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
These are the BEST lemon bars.. I made them for the volunteers at a pantry for the poor.. for their lunch dessert.. and RAVE reviews with requests to please make them again!
Im sure were not the only dairy free ones here so just to let you all know that I subbed 3/4 c oil in place of the butter and theyre awesome!
What’s the best way to prevent the filling from going underneath the crust? I’ve made these before and it was generally successful, but the last time it failed miserably! I had noticed that the parchment paper was separating from the crust on one of the sides so that was probably the culprit.
Hi Emily, Usually when the bars end up inverted it’s because we either over-baked the crust, or let it cool for too long. Did you prick the crust with a fork (see the end of step 2)? This should help prevent this issue. Hope this helps!
Can I bake in a metal pan with parchment paper and avoid the ‘metallic’ taste?
Hi Annie, We still recommend a glass pan even when using parchment paper. We could still detect a slight metallic taste when using parchment with metal pans.
Made these for my niece’s bridal shower. Everyone loved them. Had someone who is an avid lemon bar connoisseur tell me that they were the best lemon bars he had ever eaten. This was the first time I ever made lemon bars and was so pleased with the result. Followed the recipe exactly. Will make these again!
I’m in the middle of making these lemon bars and I have no vanilla extract can I use almond extract or butter extract?
Hi Valerie, you could try almond extract, but the taste will, of course, be different.
Hey… are you sure 6 tablespoons of flour is the equivalent of 47g? My bars just spectacularly failed. Eggs rose on top of liquid lemon layer… like a bad omelet…
I believe this recipe caused me to make 2 mistakes resultng in inverted lemon bars. According to other recipes, the curd should have been poured onto hot baked shortbread, not warm. shortbread. Also, I made some holes in the cooked shortbread with a fork which allowed the curd to leak through but I shouldn’t have let them go all the way through as with piecrust. My fault. Dissappointed.
Try breaking it up into two each half the size. It works very well! Also, I’m not sure of the glass pan…I used dollar store 7×7 and they make the most even, baked fully in the center pans of bars I’ve ever made!
My bars turned out perfect!! I definitely had to increase bake time for the crust and filling, but I just went off of visual readiness instead of sticking to the time in the recipe.
I have been searching for a tarte lemon recipe all summer and these were perfect! So much lemon flavor and not too sweet. Thanks so much Sally!
Hi, I made this the first time and they turned out perfect, but I made them today and they look weird. The top has white splotches and it has a foam texture on top. I followed the recipe. Can anyone tell me what happened?
Hi Olivia, is it a foamy film? If too much air is incorporated into the lemon filling mixture, there can be a layer of foamy film on top. Be careful not to over-mix or whip the filling when combining and be careful not to over-bake the bars. These tips should help! Some air bubbles are normal, see “White Air Bubbles on Top of Baked Lemon Bars” above. Thank you for giving these a try!
I made these for a cookout and they were a big hit with everyone. So easy to make too!
I forgot to give it a star rating and it definitely deserved 5 stars
These were amazing! My family and I devoured them. I will definitely be making them again. I added roasted, ground walnuts to the crust and it worked well.
This is the best lemon bar recipe! I made these with just a few adjustments to the recipe and my guests went nuts over them. I was a little short on sugar so I used about 1 2/3 cups in the filling. Also I only had 2 lemons so I used Real Lemon juice with the 2 lemons to equal 1 cup of juice.
I have tried this recipe multiple times with relatively good success. The filling turns out great, although I had to increase the bake time to about 28 minutes. However, the shortbread crust seems lo lack crispness. Perhaps the problem was combining the sugar and salt with the flour and then adding the melted butter? Has anyone tried adding anything else to the dough component (maybe cornstarch) to improve the crispness?
Hi Mark, the crust should be a little soft, but if you’d prefer it a little more crispy, you can extend the crust baking time a bit–try 5 more minutes.
Hi. The recipe is great..but everytime I make my lemon bars the top browns. What can I do to prevent that
You can certainly try reducing the bake time ever so slightly so that the bars are not browned as much. You can also try moving them down a rack (away from the heating element), which should slow down the browning just a bit. Hope this helps for your next batch!
Made these twice. The second time the filling ended up under the crust! I had to scrape it off and “ice” the crust. Messy and ugly. What happened? Help!
Usually when the bars end up inverted it’s because we either over-baked the crust, or let it cool for too long. Did you prick the crust with a fork (see the end of step 2)? This should help prevent this issue. Hope this helps!
Same thing happened to me. Second time making them and as I poured the filling over the warm base, it broke up the base. Definitely didn’t over cook the base either.
These turned out to be phenomenal, but baking time took longer than the recipe stated for sure. The crust was DELICIOUS. I had to bake it an extra 4 minutes (26 minutes total for the just-the-crust bake step). I added 2 tablespoons of lemon zest to the filling, which also turned out deliciously lemony and not overly sweet (I saw another recipe that used the same amount of eggs but 3 cups of sugar, yikes!). Baking with the filling took 36 minutes in the oven until it was set. It turned out amazing, but after 26 minutes it was still extremely liquidy. The final product was great!
I’m baking just now and am having the same experience. when i pulled out at 24 minutes, it was almost soupy. giving it another 5-10 minutes and we’ll see where i end up haha
Hi Sally! I’m trying to bake these for a dinner party but one of my friends is dairy-free. Would coconut oil work as a substitute?
Hi Sarah, We have not tested this recipe with coconut oil so we are unsure of the results (besides obviously the taste). You can also try a dairy free butter such as the Earth Balance brand, but we haven’t personally tried it. You can also search all of our dairy free recipes for other options.
I tried this recipe for the first time skeptical that the centre would be set in 20 mins as it’s a liquid. I baked it at 325 for 20 mins and it is still very much a liquid, currently still baking so I have no idea how much longer this will take or if it does set. I followed the instructions thoroughly and kind of disappointed it hasn’t turned out as instructed.
Will update after if they came out a success.
Do you think I could half this recipe and use an 8 by 8 square pan instead? If so, would it need a different baking time?
Hi Bernadette, see recipe Notes for details on making a half recipe. We’d recommend a 9×9 inch baking pan for a half batch, but you can use an 8×8 inch pan for slightly thicker bars. Hope the bars are a hit!
The flavor of these lemon bars was excellent! However, like other reviewers have stated, my came out inverted (with the crust on top). I have never had this happen with ANY recipe before. Fortunately, I was able to remove the end product from my pan, flip over and peel off the parchment paper — although some of the filling had to them be scraped off and spread back over the bars and the filling (although “set-up”) remained very sticky. Needless to say, this is far less than ideal. In fact, WHAT A MESS and very hard to cut into squares. I was baking these to take to a Celebration of Life meal following a memorial service. I was a bit embarrassed with the presentation of the dish. I feel that I followed all instructions to the letter and I am an experienced baker, so not sure if I will try this one again.
Great recipe, loved it so much. Quick question tho, how do you make the powdered sugar not melt? because as soon as i dusted my bars the sugar dissolved immediately.
Hi Macky, feel free to add the powdered sugar after the bars are totally cool next time or right before serving. Glad you enjoyed the bars!
I want to try to make these but I don’t have a glass baking dish, why can”t metal be used?
Hi Linda, We could detect a slight metallic taste when using metal pans here.
Hi Sally! Big fan of you and your team! I’m in your group on FB. My question is, would these taste alright with vanilla buttercream on top.I ask because I am using an edible picture on top and it calls for buttercream under it so it doesn’t crack. Thank you!
Hi AJ, it might be a bit messy to spread on top, but you can certainly give it a try (or even pipe it on!)
I was nervous to make these as I have never made lemon bars or baked dairy free (living on the edge, I know), but these turned out amazing! I made these for our work team and since one person is lactose intolerant I had to swap out the butter. I had zero issues and they came out beautifully, and received rave reviews. Thank you for this recipe, Sally!
I don’t have granulated sugar in the house rn, i’m curious if brown sugar would be okay?? Also i’ve made these before and they turned out so good and my parents and friends loved them. thank you!
Hi Annie, some readers have with success, but we haven’t tested it. So glad these bars are a hit!
I made these for the first time yesterday for a Fourth of July gathering. They turned out perfectly! The hostess absolutely loved them and said they were the best lemon bars she’d ever eaten!!!
I have made this recipe before and I love it! However this time around I made the shortbread crust and then had to jet so it’s been sitting, covered, for 24 hours. Is it too late to add the lemon curd on top and put it back in the oven? If not are there any ideas of what I can do with this shortbread crust? thank you!
Hi Natalee, that shouldn’t be a problem!