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!
The crust was a little thick, but the overall flavor of the bar is delicious!!! I’ll be making these again!
I love this recipe! It’s so easy to make and the crust adds a special touch!
The Spring-like weather conditions inspired me to finally try these. I’ve never made nor eaten a lemon bar, but the easy-to-follow instructions had this first timer done in an hour. I kept to the recipe as written except I baked for about an extra 4-5 minutes until the middle set up more.
The result? A perfect combination of tart and sweet with a lovely fresh citrusy taste. Even my peanut butter and chocolate loving husband approved and said these would be great for a party. After we taste tested them (for quality control, of course), we took them into our coworkers and both came home with empty containers and lots of compliments. Thanks Sally!
Yum! These are definitely delicious!
Love these lemon bars! The lemon filling has the perfect tartness that balances out the wonderful sweetness of the shortbread crust. Super simple to make, super great to eat! Thanks for another fabulous recipe Sally!
These are ridiculously good!!! And SO easy!!
Seriously, they are like a slice of sunshine, and almost impossible to stop eating.
Hands down the best lemon bars I have ever tasted…did I mention how quick and easy this recipe is?!
My husband keeps commenting on how good the crust is…must be that secret ingredient:)
Thanks for another amazing recipe, Sally!
This is exactly what lemon bars should taste like. Just tart enough, the shortbread is just the right amount of crisp and chewy. I will definitely make these again!
This was my first time making lemon bars but, for the life of me, I can’t tell you why!
I absolutely love lemon desserts and these are no exception. The balance between sweet and tart is perfectly struck. The texture is firm, but not “gluey” (I’ve had gluey lemon bars, sad to say). The shortbread crust is so decadent! In a word – PERFECT!
Why did I wait so long? Thank you, Sally!
If you love lemon like I do, these are for you! After reading some reviews first, I whisked the lemon mixture very well and made sure to skim the bubbles off the top before I put it back in the oven, and they came out perfect!
Made these on Saturday and had them for dessert last night, delicious! Even my bf’s mom said they were good and ‘she’s not a big lemon person.’ Our favorite part was the shortbread crust and lead us to the conclusion that we need more short bread crust desserts in our lives!
I’m so glad you all enjoyed them! My other favorite dessert with a shortbread crust are these apple pie bars: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/salted-caramel-apple-pie-bars/
I hope you try them!
Oh my goodness….these are so delicious! Not too tart, not too sweet – perfection. Completely forgot about taking a pic for the challenge. LOL! Very simple recipe. First time making and having lemon bars – will not be the last.
I used Meyer lemons to make these bars and added about 1/2 Tbsp of zest to the filling. The bars came out lovely with beautiful color. I did find I had to bake the crust about 5 minutes more than suggested and the filling for a full 30 minutes before it was set. I also chilled overnight before cutting them. The bars are sweeter but that may be due to the Meyer lemons. Overall the bars are delicious and very easy to make.
Made these yesterday for the March baking challenge and they are amazing! I halved the recipe following your instructions step by step and they turned out great. Super lemony filling and buttery shortbread crust and so easy to make!
These were delicious! Halfway through baking the crust I realized I only had 3 lemons instead of the 4 lemons the recipe called for. Luckily I did have an extra lime so I used it instead. I could barely taste it but it did give it a nice sharpness that I really liked.
I made these today- added lemon zest for some extra tangy flavor. Overall this was a really good recipe!
These are delicious!!! Lemony but not too tart with a buttery shortbread crust. Yum!!
These bars are deliciously tart! I’ll be making them again for sure. The recipe was very simple!
Hi Sally,
I just made these today and then ended up with a few huge cracks in the top part after cooling down on the counter. Any ideas why??
Thanks!
Hi Jen! Lemon bars are egg-heavy, so if the mixture was over-whisked or over-beaten, there will be too much air trapped inside. Hence, the cracking. Likewise, if cooked eggs experience drastic temperature changes, they will create large cracks on the surface. (Like cheesecake.)
Perfect, clssic lemon squares. Loved the shortbread crust and perfect amount of tangy and sweetness.
Just made this receipe, love the crust! Perfect amount of tart and sweet 🙂
The recipe turned out yummy! I think it was my oven but I had to cook everything a little longer then suggested. I used fresh squeezed lemon juice and it was a little tart but still yummy.
I had to bake mine for 30 minutes after pouring on the lemon mixture and they turned out so yummy! Gooey, bright and perfect to usher in SPRING!! Thanks for the sifting flour&sugar tip. I love any reason to get my sifter out….so satisfying!
Delicious and easy to bake lemon bars. I made the shortbread crust with brown butter and it was wonderful. Great recipe! Thank you Sally
So easy to make and delicious! Definitely husband approved too!
Made these day! So easy & absolutely delicious. My mom approved since she’s a lemon fan☺️
These came out great! They have a nice smooth filling and the lemon taste really came through. I skipped the chilling time in the fridge and ate them at room temp because my family couldn’t wait, so they were a little soft but still held together and were delicious!
So pretty and easy!
Had this recipe not been part of the monthly challenge, I’m not sure I would have known to try it! (I’m more of a chocolate gal, myself.) This pushed me a bit out of my comfort zone; however, your directions have never led me astray before, and that remains true! Friends LOVED these lemon bars. Thanks for a great recipe to welcome in springtime!
Loved this recipe lemon bars, a thicker chewier crust than the shortbread kind I’ve made before. Really a good ratio of crust to curd. Will make again and try without vanilla in the crust as I think it detracted from the curd.
These lemon bars came out so well! I brought them to a dinner party any everyone said they were amazing! Very sweet but tangy enough from the lemon to balance it out. They’re also very rich so a small square is all you need. The shortbread dough for the crust did not end up as thick for me as in Sally’s video, but I stirred it a bit more and let it set up a bit before putting it in the pan and it did thicken up. I also found that I needed to bake both the crust and the filling a few minutes longer than the recipe called for, but perhaps that’s just my oven.
Overall, great recipe, I will definitely make them again!