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.
Print
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 followed the recipe to a T! The crust floated up the minute I poured the filling on it. A complete disappointment and waste of time and money. This the first recipe by SBA I have ever had trouble with and been disappointed.
Hi Tammy, Thank you for giving this recipe a try. 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 for next time!
Why cant I use metal? Im making these for someone else and they’re going into an aluminum tray? Will that not work?
Hi Alex, we do not recommend using metal or aluminum pans because the bars can take on a metallic taste. It’s best to use a glass pan and then transport/gift them in a different container.
I was so disappointed in this recipe & thought I did something wrong but after reviewing the website and comparing my finished bars to those in Sally’s video they are actually nearly identical. This is a matter of taste, or more specifically, TEXTURE. For over 40 years I’ve used a Lemon Bar recipe with whole butter & powdered sugar for the crust, baked at 350; it always came out like a shortbread cookie with a layer of lemon curd. Sally’s recipe tastes great but between the melted butter, light forking & oven temp she recommends the bottom layer eats like a doughy, not fully cooked piecrust to me. Still, the recipe delivered as promised in the video, which I didn’t watch before I made these, so to be fair I am giving it 4 Stars. Going back to the old recipe but thanks Sally for all great recipes I’ve enjoyed from you but also the lesson learned!
It was really good! I halved the recipe and although the process was botched in many different ways (having to move trays midway because it’s too big for the batch, so now I have CHONKY brownie bars-shaped lemon bars) the end result is nice! Now waiting for them to set in the fridge hehe.
I replaced my 15 y.o. lemon bar recipe with this one. I love it.
This was a frustrating experience. Every time I’ve made this recipe, part of the crust floats to the top. I’ve tried securing the parchment paper better, I’ve tried pressing the crust down harder to ensure there are no air bubbles, and I’ve tried making sure when I pour the curd mixture in that I pour slowly so nothing gets dislodged. No matter what I try, a random section of the crust floats to the top.
The flavor is lovely and the recipe is nice and simple, but I can’t recommend this one. I know loads of other people have had success with this, so that’s wonderful, but for whatever reason, this one just won’t work for me.
Hi Corey, Thank you for giving this recipe a try. 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 for next time!
Hello Sally…just pulled pan out of the oven and the crust rose up to the surface while the egg/juice layer has virtually disappeared. I docked the crust as instructed, making sure to not go through the entire crust layer. The crust appears to have only an egg wash on it. Any ideas what may have happened?
Hi Kathy! Usually when the bars end up inverted it’s because we either over-baked the crust, or let it cool for too long. Hope this helps!
Hi Sally! Hope all is well with you and your family l y! Regarding the lemon bars crust, can I use gluten free flour and for the custard tapioca?
Thank you for sharing!
Kate
Hi Kate, we haven’t tested it, but several readers have reported success using a 1:1 all-purpose gluten free flour in the crust and filling. We haven’t tested tapioca in the filling either, but we’d recommend trying the same gluten free flour that you use in the crust. Let us know what you try!
Hello! I want to make this but I dont have a glass pan. If I use a metal pan, What is the outcome?
Hi Betty, We always detect a slight metallic flavor in the lemon bars when baked in metal pans, we really don’t recommend it! You might love these oatmeal lemon crumble bars.
I have a friend who mentioned she has never had a lemon bar before so I am making these for her birthday tomorrow. Looks like a great recipe.
I have some strawberry syrup I made from strawberry tops. I was wondering how I might incorporate that into these bars.
Thank you for sharing all these wonderful recipes!
Hi Ha’åni, We haven’t tried it so we’re unsure of how the bars would set up with that addition. It would like take a bit of trial and error. We do have a recipe for Lemon Strawberry Crumb Bars.
They were really good! Thank you!
After making your angel food cake (amazing) I used my leftover yolks to make your lemon curd (also amazing). How do I substitute your pre made lemon curd in this recipe?
Hi Kristina, we’re so glad you enjoyed the angel food cake and lemon curd! Lemon curd (store bought or homemade) is too thin and won’t bake up properly in these bars. Best to follow the recipe as written for best results!
I have tried 3 times to print the lemon bar recipe and each time, a section is missing.
Hi Adrienne, how strange! Are you using the “print recipe” button (not just printing the whole webpage)? If this issue persists, please email us so we can troubleshoot! sally(at)sallysbakingaddiction.com
Yes I pressed the Print Recipe button and even used the small print option the second time but it still cut off short on page 1 and missed several lines at the beginning of page 2
Hi! I love making these but am dairy free for a bit while nursing my son. I want to make these for a party and hoping I can substitute the butter for a vegan alternative. What would you recommend?
Hi Hannah, we’re sure you could substitute vegan butter but we haven’t tested it ourselves.
Terrible recipe. Waste of ingredients. Crust was greasy. Wasn’t the consistency of a crust.
Hi Jan, the dough can be a little greasy, but it bakes up beautifully. Did yours look like the shortbread dough in the video above? Make sure to let the butter cool before adding the other ingredients.
Sorry to hear that your baking didn’t turn out well, but you shouldn’t blame the recipe. Maybe you used the wrong type of flour, used too much milk, etc.
Hope your next bake turns out better! 😀
First time I made these they were amazing. The second time, made the same way, they were so tart/sour that we could barely eat them. What happened?
Hi Laurie! Did you make any changes to the recipe? I wonder if the lemons you used had a strange flavor.
I’d like to make the half-version, but I only have an 8×8 pan instead of 9×9. Will I need to adjust anything to bake these in an 8×8?
Hi Lauren! If you halve the recipe you can use an 8×8 inch pan for slightly thicker bars.
Wow! So I’ve been using the lemon bar recipe I got on the back of a bag of flour for years. I was curious if there might be an online version since I was in a store when I thought to make them. Well, this recipe popped up in the results so I gave it a chance. I will be REPLACING that recipe with this one. I followed all the instructions, notes and tips and they were incredible. You knocked this out of the park. I served it at a dinner party and they loved them. Thank you!
All I have are extra large eggs. Do I need to make an adjustment on number of eggs I use in the lemon bars?
Hi Brenda, we haven’t tested it, but I would try using 5 eggs instead of 6 if yours are extra large.
I made the lemon bars baked them and added. 5 minutes chilled 3 hrs. Then refrigerated i did sprinkle conf. Sugar before frig. There all sticky
Has anyone tried to make this with king Arthur’s gluten free flour?
Your raspberry/shortbread bars was somewhere here but somehow I miss placed it. Can you send it to me please Sally
Hi Shirley! Could you be looking for these raspberry streusel bars?
I followed the instructions as written and double checked everything.
But I found the lemon juice was just too much. Very sour