Lemon Bars are sweet, tangy, and full of bright flavor. Lovely lemon filling sits atop a shortbread crust, all made from scratch!
Lemon Bars
Brighten up your day with a pan of tangy lemon bars (or sometimes referred to as lemon squares). This dessert is like sunshine in a tray. Fresh lemon juice, sugar, and vanilla flavor the top layer, while a thick, shortbread style cookie crust holds it up. A dusting of fine powdered sugar helps balance out the tart, citrus flavors giving you a beautiful dessert that’s sweet and zesty! These will surely liven up any dessert table they land on!
From no bake, to fruity, to decadent, there’s a dessert bar out there for everyone. Tray a pan of Pecan Pie Bars for a portable take on the classic. Or how about indulging in some Fluffernutter Bars or No Bake Amazing Strawberry Cheesecake Bars!
How can I cleanly cut these lemon squares?
Lemon bars can be a bit sticky and want to cling to your knife. For a flawless presentation, here’s a few tricks to keep in mind:
- Make sure the bars have fully cooled and have had time to finish setting up.
- Use a very sharp knife and wipe the blade before each new slice. You can also dampen the blade before cutting to make sure nothing gets stuck to the sides.
- Use a firm, downward motion to cut.
How To Make Lemon Bars
For the crust:
- Preheat. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Whisk. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Alternatively, you can use a food processor and pulse until combined.
- Form. Cut in the butter and combine until a sandy texture forms.
- Pour. Pour the crust mixture into the prepared baking pan and smooth out with a spoon. It will be crumbly, don’t worry! The butter will melt as it bakes and the dough will end up as a nice, firm crust.
- Bake. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden and set.
For the bars:
- Whisk. Whisk together the sugar, lemon juice, eggs, flour, lemon zest, vanilla, and salt. Whisk until the filling is smooth.
- Pour. Pour the filling evenly over the baked and warm crust.
- Bake. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The top should be dried out, the edges golden, but the center still jiggly.
- Cool. Let the bars cool completely in their pan. If you feel like the custard is still too soft to slice, you can refrigerate the bars for an hour or so before serving.
- Serve. Dust with a generous amount of powdered sugar, slice, serve, and enjoy!
Storing Lemon Bars
Store leftover lemon bars in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 days. Dust with extra powdered sugar before serving again!
Ingredients Notes for Lemon Bars
For the crust:
- Flour – Sift to avoid clumps. I used all purpose flour, but you can try this recipe with a gluten free flour alternative if needed.
- Powdered Sugar – This will add just a hint of sweetness to the crust.
- Butter – You want it to be very cold in order to get the proper texture. I used unsalted since we add salt to the crust but use what you have on hand.
- Salt – If you use salted butter, you may want to omit the salt here.
For the filling:
- Granulated Sugar – This, along with the eggs and flour, actually help to make sure the filling is substantial as opposed to too wet and goopy. Without sugar the filling would also be too sour.
- Lemon Juice – Fresh if you can manage! You’ll need about 2-3 large lemons.
- Eggs – These are going to help our lemon filling stay together.
- Flour – All purpose flour gives the filling structure.
- Lemon Zest – This really sells that tart and zesty flavor!
- Vanilla – To add a little sweetness to these bars.
- Powdered Sugar – To dust on top right before serving.
Enjoy!
~Nichole
Lemon Bars
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 Cup All-purpose flour
- 1/2 Cup Powdered sugar
- 1/2 Cup Unsalted butter cold
- 1/4 tsp Salt
For the filling:
- 1 Cup Granulated sugar
- 1/2 Cup Fresh lemon juice about 2 lemons
- 3 Large eggs
- 2 Tbsp All-purpose flour
- 2 tsp Lemon zest
- 1 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8×8-inch baking pan with parchment paper.
- Pulse the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor or whisk in a medium bowl.
- Add the butter and pulse or cut it into the flour with a pastry cutter until a sandy texture forms.
- Pour it into the prepared pan and smooth it out using the back of a spoon. (It will be very crumbly so don’t worry if it isn’t compressed, the butter will melt in the oven and the dough will form a nice hard crust while baking.)
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly golden.
- While the crust bakes, whisk together the sugar, lemon juice, eggs, flour, lemon zest, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until smooth.
- Pour the filling over the warm crust and return to the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the top is dried out and the edges are golden, but the center is still jiggly.
- Let the bars cool completely in the pan, then dust generously with powdered sugar before slicing and serving.
- Optional: refrigerate for an hour to let the custard set well if yours is too soft to slice right out of the oven.
Notes
These lemon bars can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
