Thick and gooey Lemon Bars with shortbread crust and vibrant lemon flavor are the perfect dessert. Watch the video tutorial and see how easy it is to bake homemade lemon bars.
We love dessert bar recipes from Pecan Pie Bars to Baklava and Strawberry Pretzel Salad, because they are easy to make and crowd-pleasing desserts. These lemon bars are no exception.
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Fresh lemons make everything better from Lemon Blueberry Cake to Homemade Lemonade. If you are a fan of lemon, this recipe for Lemon Bars is a must-try!
Lemon Bar Video
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Classic Lemon Bar Recipe
Take one bite and you will fall in love with these lemon bars. The lemon custard filling is similar to our Lemon Curd Recipe and is brimming with satisfying tangy lemon flavor, and it’s balanced in sweetness.
I learned how to make Lemon Bars years ago from one of Ina Garten’s early cookbooks, Barefoot Contessa Parties (I literally have all 12 of her cookbooks because I admire her very much and her recipes are sound). This is very close to the original recipe except we add vanilla to the crust and you’ll love the tip for making the crust even easier to mold.
Ingredients for Lemon Bars
- Eggs – Add richness and help the custard thicken. We use large eggs.
- Granulated sugar – it may seem like a lot of sugar, but it’s needed to combat the tanginess of the lemon juice. You can adjust it depending on the type of lemons used (see next section).
- Lemons – you’ll need the lemon zest and juice so be sure to zest the lemon before juicing it.
- All-purpose flour– helps to thicken up the lemon custard filling.
- Confectioners sugar – to dust the top for serving.
- For the Shortbread Crust – this easy cookie crust is made with butter, sugar, vanilla extract, flour, and salt. It creates a buttery crust that is crisp on the edges and tender to the bite.
What are the best lemons for Lemon Bars?
I always use regular lemons because they have tons of tang and lemon flavor. Since lemons are the star ingredient, you should avoid using bottled lemon juice or concentrate. Also, use no more than 1 cup of lemon juice or the custard won’t set properly. If your lemons are refrigerated, bring them to room temperature first. P.S. Here’s my favorite citrus squeezer.
Can I use Meyer Lemons? Meyer lemons aren’t quite as tart as regular lemons so you’ll want to reduce the sugar in the filling to about 2 cups.
How to Make Lemon Bars
- Crust – Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, then add vanilla extract, flour, and salt and mix until crumbly. Press the mixture into a parchment-lined 9×13 casserole dish. Bake at 350˚F for 18-20 minutes. Cool slightly on a rack.
- Lemon Filling – In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Whisk in lemon juice and zest. Add flour and whisk until completely blended.
- Add filling and Bake – pour filling over the warm crust and bake at 350˚F for 30-35 minutes until the center is set and no longer wobbly.
- Chill– cool at room temperature on a wire rack for at least 1 hour then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Serve – Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar to serve.
Pro Slicing Tip: Just like with a Cheesecake, for clean and pretty slices, wipe the knife blade clean with a damp paper towel between slices.
Common Questions
The center of the lemon bars should be fully set. If you give the pan a jolt, it should not wobble in the center.
Lemon bars can be kept at room temperature for a few hours but should be refrigerated after that. Refrigerate up to a week or freeze for 3-4 months (see make-ahead instructions below).
The air bubbles that rise to the surface while baking is normal. These are bubbles from whisking the eggs. Since the bubbles rise above the surface, they tend to brown which causes the brown spots. They are easy to cover up with powdered sugar.
You can substitute with grapefruit, orange juice, or lime to change up the flavor of your bars, but use less sugar when using sweeter citrus.
A glass or ceramic 9×13 pan works great for lemon bars. Note that a glass pan will bake faster and darker than a metal pan so check for doneness a little earlier.
Make-Ahead Lemon Squares
Lemon bars keep really well in the refrigerator and in the freezer, making them one of my favorite make-ahead desserts.
- Refrigerating: If baking the bars ahead, cool to room temperature then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving.
- To Freeze: Once lemon bars are fully chilled in the refrigerator, cover the baking dish with a couple of layers of plastic wrap and freeze for 3-4 months. You can also transfer leftover pieces to a freezer-safe zip bag for easier storage. The lemon custard doesn’t fully solidify in the freezer so there’s no need to thaw. They’re so good right out of the freezer.
When life gives you lemons, put them in lemon bars! This recipe will become your go-to for potlucks, parties, and holidays like Easter or Christmas. It’s a keeper of a recipe.
More Recipes with Lemon
If you end up with a bumper crop of lemons or just a big bag from the grocery store, we have you covered. Check out our post on all the genius Ways to use Lemons, from zesting to juicing and freezing then try some of our favorite lemony recipes.
- Strawberry Lemonade
- Lemon Curd
- Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
- Blueberry Muffins with Lemon Glaze
- Lemonade Recipe
- Winter Fruit Salad
- Lemon Posset (3-ingredient dessert)
Classic Lemon Bars Recipe
Ingredients
For the Shortbread Crust:
- 1/2 lb unsalted butter, (16 Tbsp) room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the Lemon Filling:
- 7 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 cups granulated sugar, *
- 2 Tbsp lemon zest, from 4 to 5 lemons
- 1 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed (from 5 large or 8 medium lemons)**
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- Confectioners sugar, to dust
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line a 13x9x2” baking pan with parchment paper (it should go most of the way up the sides so filling doesn’t spill over.
- Crust: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together softened butter and 1/2 cup sugar. Add 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 2 cups flour, and 1/4 tsp salt. Continue mixing until the mixture is crumbly and no dry flour remains. Spread the dough evenly into the bottom of your prepared pan. Press it with your fingertips to flatten and even out the dough. Bake crust at 350˚F for 18-20 minutes or until lightly golden at the edges. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly.
- Lemon Filling: While the crust is baking, zest then squeeze the lemons and prepare your filling. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until blended. Add Lemon juice and lemon zest and whisk to combine. Add 1 cup of flour and whisk until smooth and very well blended, and no traces of flour remain.
- Bake: Pour filling over the warm crust and bake in the center of a preheated oven at 350˚F for 30-35 minutes or until the filling is set. As soon as the filling is no longer wobbly in the center, remove from the oven so you don’t overbake.
- Chill: Cool in the pan at room temperature for at least 1 hour, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
- Serve: Pull the parchment paper up slightly to loosen from the pan, then transfer to a cutting board and cut into 18-20 squares, then dust the tops with powdered sugar.
Notes
**Carefully measure the lemon juice so the filling sets up properly. Storage and Make-Ahead:
- Refrigerating: Cool to room temperature within 2 hours of baking, and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Dust with powdered sugar just before serving.
- To Freeze: Once lemon bars are fully chilled in the refrigerator, cover the baking dish with a couple of layers of plastic wrap and freeze for 3-4 months. You can also transfer leftover pieces to a freezer-safe zip bag for easier storage. When ready to eat, dust with powdered sugar, since they’re good right out of the freezer.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Can I use a hand mixer, or a pastry blender to do shortbread crust
Hi Amy, yes either of those would work fine.
Hi Natasha,
Tried these tonight and they turned dark brown on top within the first 10 minutes of baking. What should I do next time to prevent that?
Hi Amanda, I would make sure your oven is calibrated to the right temperature. Make sure you have it at the center of the oven and not towards the top. Also, make sure you are using regular bake mode. not convection or broil
Let me start by saying “I am NOT a baker”……but I still keep trying. I made these the other night. I used a pyrex 9 x 13 pan and the paper trick did not work well on the rounded corners. I could not get the cookie ingredients to form crumbles. I thought maybe I only used 1 cup of flour, so added more flour. Still didn’t make crumbles. I finally gave up trying and just used what I had. It took way longer to bake to “golden edges” but I still kept going for the golden edges. Added the lemon mixture and baked. It was set at the appropriate time. I followed the directions – 1 hour cooling and then chilling over night. The next day I put the 10x on, cut and tasted. The flavor was outstanding; however, the layers changed places – cookie on the top and the lemon on bottom. I, like another reviewer, thought I must have a magic oven!!! The custard layer was more dense than I thought it would be,but, having never eaten a lemon bar, I didn’t know what to expect. There were very yummy and I may try again to get it right the next time.
Hi Merry, are you using 2 sticks or 1/2 lb of butter? It should come together into the dough if you continue mixing as long as the correct proportion of ingredients are used. If the dough is too dry and doesn’t come together at all, the crumbs won’t’ bake properly and the mixture won’t stay in place. I would highly recommend reviewing our post on measuring ingredients which will help with success for all baking recipes.
Very easy to make and so delicious, thank you:)
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed that, Zhanna!
Hi Natasha I tried the lemon bars but the crust didn’t go crumbly I’m just wondering how long should I have beaten it maybe I didn’t do it long enough.I have also done the chicken pot pie,egg rolls, cupcakes and also lasagna all were gorgeous.
Hi Mary, It’s better to overmix than to undermix with this one – you don’t want to see any of the dry flour in the mixture. Also, make sure not to change any of the proportions of ingredients for the right blend of wet to dry ingredients that form the dough.
Hi Natasha
Love both Ina Garten’s and your recipes… this is a win win !!!
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m all smiles
Hi Natasha! Love your recipes and your videos – WAYYY better than FoodNetwork, etc. Made these bars and followed recipe EXACTLY, but when I took them out of the oven and let them cool, the cake was on the TOP and the filling on the BOTTOM! Any ideas as to why this happened? Or do I have a magic oven??
Either way, they were AWESOME!
Hi Carmine, did you pre-bake your crust? If you skip that step, I could see something like that happening.
Thanks for responding… yes, I did pre-bake the crust… it must be my magic oven, then… we’re going to try again and see if it does it again.. I’ll let you know
You have to make sure you have the crust all the way to the edges and there are no cracks or spots for the custard to leak through. Otherwise the custard will leak to the bottom and cause the crust to rise.
Hi Carmine,
I too have a magic oven lol.
The lemon square were still delicious .
Hi Natasha! I tried the lemon bars again, and this time there was no magic in the oven – they came out exactly right – crust on bottom!! Yayyyyyy… go figure… 🤷🏻♂️
Carmine
Sounds perfect! I’m glad it turned out awesome.
Hi Natasha
I figured it out – I made these for the eighth time yesterday and they came out upside down again – but after making them so many times, I figured out what went wrong – I OVERMIXED the crust ingredients… instead of crumbly, I got a cookie-dough consistency – and sure enough, the crust rose above the custard and it turned out as lemon crumble!!
So lesson learned – crust has to be CRUMBLY!! Lol
Made another batch and they came out perfect!
My kids are licking their plates. Zesty lemony flavor. Best recipe for this that I’ve ever found!
That is the best when kids love what we moms make. That’s so great!
These bars are delicious. I must say they are extremely rich and dense. So I think the big piece Natasha had in the video is probably way too filling. Also it took about 45-50 min. for filling to set, much longer than the recipe.
Hello Yuri, so nice to hear from you. Thanks for your good comments and feedback on this recipe. Good to know that you enjoyed it!
Hi,
Have tried this recipe and they are very tasty. Now I am searching for a great butter cookie recipe, do you have any video. I follow you, your recipes are very easy and because of you, I have become a great cook jaja.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Ida. I do not at this time but thank you for that suggestion; you can find our favorite cookie recipes HERE.
Hi Natasha! I have just discovered your blog and recipes. Everything looks delicious and I have saved several recipes. Looking forward to trying them and I am signing up for more! My kind of cooking and eating—yum!
I’m so glad you discovered our blog! Welcome! I hope you try and love our recipes soon!
Hi Natasha! Can you tell me what brand of baking pan you used? All mine have rounded off corners.
Hi Dawn, you can find all of our favorite kitchen tools in our Amazon Affiliate Shop HERE.
Natasha!
Just wanted to let you know that your tutorial and recipe is truly easy to follow!
My 15 year old daughter had no trouble making these and they turned out scrumptious 🙂 🙂
Thanks for a great one!
You’re welcome, Natalya. Thank you so much for sharing your great feedback with us!
Hi Natasha! If I bake half of the recipe, can I use 8×8 square pan? Tnx
Hi Chuchie, yes, you can halve the recipe. I can’t say if an 8×8 will work without testing it. I hope you love this recipe.
Thank you for the lemon recipes I made lemon bars it was a hit
You are very welcome, Theresa. Glad it was a hit!
these are awesome.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I just made these for the first time today. They are perfect. The recipe is so easy. Thank you Natasha.
You are very welcome, Sarah. I hope you’ll love every recipe that you will try!
We made these yesterday and seriously all were devoured! Loved them!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
Can I halve the recipe and use 9×9 pan?
Hi Faith, that should work well, but they will be a little thinner and spread out so they might bake a little faster.
I made these yesterday and they were a huge hit! Loved the parchment tip–worked perfectly 🙂 I’ve made many, many lemon bars in search of the perfect recipe, and this one made it into my box of favorites (reserved for only the best!).
Love it! So happy to know that you enjoyed this recipe, Susan. Thank you for sharing!
I made these yesterday and they were a huge hit! Loved the parchment tip–worked perfectly 🙂 I’ve made many, many lemon bars in search of the perfect recipe, and this one made it into my box of favorites (reserved for only the best!).
That sounds perfect! Thank you for your wonderful comments and review, Susan.