made lemon butter myself. It is close to your lemon curd. Can you use the lemon butter or lemon curd as the fillings instead? Thanks!
Hi Helen, the lemon curd is a bit too loose to use as the lemon layer for these lemon bars. I recommend following this recipe instead.
Thank you Sally! I followed your recipe and made the first time ever Lemon Bar. My husband loves them! I brought them to friends party. They were gone so fast! Thank you again!
Made these yesterday and they turned out wonderful! I substituted brown sugar (100 g) in the crust because I prefer the flavour. Next time might try browning the butter before adding to the crust.
Love this recipe! Have made it numerous times with lemon. Just tried it with blood oranges today. The color turned very light orange (yellow yolks and red turn orange color). I am wondering if using store bought egg substitute will be less likely to turn orange. I was hoping for the pretty reddish color. Any other recommendations? Have you tried using egg substitute to know if it sets okay and the texture is the same?
Only issue:
“Cover and store leftover lemon bars in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.”
I can’t figure out how to have these “left over lemon bars”
Amazing
Made these twice and my second attempt was even better than the first! All I had to do was follow the recipe and instructions. If I’d be making it in a 9×9 pan, would I really need to cut the recipe in half if I want thick bars? Thanks so much!
Hi Maria, We recommend a 9×9 inch baking pan for a half batch, but you can use an 8×8 inch pan for slightly thicker bars.
Is there a phrase for when you mess up in the kitchen and accidentally make something new and delicious? I had baked my crust and started on my filling when I realized that I had exactly half of a lemon in my kitchen. What I did have was some ginger tea, so I mixed that with what little lemon juice I was able to get and made ginger-lemon filling. It was delicious! In the future I’ll be making these as ginger-lemon bars with half lemon juice and half ginger tea. (To make ginger tea I boil water, then add 1 tbsp of grated ginger for each cup of water, stir and let sit at least 10 mins then strain out the ginger.)
They were extremely good!! Best lemon bars I have ever had and easy to make.
Tip. When you bake the whole thing in the end, it is done after 26 minutes and doesn’t need to go longer than that.
Hi there, could you bake a meringue on top of these? Looking for a lovely citrus slice for my office party.
Hi Tash, You can try topping the bars with the meringue about 10 minutes before they’re finished baking. So bbake the bars plain for at least 15-18 minutes first– when the meringue covers it, it will slow the filling from cooking through. 25-28 minutes total would be ideal.
I did make the following changes: I added pecans to the crust by processing the nuts in a food processor so that they were almost powder. They probably amounted to about 1/2 c.
And then I reduced the amount of butter to 1 stick plus 2 T . I liked the results.
Fantastic, phenomenal and easy
Best lemon bars ever!!! I used 1/2 lemon juice & 1/2 lime juice. These delicious lemon bars didn’t last 3 days
These are AMAZING I always hate the taste of edibles, nothing seems to mask the taste of cannabis and chocolate is the worst for it! This however is AMAZING I can barely even taste the cannabis and what I can taste blends so well with the lemon! I was super worried about my shortbread coming out icky since I wouldn’t be masking the flavors at all but a little zest went a long way!
Halved the recipe for my first try as I hadn’t even eaten it before. It tasted absolutely amazing. Only thing is the granulated sugar hasn’t dissolved and it remained a bit crunchy. Can I substitute it with castor or icing sugar?
Flaky crust and tangy/sweet filling. Incredible. Came out perfect. Thanks!
Just okay. I was disappointed in the flavour of the shortbread. Not crispy like a shortbread cookie at all . More mealy. It did hold together fine. Also the lemon topping was tart lemon which I would normally like but here it was just too much. I needed 7 lemons to get to 240ml of juice. I will go back to my old recipe which used only 1/3cup of lemon juice but also a bit of zest to bring out the sweeter lemon flavors.
Delicious & super easy. – And, despite the warning, I used bottled lemon juice. I cannot imagine how one would improve this recipe. Just a delightful, refreshing dessert. Thanks.
What a great recipe Sally! I’m not a baker and have made your recipe twice and it was a total success. I was wondering if you know what gluten free flour I could use for a GF version? I have tapioca, oat and buckwheat flours at home. Thank you so much.
Hi Erica, We are so happy you enjoyed this recipe! We haven’t tested this with gluten free flour, but typically it’s best to try an all purpose (1:1) gluten free flour (or make your own blend) unless a recipe specifically calls for a certain type. Let us know what you try!
Thank you so much for your quick reply Sally/Stephanie!
Hi Sally! I made your lemon pie and the graham cracker + almond crust was amazing! Can I use that crust for these bars?
Can the condensed milk be used for this bar recipe instead? Or does the pie recipe include too much liquid for bars?
Thank you!
Hi Julia! Shortbread crust is ideal for this filling because it holds up to the gooey lemon filling. A graham cracker crust wouldn’t keep these bars sturdy– cutting would be impossible!
So easy and so good!
Hi! Made this recipe multiple times and they always turn out great so thank you 🙂 recently when I make them everything is perfect but the top just looks wet and shiny? This makes the confection sugar melt. Any tips for that? This hasn’t happened every time just my last 2 batches.
Hi Kelly! It happens to some of my batches as well– it’s just the moisture from the lemon topping. Try baking a couple extra minutes because that always seems to help.
These lemon bars were great!! I love the texture of the lemon custard layer. It was rich with flavour( I substituted Lime for this recipe). Love the buttery shortbread crust too. Can’t get enough of this. Thank you so much Sally!!!
I made these lemon bars and because I had a 500ml jar of homemade rhubarb curd I spread it over the pre baked crust before adding the lemon mixture. The pink rhubarb curd and lemon swirled together and looks really pretty and it tasted amazing. It was a thicker filling and did take a bit longer to bake, which made the crust a bit harder, but still totally delicious.
Made this and it came out looking perfect. Crust was on point, filling was the right consistency but it tasted slightly bitter. What could be the reason? Too much lemon juice?
Hi Cindy, Thank you for trying this recipe! Usually the bitter part of the lemon is the white part of the rind. Next time try squeezing the lemons more gently to be sure that you don’t get any of the oils from the rind in your juice. You can also use Meyer lemons, which are naturally less tart than regular lemons. Or use a mix of fresh orange juice and lemon juice.
This recipe is great! The first time I made these, they turned out perfect. However, the second time they came out a little too tart (even though I used the same amount of freshly squeezed lemon juice like before). Are there any tips on diluting the lemon juice down a bit? Perhaps mixing it with a little water?
Hi Tatiana, You can always add a little more sugar or use Meyer lemons, which are naturally less tart than regular lemons. Or use a mix of fresh orange juice and lemon juice.