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!). 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar 1 teaspoon lemon zest 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled 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 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. 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.
