This easy Lemon Bars recipe has just the right ratio of buttery shortbread crust and creamy lemon curd filling. They have the perfect creamy, sweet and tanginess that makes it hard to stop at just one.
I have so many favorite bar recipes, like these Key Lime Pie Bars, S'mores Bars, Butterfinger Bars, and White Texas Sheet Cake.
Why I love this recipe:
- Basic pantry ingredients: There are only a few ingredients needed to make these homemade lemon bars including flour, sugar, butter, lemon juice, salt, baking powder and eggs.
- Chewy shortbread crust: The best lemon bars are extra thick, soft and chewy, all made possible by the texture of the shortbread crust.
- Creamy lemon filling. The filling is perfectly sweet and creamy, with the perfect amount of lemon tartness.
How to make Lemon Bars:
Shortbread Crust: In a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and powdered sugar. Add the flour and salt then mix on low speed, just until combined.
Press dough evenly into the bottom of an 8″ pan with parchment paper, or a greased dish. Bake for 10 minutes then remove from oven and set aside.
Make Filling: While the crust cools, make the lemon filling. Mix the lemon zest and sugar in a mixing bowl then add the lemon juice, flour, baking powder, and eggs. Mix until well combined and the sugar is dissolved then pour mixture over crust.
Bake lemon curd bars at 350 degrees for 35-40 more minutes, or until the filling has set. Remove from oven then allow to cool completely.
Serve: For truly the best lemon bars, dust the tops with powdered sugar before cutting and serving. Store in the refrigerator.
Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:
To Make Ahead: Make this old fashioned lemon squares recipe up to 2 days in advance. Allow to cool completely before covering and storing in the refrigerator.
To Freeze: Allow lemon squares to cool completely before covering and freezing for up to 3 months.
More Lemon Recipes:
- Lemon Mousse
- Lemon Cake
- Lemon Sour Cream Pie
- Lemon Meringue Pie
- Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- Lemon Blueberry Bread
- Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
- Lemon Chicken Pasta
- Lemon Raspberry Muffins
- Homemade Lemonade
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Recipe
Lemon Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust:
- 1/2 cup butter , room temp
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- dash of salt
Lemon Filling:
- 2 large lemons , zested
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of an 8'' pan with parchment paper, or grease with cooking spray and set aside.
- Shortbread Crust: In a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and powdered sugar. Add the flour and salt and mix on low speed, just until combined.
- Bake Crust: Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared dish. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Lemon filling: Mix lemon zest and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, flour, baking powder, and eggs. Mix until well combined and the sugar is dissolved. Pour mixture over the baked crust.
- Bake lemon bars at 350 degrees F for 35-40 more minutes, or until the filling has set. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
- Dust with powdered sugar before cutting and serving. Store lemon bars in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
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I originally shared this recipe January 2019. Updated March 2024.
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Hi Lauren. This was a favorite in our family. My mom use to make them. Somehow I have lost the recipe. I have tried others & either too much lemon or the lemon layer doesn’t separate & set as in your pic. Do you cool your crust before adding the lemon mixture? Does that matter? Thank you very much for your help. I want to try these.
Very nice. A bit to sweet for my kind of lemon bar but the texture was wonderful. Thank you.
Oh my gosh. These are amazing! I didn’t have enough lemon juice on hand so I replaced the remainder with lime juice and I used a 9×9 metal pan instead and shortened the cooking times. It was a hit! For my first adventure in baking or pastry making, I would say this was a success. Looking forward to more great recipes.
Delicious! If we could give half stars we would have given it a 4.5.
If they are so great why the need for a half star? Just rate them a 5! This recipe is well deserving of a 10!
How far in advance can the lemon bars be made?
The day before works great.
This was so good that I made it again – this time a double recipe. It works better as two single recipes as the center of the huge pan didn’t “fluff”. But we eat these so fast I want to make a huge pile so the Cook actually gets one!
Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks Ellen–I’m so glad they’re a hit with your family 🙂
This website is gorgeous. Thank you!
This looks like the silver palate recipe I made over 25 years ago. They are the only ones that as far as o know used powdered sugar in the crust.
They are the best lemon bars I ever tasted.
This was absolutely brilliant! Incredibly easy to make and loved by everyone! So much so, that I had to make another batch two days later!
What a compliment! I’m so happy everyone liked them so much. Thank you for coming back to comment.
You can’t beat a classic like this, especially for a lemon lover like me!