These are my favorite lemon bars! Our recipe combines the most delicious shortbread crust with a creamy, tart lemon filling.
I’m not sure I can convey how much I love these incredible lemon bars. Let’s start with the crust. If you’ve had shortbread cookies before, our lemon bar crust will remind you of them. I love it so much that I’d be happy to eat the crust all by itself (it’s that good).
The lemon filling is delicious, too. I use fresh lemon juice and lemon zest to pack in as much lemony flavor as possible. These lemon bars are a must-make! I also love these lemon cheesecake bars!
Key Ingredients
- Butter: Since these lemon bars have a shortbread crust, I use melted butter to make them. Salted butter is perfect, but unsalted is fine. Just follow my tips for adding a bit of salt to our recipe below.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is perfect here or use your favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour blend.
- Sugar: I use granulated sugar for the crust and lemon topping.
- Lemons: I usually buy 5 lemons when shopping for this recipe to ensure I have enough juice. For these bars, you’ll use the zest of a lemon or two and the juice of 4 to 5 lemons.
- Eggs: These are the base of our lemon filling.
- Vanilla: I add a bit of vanilla to make the crust taste even more delicious. I highly recommend it!
How to Make Lemon Bars
Lemon bars are such a simple dessert! I start with the crust. We’re picky when it comes to crusts (homemade pie crust being a great example). You’ll start by rubbing lemon zest and vanilla into the sugar, making a more fragrant lemon sugar that makes an even more delicious crust.
Then, add melted butter. I use melted butter instead of softened butter for the best lemon bar crust. Melted butter is easier and it makes the crust more crisp, which is perfect against the creamy lemon filling.
You’ll bake the crust until golden brown before adding the filling, which you’ll add to the hot baked crust. The filling is simple to make. You’ll whisk sugar, flour, salt, lemon zest, eggs, and lemon juice together and then pour it in.
The bars bake a bit longer, and then they need to cool before cutting. Easy! By the way, I store them in the fridge (they last about 1 week!).
Easy Lemon Bars
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These easy lemon bars have the most delicious shortbread crust and a creamy, tart lemon topping. Making the crust with melted butter is much easier than softened butter, which is common in other recipes. Don’t skip chilling the crust before baking, it really helps keep the crust crisp and crunchy.
You Will Need
Shortbread Crust12 tablespoons (170g) salted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
Lemon Topping1 ½ cups (300g) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons (25g) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons lemon zest
4 large eggs
3/4 cup (180ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice, from 4 to 5 lemons
2 tablespoons powdered sugar for sifting tops of bars
Directions
- Make Crust
1Line a straight-sided 13×9-inch metal baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. (This will help when removing the cooled bars from the pan.) Lightly coat the sides of the foil, but not the bottom, with non-stick cooking spray or extra melted butter to prevent the lemon topping from sticking.
2In a medium bowl, use a spatula to stir and press the sugar, salt, 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, and vanilla extract together until moist and fragrant. Stir in the flour and melted butter until a crumbly, stiff dough forms.
3Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan (it may not look like enough dough at first, but it will cover the bottom nicely). Prick the dough with a fork all over to prevent air bubbles while baking.
4Freeze dough for 5 minutes or until firm (or refrigerate for 30 minutes).
5While the crust chills, position an oven rack near the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F (162°C).
6Bake the shortbread crust until lightly golden brown and set, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Make Lemon Bars
1While the crust bakes, stir the sugar, flour, salt, and 2 teaspoons of lemon zest. Whisk in the eggs until smooth, then whisk in the lemon juice.
2Once the crust has baked, pour the lemon topping over the hot crust. Return the pan to the oven and increase the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake until the topping is set in the center and it no longer wiggles when the pan is moved, 20 to 25 minutes.
3Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool until the lemon bars are firm and the bottom of the pan is no longer warm, about 1 hour. (You can speed this up by placing the bars into the refrigerator once the pan is no longer hot).
4Once cooled, use the foil overhang to carefully lift the bars from the pan and place them on a cutting board. Peel away the foil, then cut the bars into 16 or 32 small bars. Sift the powdered sugar over the bars.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Storing: Place the cooled and cut lemon bars in an airtight container lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for up to one week. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- Butter: I use salted butter, but you can use unsalted. For unsalted butter, add 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt to the crust.
- Measuring your flour: Fluff the flour in its container, then gently scoop it into your measuring cup until slightly mounded. Level off the top with a knife for accurate measuring. For even more accuracy, use a scale and measure the flour by weight (in grams).
- Crust recipe inspired by Fine Cooking’s shortbread crust.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
You May Also Like...
I made these lemon bars today, and they were so easy to make, and turned out absolutely delicious. I will definitely be making these on repeat!
Yummy Yummy Yummy! I love lemon bars and these are so tasty. People always rave about them.
Can I make the lemon bars in Individual tart cups?
Yes, great idea.
I have loved these lemon bars for YEARS! When my boyfriend recently had to transition to a gluten free diet, I couldn’t help but wonder if GF flour would work here. After making them last night, I can say for certain that this recipe held up perfectly with no gluten.
what kind of GF flour did you use?
I made these bars many times since discovering the recipe a couple years ago. They are consistently awesome. In my opinion, using a lot of FRESH lemon juice is key. I love the tartness.
I made these tonight and they are a huge hit! I’m going to go with lime next. Thanks! 😊
This is my go-to recipe for lemon bars! I’ve been making them since I discovered your blog last summer, and I decided to finally leave a review when I came back to make a batch today. Absolutely delicious, with a no-fail crust that’s both crisp and full of flavor, and a lemon filling that sets perfectly every time. Lemon bars are my absolute favorite dessert and I can’t tell you how happy I am to have your recipe! Plus I have to mention, this is the only recipe I’ve found that I don’t have to double thanks to the 9×13 pan. Thank you thank you thank you ?
Would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Thank you.
I enjoy baking and I also work with cops. These are requested often and a must for special events. I follow the recipe and haven’t made any changes and they are always a no fail hit.
Made these for my husband who loves lemon bars and his comment when he tried them was “they taste like we got them at a French bakery”. High praise indeed!! They are delicious and were super easy to make. Thanks!! Another successful and tasty recipe courtesy of Inspired Taste
Amazing! I love this recipe. I’m definitely not an experienced baker and I was intimidated by making the crust and worried the lemon would be too sour. I had no reason to be worried. The crust is so easy to make and the lemon was the perfect balance of tangy and sweet. Easy to follow recipe and such a crowd pleaser!