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.
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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!
This was the best recipe I have ever had. Even my fellow teachers loved these bars. I probably added a little more lemon because I wanted tart. They were awesome. I even froze them and then a month later took some to people and they were just as good. I used all FRESH grown lemons from here in Arizona. I will make them again and again!
this was the best!! so delicious!
Best lemon bar recipe! I’ve made these several times and they are always a hit. I’ve add lemon zest to the crust and subbed almond extract for the vanilla. Delicious!
I’ve made this before and loved them!! I can’t find my 9×13 pan and am wondering if I can make this in an 8×8? Would halving the recipe be enough or do I need to do even less? Thank you!!!
Hi Shiv, You should be able to halve the recipe for an 8×8 pan.
I absolutely love these bars. I have noticed the shortbread doesn’t stretch enough for a 9×13 pan however. Just something to think about. It may require doubling the recipe to accommodate.
Hi Shira, we’re so glad these are a favorite! Have you made any ingredient substitutions by chance? The crust should fit well in a 9×13-inch pan. Make sure that it is patted down evenly across the pan.
Can I just use lemon pie filling in these
Hi Sharon, are you referring to a canned lemon pie filling? We’re sure you could, though we’re unsure how thick they would be or the required bake time. You may enjoy our easy homemade lemon pie as well!
Loved the recipe. Ended up baking my shortbread bottom a bit longer, about 30 mins – just waited for the edges to brown. Thanks so much for providing the tip about using the fork to pierce the top of the dough for a bit of the curd to sink in. I added a dash of cinnamon to the shortbread dough as well as 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste (trader joes),
Your website is a go-to for baking. Wondering if I should have whisked the eggs more, since I ended up with some cooked whites throughout the pan?
Hi GG, It’s possible that your filling wasn’t mixed enough if this happened, but it’s an easy fix for next time!
Gah! These were incredible! So tangy and just sweet enough! Crazy easy to make, as well!
This recipe is absolutely fantastic!! I’ve baked it more than 10 times at this point and actually started substituting almond extract for the vanilla extract. Game changer. It’s a hit at every single event. Thank you Sally and team as always for an amazing recipe!
Hi Sally! This was my first time ever making lemon bars and they came out pretty good! However I’m not sure why, but my bars are really thin, not like in the picture… one possible thought I have is I used an ultrafine bakers granulated sugar. Might also explain why some bites are PERFECT and some are really really tart and sour? I used 5 lemons from my neighbors tree which have tasted great in other ways I’ve cooked with them this week, so I don’t think the lemons themselves were bad. I also don’t have a big glass dish and was out of parchment paper but they still pop out of the ceramic dish I used just fine. Anyways would appreciate your thoughts!! Thank you for all the wonderful recipes. I did the chocolate chip cookies last week and they were phenomenal.
Hi Sarah, We are glad you enjoyed this recipe! If the bars were thin you may have used a larger size pan – we recommend baking them in a 9×13 inch pan. If some bites taste differently than others it’s possible that the filling simply wasn’t mixed well. Both are easy fixes for next time!
Wonderful recipe! Next time I’ll need to par bake the crust just a touch longer. I added the zest of 1 lemon to the filling and it was delicious! I followed the recommendation I saw in the comments to let it cool for 1 hour in the oven with the door slightly ajar. No cracks!
Hi. I”m wondering if you think I could add coconut to this recipe? And if yes, and what point would you add the coconut? Thank you!
Hi Sandra! You can use coconut oil instead of butter in the crust for subtle flavor, but we’ve never tested adding coconut in other ways. Let us know if you try anything!
The hardest part is waiting for these to set as it does take hours for them to cool and then again for them to chill. My only issue is cutting them. Once they are cooled and out of the fridge ready to serve, the shortbread becomes hard to cut and perfect little squares are hard to carve out. Maybe I “over-cooled” them.
After mixing the ingredients for the crust, it looks really oily. Is that normal for a shortbread crust? I weighed my ingredients.
Hi Laura! The crust can look a little oily. Did yours look like the video tutorial above?
How would you break this recipe down when filling 6×7 heat tins?
Hi Janice, we haven’t tested this recipe in those exact pans, so we’re unsure of the exact yield and baking time. But you can try evenly distributing the crust and filling in your pans so that they are about the same thickness as the bars pictured here. Hope you enjoy them!
My bars had to bake much longer than recommended. Luke 10 extra minutes. Is that normal? Also, the color is super pale. Did you use food coloring or enhance the color digitally?
Hi Bethany, every oven can be a bit different, so it’s okay if yours takes a bit longer. The bars are done when the filling is relatively set and no longer jiggles. We do not use food coloring—most of the color in these lemon bars is coming from the egg yolks, which do have natural variations. So it’s very possible that the yolks were just a more pale color. Thank you for giving these a try!
These are delicious! How would the baking directions change if I used an 8×8 baking pan?
Hi Aiyana, You can follow the directions in the recipe notes for making half of the recipe but use your 8×8 pan instead. Follow the same bake time as the 9×9 pan.
So good! Wow!
Recipe easy to follow
This is becoming my go to site for recipes
I’m donating some baked good’s to a local bake sale soon, how long would these last in a fridge?
Or should I freeze them and thaw the day before the bake sale?
Hi Brian, you can cover and store leftover lemon bars in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. 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.
The top split in several places after cooling, which I assume means I baked them too long?
Hi Karen, lemon bars are an egg-heavy dessert, like cheesecake, so they’re prone to cracking. They’re either cracking because the eggs are over-mixed (more air is whipped into the filling, then deflates causing the cracking) or they’re over-baked. One easy way to help guarantee no cracks, though, is to cool the lemon bars inside the oven. If you make them again, turn the oven off 1-2 minutes before the lemon bars have finished cooking. Crack open the oven door and let the lemon bars cool inside the cooling oven for 1 hour. Then remove from the oven and cool at room temperature. The slow cooling will help prevent cracks. Hope this helps!
Super excited to try this recipe! Does it makes a big difference to use the the juice of limes instead of lemons? And also is it okay to use a metal baking tray with baking paper to avoid the metallic taste?
You can definitely use limes instead, or half lime and half lemon! We still recommend a glass pan even when using parchment paper. We could still detect a slight metallic taste when using parchment with metal pans. You can try a ceramic pan instead if you don’t have glass.
Thanks for the reply! I’m trying to bake the lemon bars right now and there are a lot of bubbles on the surface after baking in the oven for 20 min. How can that be fixed or avoided in the future?
Hi Sunaina, some air bubbles are normal! See “White Air Bubbles on Top of Baked Lemon Bars” above for troubleshooting.
Ever use Almond flour or a combo of both?
Hi Sue, we haven’t tested the crust with almond flour, but it may turn out crumbly.
i think would tast fabulous!
Sally-Since I am now obsessed with your lemon curd and have some frozen, can I incorporate in this recipe somehow? Thank you!
Hi Jen, lemon curd is too thin and won’t bake up properly. Best to follow the recipe as written for best results!
Should I add the zest of the lemon? I’m surprised that it’s not listed in the ingredients!
Hi Lauren, we prefer super smooth lemon bars here, but you definitely can add zest. We recommend 1-2 Tablespoons of lemon zest.
my family LOVED these lemon bars! I’d like to do them for our son’s upcoming wedding. Wondering if I could make ahead of time and freeze (doing powdered sugar after defrosting?)
Hi Michelle, so glad these lemon bars were a hit with your family! They can be frozen – see the last step of the recipe for details 🙂
This recipe is definitely a favorite and the taste cannot be beat. One problem is that the top always seems so wet, the powdered sugar that we dust it with just disappears. Will baking longer help this? They do seem to be done by the recipe instructions (not jiggling). I see other recipes have some flour in the filling; may try this next. Appreciate any suggestions!
Hi Mary! That’s normal. We always wait to dust with sugar until just before serving.
These lemon bars are yummy and I’ve made them multiple times but every time, the powdered sugar melts into the bars within seconds. I cool them completely on the counter, then refrigerate overnight, then cut them and sprinkle the powdered sugar on and it absorbs immediately. What am I doing wrong???
Hi Michelle, what may help is lightly and carefully dabbing the chilled tops with a paper towel before sprinkling with confectioners’ sugar. Some absorption is normal and expected since it’s such a wet filling.
I had lost my original recipe for lemon squares, and yours was exactly as I remembered! I had made them for a church event, and everyone raved about them!
Can I use meyer lemons for this recipe?
Hi Patty, You can definitely use Meyer lemons here. Enjoy!
can I use store bought lemon curd
Hi Lora, lemon curd (store bought or homemade) is too thin and won’t bake up properly. Best to follow the recipe as written for best results!
Lemon curd can be baked. Here is a recipe where lemon curd is baked so you can figure out how to make adjustments to make lemon curd bars. https://buttermilkbysam.com/lemon-chocolate-ganache-bars/#wprm-recipe-container-7455