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 brownies and adorable 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! 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 (230g; 2 sticks) 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 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 | Spatula | Silicone Whisk | Juicer | Fine Mesh Sieve
- Halve the Recipe: Halve each of the ingredients to yield around 12 squares in a 9×9-inch 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!
Keywords: lemon bars
Can these lemon bars be made in a jelly roll pan
Hi Lisa, we haven’t tried scaling this recipe for a pan of that size, so we’re unsure of how it would work. For best results, we recommend sticking with the recipe as written and making separate batches if you need a higher yield. Enjoy!
Can you freeze these?
You bet! See the last step of the recipe for freezing instructions.
Oh this is so good! Really easy to make and turned out delicious! I cut the sugar back to 350 grams and added half a teaspoon of cardamom. Highly recommend! Based on some comments I was worried about the shortbread but mine turned out perfect! Thanks Sally!
★★★★★
Loved the recipe and it worked out great. I did make a little tweak for a little extra flavor and added a teaspoon toa teaspoon and a half of freshly ground cardamom to the crust. The cardamom pairs well with citrus flavors, especially lemon.
★★★★★
Amazing, yet so simple! I’ve never made lemon bars before, but heard that this is was a pretty simple, yet delicious recipe! I loved it, and so does my family!!
★★★★★
Hello! I followed this recipe to the letter, and my lemon filling ended up sinking below the crust and pushing the crust up to the top. So I ended up with sort of “upside-down” lemon bars. They tasted right, but what’s up with them becoming upside-down lemon bars? It seems the lemon filling is too liquidy before it’s baked? Help?
Hi Brian, 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, yes I did poke the crust with a fork! I did let it cool but I thought it’s supposed to cool before proceeding with the other steps. I thought maybe it would be better NOT to poke the crust with a fork, since maybe the holes I made enabled the lemon egg mixture to just sift through to the bottom without any resistance. I feel like the lemon egg mixture was just too watery or something…
My sister and I are renowned bakers who absolutely adore all of the Sally’s Baking Recipes we have made, which are many! However, the Lemon Bars are our very very favorite. The video is quite helpful prior to starting the lemon bars, directions well though out and easy to follow,and the lemon bars divine!!!! Our lemon bars are a frequent request from our loved ones and friends!!
★★★★★
Thank you so much for the kind note and for making and trusting our recipes, Diana!
The flavor of these is PERFECT! However, I followed the recipe and let eggs & lemon juice come to room temp and when the lemon bars were cooling at room temp, there were HUGE cracks all through the tray. Have you ever experienced this?
Hi Lorraine, so glad you enjoyed them! 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!
Made this for Father’s Day. I’m not a baker and was able to do it and it was delicious!!!!!
★★★★★
Love this recipe! Always my go to lemon bar recipe! My family loves it. How can i make this sugarfree? Any recommendations?
★★★★★
Hi Kat, we’re so glad this is a favorite for you! We’d love to help but we are not trained in baking with sugar substitutes. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for sugar substitutes. Thank you!
Your recipe was spot on and absolutely delicious. I love the ratio of the recipe and my son’s favorite dessert for Father’s Day
★★★★★
TIP!!
Leave the crust to cool before adding the lemon and egg mixture. Otherwise the warm delicate shortbread will break and come away.
Happy baking!
Great recipe and the ratio was perfect in the bars. Made this for my son for Father’s Day. Thank you very much for the great recipe
★★★★★
didn’t work for me – after two attempts the lemon/egg mixture never set and the bottom was extremely greasy.
★★
May I know the measurements for an 8×8 pan?1
Hi Spencer! You should be able to halve the recipe for an 8×8 pan.
Hi there! I would like to make these for a tea party birthday celebration on the weekend but would love to make them tomorrow (Tuesday)… wondering if they are freezable? Thanks!
Hi Emily! See the last step of the recipe for freezing instructions. Hope they’re a hit!
Hi Sally, i hope you would be able to see my post and help me answer about the lemon bars Ive baked using your recipe and instructions.
The taste was great. it isn’t sweet nor sour. Perfect balance I would say.
but the final outcome was a bit different:
The crust WENT to the middle while the curd went to the bottom after baking them.
Any idea how it happened and how I can avoid them?
I really hope you’ll be able to read this and answer them. First time baker here.
Glad you enjoyed the flavor! 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.
Oh, first i didn’t prick the crust, and second, seems like i let the crust stays too long on the counter before filling it up. It might have been a bit cool when I proceed to the filling part.
I’ll try again this week. hope I get it right this time.
Thanks for taking your time to answer my question.
What a great recipe. It was a hit. My family loves lemons and the recipe. I on the other hand don’t love lemons. Have you ever made this crust with a raspberry topping? That sounds so good to me.
Hi Teresa, we haven’t but you might enjoy either adding some raspberry dessert sauce on top of each bar as you serve them, or here is our raspberry streusel bar recipe!
Can i use cuties instead of blood oranges?
Hi Jessica, that should be fine!
This is one of my favorite recipes, I always use it in my bake sales and everybody loves it
Hi, I made (2) 9×13 pans, followed the recipe. One pan of lemon bars came out where the crust seemed uncooked. The other one seemed like the filling was on the bottom with the crust in the middle. (Hope that makes sense) cooked each pan by itself. Loves the recipe, trying to figure out what I did wrong.
Thank you
Hi Kathy, Lemon bars are meant to be on the gooey side but if they seem under-cooked (especially the crust), the bars may benefit from a couple extra minutes in the oven. (Just in case you try them again.)
Is it possible to cut this recipe in half?
Hi DG, absolutely. See recipe Notes for details on halving the recipe.
I do love this recipe and have made it several times. The taste is delicious. But, the last few times it seems as though my filling didnt set as well. Any suggestions?
Hi Erin, we’re sorry to hear your filling wouldn’t set! Did you change anything about the recipe or bake them in a different size pan? Were they cooled and chilled completely before you cut them? Be sure you are using conventional heat settings (not convection/fan heat) and if they are taking longer to bake in the center you can loosely cover the top with aluminum foil to prevent the top from browning before the center is cooked. Hope this helps for next time!
Absolutely love this recipe. These are requested for everything! Has anyone ever made these in little tart type pans? I’m sure it will be much more time consuming to make, but I’m looking for a pretty individual dessert option for a wedding. Any advice appreciated!
★★★★★
This recipe was very tasty, but I did not like the fact that after they were refrigerated, the top of the cookie got very wet even when I sprinkled confectioner sugar on them they still looked wet. Don’t know why this happened but the taste was there. I wasn’t pleased with the presentation of it due to the condensation on the top of the cookie.
★★★★
This recipe is genius, but you know that! I usually add zest to kick up the extra lemony flavor. Enjoyed your secret tips too! Can’t wait to try this one.
★★★★★
Loved this recipe! If I thought it came out just slightly too tart, would you recommend adding more sugar or just less lemon juice?
Hi Madilyne! 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!
Great recipe. I substituted half granulated and half confectioners for both crust and filling. Tasted delicious.
★★★★
I tried this recipe once for a brunch at my place and it was a big hit across the board!
★★★★★