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 were a great addition to my ever growing Sally’s “recipe keepers” collection. They turned out perfect. I loved how the Buttery Shortbread Crust balanced out the tart and creamy Lemon filling. A definite Palate Pleaser!!!
These got rave reviews from the Junior League ladies! I added 2 Tbsp of lemon zest for a little extra kick.
This was the perfect recipe to use my leftover egg yolks from a previous recipe. I also happened to have lemon juice on hand from a previous sale on lemons, so the timing seemed perfect. The shortbread crust is lovely & helps to balance out the sweet/tanginess of the lemon filling, unfortunately my lemon mixture didn’t set properly & extra time in the oven just turned them golden brown. The final cooled down result is very sticky, and not very pictureworthy, but still quite tasty. I’m not sure what did wrong, but I’m pretty sure my mixture was wetter than it was supposed to be. Still a worthwhile recipe that I was happy to try for this March challenge contest :). I might give it another try one day, but cheesecake bars are more my jam.
These bars turned out great! Next time I think that I will try one of the variations, like the grapefruit, that sounds good. Thanks for the recipe!
Best lemon bars by far!
Sally! These are amazing! I usually skip citrus, and particularly lemon, desserts (which is saying a lot as a sweets fiend), but these really surprised me! My husband declared them the best dessert I’ve ever made in our 17 years together and said it felt like it was his birthday today because of these! Loved how easy they were and how little I needed to make them. Made a half batch easily in a 9×9. Found the pizza cutter worked really well for cutting them. These will become a regular in our house. Thanks for sharing and challenging me to step out of my dessert comfort zone!
These lemon bars are tangy and sweet and the shortbread crust really balances the flavours. I had to bake mine 6 minutes longer than the recipe calls for. I’m not sure if I did something wrong? Usually Sally’s bake times are spot on for me. Regardless, these were a big hit with the hubby and at work! Thank you for such an easy and delicious recipe!
There are many variables that can affect bake time with these – including the size and shape of the pan. If yours turned out well then you didn’t do anything wrong! 🙂 I’m so glad they were a hit!
According to my girls “these are the best lemon bars they ever had… Keep this recipe!” Done!!! Thanks so much
Delicious lemon bars and so easy too!
This recipe is delicious! The lemon taste is phenomenal and the shortbread was the perfect crust for these bars! I had to bake my bars for about 10 minutes longer than indicated in the recipe but otherwise all went well.
This recipe was amazing! I’m wondering if you have any recommendation on using Passionfruit in place of lemon. Thanks!
I’ve made these with many types of citrus, but I have never tried passion fruit. Let me know if you try it!
Thanks! I ended up making them before getting your reply. To be a little safe, I cut the salt in half. These are the best lemon bars I have ever made! I have been searching for years for a lemon bar recipe that I could love and now the search is over! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I find it funny that I’ve never had a lemon bar before but went ahead making these, and well let’s say I fell I love! Perfectly citrusy and sweet. The shortbread crust pulls it all together. I will make these time and time again! Thank you for yet another great challenge and recipe, Sally!
I made these Lemon Bars for Sally’s March Baking challenge and they were sooooo delicious!! A perfect spring treat with just the right amount of tang!
These are the best lemon bars I’ve ever had! I love lemon desserts and this is so easy; it’s defintely my new go-to!
The best lemon bars!!! Easy to follow – great taste!
These were so easy and yummy!
I’m obviously in the minority, but I wasn’t totally sold on the results of this recipe. Maybe it’s because I halved the recipe?( Used glass pan)
Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. The cooking times were accurate with my oven. It was good, just not the great results I usually have with SBA recipes.
If I’m honest lemon bars are not my go-to dessert of choice but this recipe is excellent! They’re the PERFECT balance of sweet and sour. I tried it to enter the giveaway (plus my family loves these things) but now I’m hooked and will be definitely baking a batch of these up again soon because these were gone fast!
This was the first time I had lemon bars, and omg they were amazing. After my friend tasted them, she went home and made her own batch. Great recipe! Not too sweet or too tart.
A great recipe! The hardest part was waiting for these tangy treats to cool so we could try them!
These lemon bars are beyond delicious and so easy to make!! Thank you so much for the recipe! My baby (I am pregnant) loves them too… she kickes a lot when I eat them
My whole family loves lemon bars, and I had to fend them off long enough for them to chill! (My sister still managed to sneak a bite; she liked them even warm. ) These were gone in no time flat. The end result was pretty, easy to whip together, and tasted fresh with just the right amount of tanginess.
These were delicious and super easy to make! Chilling them for several hours does make a difference. This will replace the boxed mix I was using. I never ventured out to making these homemade until now, but I’m so glad I did!
I found this recipe today, and for once I had an excess of both lemons and eggs, so I gave it a whirl 🙂
It’s such a nice simple recipe, and it yields a delicious result! I think I need to bake the base for slightly longer next time, but I baked the filling for 22 minutes and there was nary a jiggle in sight! I may also use fresher lemons next time, because the ones I had were getting on a bit, and there is quite a sharp aftertaste involved 😛
Super simple recipe, but amazing delicious flavor! Will make again and again.
These lemon bars are super easy and so good!
I had an abundance of lemons in my tree and with the warm weather my chickens layer too many eggs for me to eat. This recipe was perfect for using these ingredients, but more importantly it was delicious. Tangy and sweets with a buttery not too sweet shortbread crust.
The best recipe for lemon bars! So simple for someone who has never made them before!
These were a huge hit at our house, and I made them a second time using blood orange juice. They tasted great but were not the beautiful color in yours, but rather a lighter yellow. My juice was a nice blood orange color but I am guessing the yellow in the egg yolks overpowered the blood orange color. How did you get your color for such a nice difference? I am tempted to try the recipe with key limes, but now am concerned about the color. Taste I am sure will be wonderful so may do anyway.
Hi Sherry! It depends on the color of the blood orange juice. My blood orange juice was SO DARK! Almost deep burgundy!