Lemon Bars
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
A classic recipe for Lemon Bars with a shortbread crust and a sweet, yet tart, lemon curd filling. You only need 6 ingredients to make these lemon bars. They are luscious and totally scrumptious!
The Best Lemon Bars
When life gives you lemons you make Lemon Bars! Today I want to share with you my recipe for my favorite lemon bars. Whenever I make these, people can’t get enough of them, so if you’re a lemon lover, then these lemon bars are what you need.
These lemon bars start off with a simple, yet delicious shortbread crust, that requires only 3 ingredients; flour, butter and sugar. They’re sweet, tart and lemony, just what you want in a lemon bar.
Why Make These Lemon Bars
These bars are so good and such a great use of those excess lemons you might have in your fridge! If you love citrus, baked goods, or anything lemony, you absolutely must try these lemon bars!
- Only 6 Simple Ingredients that you likely already have in your pantry.
- Easy Straightforward Recipe that’s incredibly easy to follow, literally fool proof.
- The Best Lemon Bars You’ll Ever Try!
For the Crust
- The Basics – Sugar, Flour and Salt.
- Butter – Unsalted, at room temperature. You can also use salted butter, but in that case you can omit the salt.
For the Lemon Filling
- Eggs – Make sure they’re at room temperature!
- The Basics – Sugar and flour.
- Lemon Zest – Grated. Grate your lemons first before juicing them.
- Lemon Juice – Freshly squeezed and zested. I’ve made these lemon bars in the past also using Meyer Lemons and they work great as well in this recipe.
How to Make Lemon Bars
- Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Prepare the baking pan: Prepare a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, make sure the parchment paper is long enough to come over the sides, this will make it easy to pull out the bars.
- Make the crust: In the bowl of your mixer add sugar and butter and beat using the paddle attachment until light. Add flour and salt and mix until the dough starts forming into a ball. It will still crumble easily. Alternatively, you can also use a food processor to make the crust.
- Bake the crust: Dump the crumbled up crust dough into the prepared baking dish and flatten using your floured hands, sometimes I use the bottom of a glass or measuring cup to help flatten it. Transfer the crust to the oven and bake it for 20 minutes, until very lightly browned, you’ll start seeing the edges brown. Let it cool and leave the oven on.
- Make the filling: Whisk together all the filling ingredients. Pour over the cooled crust.
- Bake the lemon bars: Transfer the baking pan back to the oven and bake for another 30 to 35 minutes or until the filling is set. Let it cool at room temperature. Cut into triangles or squares using a sharp knife and dust with powdered sugar.
How Many Lemons Do I Need?
I used about 7 lemons to get 1 cup of lemon juice, but you’ll also need about 2 tbsp of lemon zest! I was able to get this from 2 lemons, but it could differ for you. The answer could vary because there are variations between fruits and they are all different sizes. Usually 1 lemon yields 3 tablespoons of juice and 1 lime yields 2 tablespoons of juice. I find the same is true for Meyer lemons. While they are juicier, they are a bit smaller and we get the same amount of juice from one.
What’s The Difference Between Meyer Lemons And Regular Lemons?
Regular lemons are much larger in size and brighter in color when compared to Meyer Lemons. Meyer lemons have a deep yellow skin and dark yellow pulp. They are less acidic and sweeter in taste than a typical lemon!
How Many Lemon Bars Does This Recipe Make?
This recipe will yield about 24 triangles, depending on how big you cut them or 12 squares.
Expert Tips
- Always use freshly squeezed lemon juice. You may be tempted to use the bottled lemon juice, especially since you need so much, but resist the urge. These lemon bars will taste so much better with freshly squeezed lemon juice. Trust me.
- You can cut your bars into squares or triangles, totally up to you! I just thought triangles look cuter and since my squares were pretty big, triangles would make for a more normal portion.
- To finish off these puppies, dust them with some powdered sugar!
- To make it easier to remove the bars, I lined my baking pan with parchment paper and left the edges longer! This ensures you can easily pull out the bars by lifting up the parchment paper. You will also end up with a pretty clean baking pan, not much scrubbing and cleaning required.
- Let the whole thing cool at room temperature. It will smell delicious and you will be tempted to cut into it, but try and resist.
Storing Lemon Bars
Of course, as with any baked goods, lemon bars are best when enjoyed within 24 hours! Make sure to chill the bars until firm. I like to to do this in the refrigerator because they chill faster, in about 30 minutes. Once chilled, slice the bars and store them in an airtight container, using parchment paper or wax paper to keep the stacks separate.
They’ll last in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freezing
The great thing is that these bars also freeze well. They will last for 2 months in the freezer, stored in an airtight container!
More Related Recipes
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Lemon Bars
Ingredients
For the Crust
- ½ cup sugar (granulated)
- ½ pound butter (unsalted, at room temperature (2 sticks))
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
For the Filling
- 6 large eggs (at room temperature)
- 3 cups sugar (granulated)
- 2 tablespoon lemon zest (grated)
- 1 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Prepare the baking pan: Prepare a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, make sure the parchment paper is long enough to come over the sides, this will make it easy to pull out the bars.
- Make the crust: In the bowl of your mixer add sugar and butter and beat using the paddle attachment until light. Add flour and salt and mix until the dough starts forming into a ball. It will still crumble easily.
- Bake the crust: Dump the crumbled up crust dough into the prepared baking dish and flatten using your floured hands, sometimes I use the bottom of a glass or measuring cup to help flatten it. Transfer the crust to the oven and bake it for 20 minutes, until very lightly browned, you'll start seeing the edges brown. Let it cool and leave the oven on.
- Make the filling: Whisk together all the filling ingredients. Pour over the cooled crust.
- Bake the lemon bars: Transfer the baking pan back to the oven and bake for another 30 to 35 minutes or until the filling is set. Let it cool at room temperature. Cut into triangles or squares and dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
- Leftovers: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezing: The great thing is that these bars also freeze well. They will last for 2 months in the freezer, stored in an airtight container!
- Fresh lemons: For the best tasting lemon bars I strongly recommend using freshly squeezed lemon juice.
- Room temperature: Make sure your eggs and lemons are at room temperature, this will make them mix easier into the flour and sugar.
- Yields: This recipe will yield about 24 triangles, depending on how big you cut them or 12 squares.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Recipe adapted from Ina Garten.
Recipe originally shared Dec, 17 2014.
Huge fan of yours. Use and pass around your recipes every month.
When I make your lemon bars the filling sometimes does not set, and the filling is gooey. I have tried baking it longer, but the edges just get overdone. Should I beat the eggs more? Perplexed. Please advise!
There could be a few reasons why your lemon bars don’t set:
Underbaking: If the bars are not baked for long enough, they may not set properly. Be sure to bake the bars until the center is just set and no longer jiggles.
Let them chill: You might need to chill your lemon bars for several hours to set properly.
Too much lemon juice: If there is too much lemon juice in the filling, it can prevent the bars from setting properly. Be sure to use the amount of lemon juice specified in the recipe.
Humidity: High humidity can make it difficult for lemon bars to set properly. Be sure to store the bars in a cool, dry place and avoid exposing them to high levels of humidity.
So so yummy! and so easy to make. Thank you for such a great recipe!
My pleasure, glad you liked it!
What if I don’t have a mixer with a paddle? Wil I still be able to make the crust with an old sunbeam mixer?
Shouldn’t be a problem!
If I want to make this recipe in an 8X8 pan what do I need to adapt?
They’ll come out a bit thicker but still good! The bake time may vary. Keep a close eye on them as they bake and add more time as necessary.
This recipe turned out great. I made it in an 8X8 glass pan that was full to the brim. I adjusted the cooking times on the crust and the filling by about 5-10 min each. Delicious!
These are the best lemon bars that I have ever made, and the best shortbread crust that I’ve had too. I will be making these again. Thank you!
I’m so happy to hear this!
On cutting the lemon bars into triangles, could you tell me how to do this. They are more attractive that way. Thank you
Cut them into squares, and then cut them in half diagonally!
Hi there!:) I just made these lemon bars yesterday, I followed your recipe exactly as it states and they turned out perrrrrfect!!!!! They were the perfect balance of shortbread to lemony filling and sweetness to tart flavor. My husband loved them and asked me to make them again soon. Thank you so much for sharing!:)
I’ve used Ina’s lemon bar recipe, and it calls for one cup of flour in the filling. Your recipe doesn’t call for flour in the filling. Could that be why some people had trouble with the recipe?
Good catch, fixed the recipe.
My bars inverted themselves. The crust embedded up on top covering a mush of lemon goo. Even with extra time bashing the lemon part didn’t seem to pull together too wonderfully. Thankfully I’m not opposed to ugly looking sweets, but they didn’t make an appearance at the luncheon i was invited to. The site is only allowing me post 5 stars.
Hi there. Have never made lemon bars or used Meyer lemons before and cannot find Meyer lemons right now. If I use regular lemons, do I use the same amount of lemon juice? Do I need any extra sugar? Your photos look delicious.
Yes, I would follow the recipe exactly as written with same quantities.
In order to use meyers lemon you need to plant a Meyers lemon tree. Mine is wonderful with plenty of supply in winter. Big and juicy with w different flavor than store bought. Store ones will work.
I made these and they didn’t come out right! After reading the comments you said to let the crust cool for two hours!? The recipe says to take out the crust to cool but leave the oven on which lead me to believe you let it cool while you were prepping the filling. Why would you leave your oven on for two hours? Confused!
You don’t have to leave the oven on, of course you can turn it off, but just turn it back on a few minutes before putting the pan back in the oven with the filling, just make sure the crust is cooled off before adding the filling to it.
I made this tonight, I’m just waiting for the finished product to cool down. I can’t wait, it was so easy to make! I am a little worried about the crust though, I just don’t know how it will hold up against all that liquid.
BUT, I loved making this. it was a lot of fun.
Jo, these are beautiful, bright, and cheerful! Perfect pick-me-up for the gloomy skies we are getting here in the Twin Cities. Lemons always bring out the sunshine…at least, in the kitchen 🙂 Your bars here look absolutely stunning.
Thanks so much Amy 🙂
Thanks Stephanie!
Jo, I made these yesterday and they turned out exactly. What a great and simple recipe. Thank you so much, my family totally enjoyed these and we have some left over for Christmas too, as I took some and froze them. Thank you again for such a great recipe.
Thanks Julia, so glad you guys liked them. 🙂