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. 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.
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-y desserts are always a great choice when looking for springtime or Easter dessert recipes.
PrintLemon 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) lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
- 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 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!
Just pulled mine out of the oven. When I poured the filling over the crust it’s dug into the crust! I still baked them and the crew on SBA Facebook said eat around the crust filled squares! I was crushed and I have a new found appreciation for you Sally & the work that must go into every recipe!
I LOVED these lemon bars!! My hubby prefers a softer crust, but I thought the firm shortbread combined with the creamy lemon layer was perfection!!
You did it again, Sally!! Thank you!!
Made them for the first time yesterday and absolutely loved how easy they were to make. Super quick and so, so yummy, creamy lemon heaven
The shortbread crust was amazing but I’m afraid the filling was SO eggy 🙁
I could really taste the eggs in there especially with no vanilla extract to cover it up.
delicious recipe! everyone at work loved these. They were very easy to cut and bake… I used one bowl for the whole recipe! 🙂
These bars have the perfect ratio of shortbread to lemon curd! I’ve found my new go-to lemon bar recipe.
These were really good! I halved my recipe and the only thing I couldn’t figure out was my crust. I baked it the required amount of time, but the crust “bubbled” the whole time. I didn’t think that was normal, so maybe it would have done better if I made the larger batch. My only other thing is don’t add the powdered sugar until you’re ready to eat the bars. It will melt off if you add it beforehand then store in the fridge.
A very yummy and easy recipe! Made it for the challenge and it was a hit with my family. Thank you.
I LOVE how lemony these bars are! A keeper for sure!
SO GOOD! Both layers are indescribably tasty and balance each other very well. Just wondering – has anyone else noticed that the bars are rather wet on top after chilling overnight in the fridge? It doesn’t effect the taste, but the moment I sprinkle powdered sugar on top it disappears into the liquid!
I’ve never baked or even eaten lemon bars before so was an absolute treat. Super easy to make but incredibly delicious. The tangy lemon really did brighten up what was otherwise a super miserable London wet afternoon. Thank you Sally!
My sister said these are the bomb! Thank you!!
These are so delicious! Can’t stop eating them 🙂
Hi Sally – Delicious recipe! I have a favor to ask: I always print the recipes I’d like to use over and over again, but it seems like you’ve formatted this one differently and it won’t fit on one page (front & back) anymore. The other way was much more convenient (and used less paper – any chance you’d go back to that style??
Hi Melissa! Thank you so much! We recently updated the way my recipes display to fit Google’s standards. However, we just decreased the size of the font on the print page (slightly) so it takes up less pages. I’m going to test that for a little and then reduce down again if necessary. Appreciate your feedback and review!
So easy and delicious! I always love lemon dessert!
Sally, made these incredibly bars..so delish. My question is if I wanted to make a sheet pan, how would I make the recipe fit for that size?
Hi Kim! I’m so glad you made and love these lemon bars! For the sheet pan… it depends on how large your pan is. This recipe could fit in a 10×15 inch pan, though the bars would be thinner. If using a large pan, you may need to 1.5x or double it.
These bars are perfect for springtime! However, I needed to bake both layers longer that the recipe instructed.
Great recipe, made it today and it came out delicious. We like lemon desserts to be VERY lemony, so I cut down a bit on the sugar in the filling, and added zest from one giant lemon, and it came out just perfect for us. Thanks Sally!
Has anyone had any luck substituting the sugar for Stevia? I am having friends over tonight and they are both diabetic. I would love to make a dessert they both could enjoy!
I made these over the weekend and decided to try blood orange instead of lemon. I was SO on the fence about flavors- part of me really wanted to go with lemon and add some almond to the crust BUT blood oranges aren’t available year round where I am so I decided to take advantage =) Holy cow– Sally… I really think this is my new favorite recipe of yours. My sister in law, who is INCREDIBLY picky, ate an undisclosed number of these and said they were the best thing I’ve ever made. I was almost nervous about them because you did such a wonderful job explaining the process that I thought for sure I missed a step and did something wrong! Such a simple recipe that yielded an amazing treat. My family warned me not to change a single thing next time I make them!! Now I just need to sell them on the lemon version… favorite challenge ever!!
So incredibly tasty and so easy! Perfectly tart, taste just like Spring and sunshine!
These lemon bars are delicious… perfectly tart. Very easy to follow recipe, even if you’re a beginner. I’m going to try it with limes next!
This recipe turned out great! They were so creamy but held together perfect. I kept them in the fridge and they were still great 2 days later.
So easy and so YUMMY! I used Meyer lemons from our Meyer lemon trees and it came out beautifully. It had the right amount of tart, sweetness and tangy in every bite.
Yummy and easy to follow recipe!!! Very happy with my results
Taste even better if you let them chill in the fridge overnight!
I decided to make orange bars instead, because I’m not a huge fan of lemon. The shortbread is delicious. I used a cup of orange juice freshly squeezed from Cara-Cara oranges, but I wish my bars had more orange flavor. They sort of taste like creme brulee on top of shortbread. Which – don’t get me wrong – is delicious. Maybe I underbaked them? Anyways, I’m glad I was pushed outside of my comfort zone to make something I never would have otherwise made. Thanks Sally!
Hi Caroline! It’s likely because oranges aren’t quite as strong or potent as lemons. 🙂 If you ever decide to try again, add some orange zest!
Oh. My. God. Those three words say it all. I have ate them for breakfast lunch and dinner since I made them. Soooo good.
I was afraid the lemon filling would be too sweet with the amount of sugar called for, but it’s really necessary with the amount of lemon juice. There’s a great punch of lemon flavor without being too much (we are lemon-lovers though, so it might be too lip-puckering for some people). The only thing I didn’t care for was the crust, it definitely needed more time in the oven and if I make it again I will not melt the butter. I think that melting the butter makes the crust soft and chewy, but I want a crisp and flaky crust.
These lemon bars are delicious! And the recipe is very simple. Thank you for the recipe!