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.
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.
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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) 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!
Reader Comments and Reviews
I followed the directions exactly. Even though I baked the crust a few extra minutes, it didn’t look brown at all. I thought it would be fine after it baked again with the filling. After cooling it and chilling it, i cut it. The crust was not at all like crust, it was kind of soft and buttery, tasted like raw dough. I threw them all away.
Any suggestions?
Hi Laurie! It sounds like your crust needed to bake for longer. Make sure to let your melted butter cool a little before mixing with the other crust ingredients as well.
This is the best Lemon Bars recipe I’ve ever made. It was so perfect, creamy, and tangy. I’ve never made good lemon bars until I tried this recipe!
I made and must have made a mistake they were aweful. The cookie taste like flour and i threw them away.
Hi Dawn, we’re so sorry you were disappointed in this recipe and would be happy to help troubleshoot. Was is the shortbread cookie crust that tasted flour-y, or was it the lemon filling? How are you measuring your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over measured, which can cause an overly flour-heavy taste. Thank you for giving these a try, and let us know if we can help troubleshoot further.
Hi Sally! I’m going to make these for my friend for her birthday and was wondering if there is a way to make them ahead of time or do you have any suggestions?
Hi Catie, the lemon bars will keep well in the refrigerator for a few days, and you can also find freezing instructions in the written recipe, at the end of the instructions. Hope they turn out great!
Thank you!
Great lemon bars! I’ve made them many times before but this time the crust floated up into the lemon curd filling. Not sure what happened but they still tasted delicious!
Hi Janelle, glad you love this recipe! 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!
so what is the reason it says no metal? I am hoping to make these for a party and was hoping to use a disposible metal pan:/
Hi Maggie! The acidity of the lemon reacts with a metal pan. We always detect a slight metallic flavor in the lemon bars when baked in metal pans.
I really love the flavor and taste of this recipe it’s amazing and never lasts very long in my house.
About to start cooking batch # 8 now lol
Quick question. Are these bars supposed to be refrigerated? I’m planning on bringing these to a park with friends. All we’ll have is a cooler with some icepacks. Will they be ok in the cooler? Or should I find something else to do? I want bars, if you have better suggestions. I appreciate any help! Thanks
Hi MJ, We would keep them in a refrigerator until you’re ready to pack the cooler and go! They should be okay in there until you eat them.
My filling went golden brown on the top before it was actually done. So what am I supposed to do? Almost burned it
Hi Jessica, Be sure that you oven is at 325 (not 350) and only bake them until the edges are VERY lightly browned (even if it’s shorter than the suggested bake time). 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!
Tasted great but my lemon bars had a thin crusty, crackle top? How do I keep this from happening? And is the lemon curd supposed to be a little soft?
Hi Maryanne, it sounds like they may have been over baked just a bit. The lemon curd should still be soft but set.
Hi Sally,
Why is it that I cannot leave comments on certain recipes…its like there is no category (like this one) to do so? Therefore I am writing this under the Lemon Bar comment section only because, like I said, I do not see where to comment on the recipe I am going to ask you about below.
I bought your new Sally’s Baking 101 cookbook..♀️. Yesterday I made the Salted Brown Butter Pecan Pie Bars. I went online to check your recipe there, only because I was taking a break. I noticed a discrepancy between the recipes, both in the crust and filling. I got very confused. I went with the recipe your cookbook and they turned out really good even though the bottom layer was quite greasy when I spread it in the pan. I weighed the ingredients perfectly and waited 10 mins to add the flour/cornstarch mixture. Could my butter still have been to warm? Should I have waited for it to cool down more? Thank you
Hi Brenda, some older recipes on my site temporarily have comments turned off while we update a few settings, which is why you may not have seen a comment box on the page you were visiting. I really appreciate you taking the extra step to reach out here. As for the recipe difference, the cookbook version is the most up-to-date and we plan to update the website version in the following weeks. My team and I retested and slightly adjusted both the crust and filling for the book to improve texture and flavor balance. If the crust felt a bit greasy when spreading, your butter was likely still a little too warm. Letting it cool for a few extra minutes before adding the dry ingredients next time will help the crust firm up more evenly as it bakes. Thank you again for baking from the book; that means so much!
hi Sally I’m making these for a birthday party I hope they come out good
I’ve been making these bars for years & they come out incredible & perfect EVERY SINGLE TIME! love them & get so many friends asking me for the recipe. Have to use fresh squeezed lemons too! This recipe is a keeper!
The crust was great, even when converted to gluten free flour. The filling however is the focus of this dessert and it was so metallic and sour that I couldn’t finish even one bar and had to toss the pan. Eggs are too expensive to waste on this recipe.
Hey, @Erin! The recipe specifically states NOT to use a metal pan, and that doing so will leave a metallic flavor. Hope you try again with a glass casserole dish, because we’ve made them several times and they’re soooo good!!!
I definitely plan to bake these squares but I have a question. Why do you say not to use a metal baking pan? I always use parchment paper when baking. What is the reasoning for using a glass baking?
Hi Teresa, we always detect a slight metallic flavor in the lemon bars when baked in metal pans.
I made these and while in construction they looked and turned out great, they tasted suuuuper metallic when I tried them 🙁 I followed the recipe to a T, used a glass pan, a silicone whisk, and a non-metal bowl for mixing so I have no clue how they ended up this way.
Regarding half the recipe:
A 9×13″ baking dish covers 117 square inches.
Half the recipe should cover 117 dived by 2 = 58 square inches approx
You suggest we use a 9×9 (81 square inches)
I’ll use my 8×8 glass baking dish, that covers 64 square inches.
Much closer to half than the 9×9.
Glad I checked the math before proceeding.
I NEVER use fresh lemon juice because of that! I use bottled and no metallic taste. They always say not to use bottled. Give it one more try and use the bottled! You’ll be pleasantly surprised!
If I only have salted butter on hand, would that be okay to use and just omit the salt? Or is it better to just go out and buy unsalted butter specifically?
I’d like to make this as a neighbor just gave me a basket of lemons from a tree in his yard, and my sister’s favorite pastry is lemon custard bars.
Sidenote: the lemons my neighbor gave me are Mediterranean sweet lemons. Is that a good lemon to use for this or should I buy some Lisbon from the grocery?
Hi Sean! You can use salted butter and leave out the added salt. The bars will be sweeter with sweeter lemons. Happy baking!
I really enjoyed making these lemon bars. I can’t wait to eat them.
So im in the uk, ive never eaten or made this before.
Made them yesterday, and mine took 20 mins longer than stated because my pan wasn’t as big and my ovens dodgy, so it browned on the top, only a bit like a creme brulee kinda look.
So I panicked then. Pulled it out the oven once no longer had jiggle, left it to sit at room temp till cool and popped in the fridge.
I cut them this morning and my god, its was the lemoniest tasty treat ive had in ages.
The browning was just a crust on top, the lemon was very much lemon curd like and the biscuit base due to pre baking was perfect.
Im now in love with these.
Could this be backed on a sheet pan if the recipe was doubled?
Hi Elysse, We are unsure of the exact bake time for a double batch in a larger pan. Keep your eye on it and bake until the center is set. Enjoy!
I’ve been craving a good lemon square so decided to try making them, followed this easy recipe and voila! Sweet, tart, buttery, freeze beautifully too, Thanks so much will definitely make again.
a friend loves sour lemon drops—-i’d like to crush them and add them to the top of the bars—how do you recommend that I do this? Before baking?
During or after baking? Thanks! Appreciate you letting me know!! take good care, marilyn
Hi Marilyn, we haven’t tested anything like this before! We’d start by adding the crushed lemon drops to the top of the bars before baking. Let us know how it goes!
Oh my gosh!!!
these were AMAZING!!!!
they smelled so good while they were in the oven and tasted great when cooled!
thank you so much for this recipe!
Sadly, these were a bit too tart for my liking! I also baked for the recommended time and I think it was too long- they came out with a film on the top and separated from the crust! I still love your recipes, Sally-this was the first one that didn’t work out for me.
hey Sally! I’m planning on making these for a baby shower in a couple weeks, butwas wondeirng if its possible to bake them as individuals? Maybe in a mini muffin tin? Thx!
Hi Laura, Absolutely! Exact bake time will really vary based on the exact size of your mini tarts, so keep a close eye on them or do a test run with just one or two of the mini tarts to help determine best bake time.
Hi. Loved the shortbread crust. The baking time for the crust and the lemon top was off by 10-15 minutes. I have an oven thermometer to ensure my oven temperatures are correct. Not sure what I did wrong. Also the lemon topping was very tart. I would love to try this recipe again. Any advice?
Hi Veronica, Were your lemons particularly sour/tart? That could be contributing to the taste. We don’t recommend adding more sugar or reducing the lemon juice, as the bars might not set properly. Thanks for giving this one a try!
Tastes great but my custard ran under the shortbread leaving a thin layer on top. What did I do wrong?
Hi Susan, we’re so sorry you had troubles with this recipe. 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!
Hello, I am considering making this but I enjoy things to be on the more sour side. Would it ruin the recipe if I cut the sugar a little, or is the recipe tart enough already?
Hi Lucian, You can slightly reduce the sugar if desired. We recommend no less than 1 and 2/3 cup granulated sugar in the filling as it’s needed for structure. Hope you enjoy these!
Sally never steers me wrong! These came out really good the first time I made them so I made another batch to bring in to the office. I like a stronger lemon flavor, so I zested one of the lemons in addition to the juice. Happened to have some cream cheese so made a cream cheese frosting to put on top – they were a hit!
Hello!! I just want to know if it makes a huge difference if I use gluten free flour vs regular flour. Making these for a tea party with the girlies.
Hi Jess, we haven’t tested a gluten-free version of these bars, but some readers have reported success with using a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. Hope they’re a hit at the tea party!
My youngest is GF and have made these quite a few times and it works great. We use cup for cup FYI
Hi!
I have a pan that comes with a pre-cut insert. Should I bake with the insert so that the bars come out individually pre-cut, or will the filling spill over? Thanks!
Jen
Hi Jen, we haven’t tested this recipe using an insert like that. It *should* be fine to use, but note that we do not recommend using it if it is aluminum as it will alter the taste of the bars.