Lemon Bars

If you love lemon desserts, go make these lemon bars now.

At my core, I am a chocolate lover. However, these lemon bars give all things chocolate a run for their money. The crust is so buttery and the lemon filling is the perfect balance of sweet and sour making these bars little bites of happiness.

A few notes:

• Get yourself a juicer: Your life will be so much easier if you use a lemon squeezer like this for these lemon bars. I’ve made these before by just hand squeezing the lemons over a strainer and this halves the juicing prep time.
• Don’t skip the forking: Poking holes in the partially baked crust with a fork before adding the lemon filling is what keeps your crust and filling from separating. However, make sure you only poke partially through the crust and not all the way down to the pan otherwise you might get some leakage.
• Halve the recipe: If you need (or want) a smaller batch, bake this in a 9×9 pan with the following amounts:
  • The Crust:
    • 1/2 Cup Unsalted butter
    • 1/4 Cup Sugar
    • 1 tsp Vanilla
    • 1/4 tsp Salt
    • 1 Cup + 1 Tbsp Flour
  • The Filling:
    • 1 Cup Sugar
    • 3 Tbsp Flour
    • 3 Eggs
    • 1/2 Cup Lemon juice
  • Baking Instructions: Use the same oven temperature but bake the crust for 16 minutes and the bars for another 20 or until the center is set.

Lemon Bars

These lemon bars are the perfect balance of buttery crust and lemony filling. If you're a lemon dessert lover, these are the bars for you!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Chilling Time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 5 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 24 bars

Calories 222 kcal

Ingredients

  

Shortbread Crust

• 1 Cup Unsalted butter melted
• ½ Cup Sugar
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• ½ tsp Salt
• 2 Cups + 2 Tbsp Flour

Lemon Filling

• 2 Cups Sugar
• 6 Tbsp Flour
• 6 Eggs room temperature
• 1 cup Lemon juice about 4 lemons

Optional

• 2 Tbsp Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

 

• Preheat your oven to 325℉.
• Line a 9×13 glass pan with parchment paper, letting it hang over the long sides for easy lemon bar removal once the bars are baked. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, add the melted butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt together, mixing to combine. Add the flour and mix until everything comes together into a thick dough.
  1 Cup Unsalted butter, ½ Cup Sugar, 2 tsp Vanilla, ½ tsp Salt, 2 Cups + 2 Tbsp Flour
• Press into the pan, making sure the dough reaches all the edges and corners. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are lightly brown.
• While your crust is baking, sift the sugar and flour together in a large bowl. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice and then mix until completely combined. Set aside.
  2 Cups Sugar, 6 Tbsp Flour, 6 Eggs, 1 cup Lemon juice
• Once your crust is done baking, remove from the oven. Using a fork, poke holes all over the top of the crust. The fork should not touch the bottom of the pan as you're doing this.
• Pour the lemon filling over the warm crust and bake for 25 minutes or until the center is set and no longer jiggles. You can test this by tapping the side of the pan with your oven mitt after you remove it from the oven.
• Let the bars cool completely at room temperature for about 2 hours and then place in the fridge to cool for another 1-2 hours or overnight.
• Once chilled, remove from the pan using the parchment paper overhang. Dust with powdered sugar and cut into squares to serve. Cover and store in the fridge for up to 1 week.
  2 Tbsp Powdered sugar

Notes

• Get yourself a juicer: Your life will be so much easier if you use a lemon squeezer like this for these lemon bars. I’ve made these before by just hand squeezing the lemons over a strainer and this halves the juicing prep time.
• Don’t skip the forking: Poking holes in the partially baked crust with a fork before adding the lemon filling is what keeps your crust and filling from separating. However, make sure you only poke partially through the crust and not all the way down to the pan otherwise you might get some leakage.
• Halve the recipe: If you need (or want) a smaller batch, bake this in a 9×9 pan with the following amounts:
  • The Crust:
    • 1/2 Cup Unsalted butter
    • 1/4 Cup Sugar
    • 1 tsp Vanilla
    • 1/4 tsp Salt
    • 1 Cup + 1 Tbsp Flour
  • The Filling:
    • 1 Cup Sugar
    • 3 Tbsp Flour
    • 3 Eggs
    • 1/2 Cup Lemon juice
  • Baking Instructions: Use the same oven temperature but bake the crust for 16 minutes and the bars for another 20 or until the center is set.

Keyword dessert, easy bakes, lemon, lemon bars

Follow the full tutorial on YouTube: