These are the best lemon bars, with a soft, buttery shortbread crust and thick, creamy lemon curd filling. Baking the bars in a ceramic dish ensures they’re perfectly browned, with bright, zesty flavors. Serve these easy lemon bars dusted with powdered sugar for a delicious dessert this spring!
Lemon bars have all the bright, tangy flavors of lemon meringue pie with the convenience of a batch of brownies! You might also love these mini lemon cheesecakes and my lemon cream pie.
Today’s lemon bars might just be one of my favorite lemon dessert recipes of all time. With spring around the corner, I’m sure they’ll become one of your go-to desserts as well. My lemon bars recipe has a soft, crumbly shortbread crust filled with sweet, tangy homemade lemon curd. I’ll show you how to make the perfect lemon filling using real lemon juice, zest, and a handful of pantry ingredients. All it takes is a few short steps, so let’s dive in!
8-Ingredient Lemon Bars at a Glance
- Thick, creamy lemon curd filling. I’ve found that many lemon bar recipes have a thinner lemon layer than desired. Not this one! The lemon bar filling is thick and creamy, and holds its shape beautifully when sliced.
- Ready for anything. With simple ingredients and bright flavors, these bars are perfect for all your springtime occasions, including picnics, potlucks, and baby showers. They’re also a wonderful choice for an easy Easter dessert.
- Make them ahead. Since these lemon bars need a few hours of chilling time in the fridge, they’re a wonderful dessert to make the day before a holiday.
Ingredient Notes
These lemon bars are the perfect balance between tangy and sweet, thanks to the key ingredients below. Scroll to the printable recipe card for the full recipe amounts.
- Butter – For the crust. I use a similar shortbread crust as my pecan pie bars recipe. Soften (don’t melt) the butter before you begin. This time, I add a little vanilla extract to the shortbread crust, which tastes SO good alongside the tangy lemon curd.
- Sugar – Not only does sugar sweeten the bars, but it also thickens the lemon curd and gives the bars structure. Don’t reduce the sugar, or your bars will be watery.
- Flour – Make sure to measure the flour for the crust and the lemon filling using the spoon and level method, to avoid adding too much.
- Lemon Zest and Juice – Fresh lemons are essential for lemon bars. You’ll need approximately 4 large lemons for this recipe, to supply one cup of juice and two tablespoons of zest for the filling. A great thing about this dessert bar recipe is that you can swap the lemons for other citrus, too, like grapefruit, limes, or oranges.
- Eggs – Bring your eggs to room temperature before you start. Cold eggs won’t combine as smoothly with the other ingredients.
- Powdered Sugar – Needed for the shortbread crust, and I also like to dust the finished bars with powdered sugar for extra sweetness, to balance the tartness of the filling.
Zest the Lemons Before You Juice Them
My #1 tip when preparing lemons for baking (or otherwise) is to zest the lemon first, and then juice it. A microplane or citrus zester makes this step easiest. For details, see my full tutorial on how to zest a lemon.
Choosing the Right Pan
The secret to the best bars is the right pan. Ceramic is my first choice, as I’ve found that metal pans can impart a metallic taste in the baked lemon squares. I haven’t tested this recipe with a glass baking dish, though it should work. You may need to adjust the baking time. Gather your pan and fresh citrus, and here’s how to make these lemon bars in 5 easy steps:
How to Make Lemon Bars From Scratch
For these bars, you’ll need to par-bake the crust which means a partial bake to prevent a watery crust. Do not skip this part!
- Prepare the shortbread crust. Start by beating the powdered sugar with butter. Slowly add the flour, followed by the salt and vanilla to make a crumbly mixture. Alternatively, you can make these bars with a graham cracker crust instead.
- Par-bake. Press the crust into a thick layer in the bottom of a parchment-lined baking dish. Then, blind-bake the crust at 350ºF for 20-22 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the lemon curd. Combine the lemon zest and sugar in a bowl. Using your fingers, rub the zest into the sugar. Next, whisk in the eggs. Keep whisking while you pour in the lemon juice, then add the salt and flour last. It’s OK if you notice a few small lumps of flour leftover after mixing the lemon curd. Just make sure that any large clumps are broken up and thoroughly mixed in.
- Assemble and bake the bars. Lightly prick the freshly baked shortbread crust with a fork, and then pour the lemon filling over the warm crust. Bake at 350ºF for 24-26 minutes. The middle of the bars should still have a slight jiggle when they come out of the oven, similar to a cheesecake.
- Cool. Allow your lemon bars to cool at room temperature for an hour before transferring them to the fridge to chill. I recommend refrigerating for at least two hours to give them enough time to set. You can remove the cold bars from the pan, or slice them as is and serve with a dusting of powdered sugar.
What Are the White Air Bubbles on Top of My Lemon Bars?
You may notice tiny white bubbles on top of the baked bars. This is totally normal, and it varies from batch to batch. Most of the time, these spots will darken as the bars chill down in the fridge. They won’t affect the texture or flavor at all. Plus, you can easily cover the spots with a sprinkling of powdered sugar!
Tips for the Best Lemon Bars
- Use room temperature ingredients. Ensure your eggs are at room temperature so they blend smoothly into the filling, which also helps to prevent cracks.
- Use fresh lemon juice. While bottled lemon juice is convenient, nothing beats freshly squeezed, and you’ll taste the difference in your lemon bars. A lemon juicer comes in handy. Otherwise, you can halve the lemons and squeeze out as much juice as possible by hand.
- Avoid metal pans. See notes above the “How To Make Lemon Bars”
- Line the pan. Lining the pan with parchment paper does two things. First, it prevents the bottom of the bars from sticking to the pan. Secondly, if you leave some of the parchment paper overhanging the sides, it makes it very easy to lift the cooled bars out of the pan before you slice them. Grease the pan before laying down the parchment to make it a little easier to cut as well. If you don’t have parchment paper, be sure to grease the pan well.
- Get clean slices. When cutting the cooled bars, use a clean, straight-edge knife and wipe it off between slices.
Proper Storage
- Refrigerate. Store these lemon bars airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Make ahead. If you’re not serving the bars right away, wait until you’re ready to eat them before sprinkling the tops with powdered sugar. This avoids the bars from becoming gummy.
More Lemon Dessert Recipes
Lemon Bars
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Chill Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 24 bars, about 2 inches wide
- Category: Bars
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These homemade lemon bars are perfectly baked with a soft, buttery shortbread crust and a sweet, tangy, creamy lemon curd filling.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- ¾ cup (90 grams) powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting
- 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the filling:
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 ½ cups (475 grams) granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice – 4 large lemons
- A pinch of salt
- ½ cup (60 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
Instructions
For the crust:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9×13 ceramic baking dish with parchment paper so it hangs over the long sides of the dish, or generously grease to pan if not using parchment paper. Set the dish aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the powdered sugar and butter until smooth. Gradually mix in the flour, about 1 cup at a time, then add the salt and vanilla extract. The mixture should be dry and crumbly but stick together when pressed with your fingers.
- Press the mixture evenly into the parchment-lined baking dish to form a thick crust. Bake the crust for 20-22 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned.
For the filling:
- While the crust is baking, rub the lemon zest into the sugar in a large bowl until it is fragrant. Add the eggs and whisk until combined. Slowly pour in the lemon juice while beating until thoroughly combined.
- Add the pinch of salt and mix in the flour with the whisk. It’s okay if there are a few small clumps of flour, but make sure any large clumps are broken apart and mixed in.
- When the crust comes out of the oven, use a fork to poke holes in it without going all the way through.
- Carefully pour the lemon filling over the warm crust, and bake for 24-26 minutes or until the middle of the bars is just slightly jiggly.
- Let the bars cool at room temperature for 1 hour before chilling in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or until they are completely set.
- Pull the bars out of the dish using the overhanging parchment paper, dust with some extra powdered sugar, slice into 2-inch squares, and serve chilled.
Notes
- Storage: Keep the bars in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Do not dust the bars with powdered sugar until you are ready to serve them to prevent them from getting gummy.
- Eggs: I recommend using room-temperature eggs to avoid cracks in the lemon filling.
- There may be tiny white bubbles on top of the bars just after they bake. These are air bubbles from the whites of the eggs. They should get darker as the bars chill in the fridge. They don’t affect the texture or the flavor of the bars.
- Use a clean, straight-edge knife for clean slices.
- I use a 9×13 ceramic baking dish. Avoid a metal pan because that may give the lemon bars a metallic flavor. You may also use a glass dish, but I did not test this recipe with a glass dish. The baking times may differ.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Bar
- Calories: 250
- Sugar: 24.9 g
- Sodium: 164.9 mg
- Fat: 9.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 39.4 g
- Fiber: 0.6 g
- Protein: 3.6 g
- Cholesterol: 66.8 mg
