This perfect Lemon Bars Recipe has two important things; the perfect amount of lemon and a big, rich buttery crust. I add a bit more lemon juice than most, and those things set my lemon bar recipe apart! If you love these you might also enjoy my Blueberry Lemon Bars!
Tips for Perfect Lemon Bars
- Opt for fresh lemon juice here, bottled just won’t taste the same.
- Use parchment paper to line your pan. This helps with easy removal.
- Allow them to cool for the full time allotted.
How to Store Lemon Bars
While these bars can be kept out at room temperature for several hours, they should be refrigerated if you can’t finish off the pan the same day you make it. If you know that you are going to be storing them, try to only cut off the pieces you need, not cutting up the entire pan into bars. (Hint: This also means nice crisp cuts when you serve them cold!) I usually place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the bars and then cover it with foil. Lemon bars can be stored for 2-3 days in the refrigerator.
How to Freeze Lemon Bars
If you are freezing the lemon bars I like to cut them into individual size portions and then wrap each bar with plastic wrap. Date and stack neatly in your freezer. To thaw, either place bars in the refrigerator the night before using or leave them on the counter to come to room temperature.
The Best Lemon Bars
Ingredients
CRUST
- 1 cup (2 sticks or 226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (256 g) all-purpose flour
FILLING
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (32 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
CRUST
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
- In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour, and ½ cup sugar with a pastry cutter, a fork, or your hands. Press into the bottom of a 9×13 inch pan lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden.
FILLING
- Whisk together 1 ½ cups sugar and ¼ cup flour. Crack eggs into a separate bowl, then whisk them into the sugar and flour mixture. Add ⅔ cup lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
- Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the oven. (Do not cover)
- Allow bars to cool in the fridge for at least 2 hours then dust with confectioners sugar.
- Cut into squares and serve.
Video
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Im going to try this one. I have my mom’s recipe a bit different and they came out horrible tho hers were always YUM! ? – do you put lemon mixture onto hot crust or let it cool some
I’m not going to give this a star rating, since I made several adjustments to the recipe. I’m a professional pastry chef, but I’ve struggled to find my “holy grail” lemon bar recipe. This is the closest I’ve found, with the following tweaks: add 1/4 tsp salt to the crust, huge difference! Use Meyer lemons and absolutely add the zest!! Also add a pinch of salt to the lemon filling along with the sugar. Next time I’ll cut down the sugar by about 1/4 if using Meyers, the bars were a tad too sweet for me. I’ll also bake the crust quite a bit longer, shortbread is really much better over-done than under-done.
Salted or unsalted butter in lemon bars! So frustrating when salted v. unsalted butter in recipes is not called out. Thanks!
These lemon bars when so easy to make and absolutely delicious!!! If you are a lemon lover definitely make these bars.
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Can’t wait to try your recipe. Looks delicious.
Will try your recipe they look delicious.
Hi Instead of lemon juice can we add lemon cardial
I have just made the lemon squares 😍😍I put extra lemon in like u do cause I love lemon too:) they are amazing!
I’ve been making these for about 40 years! Always a big hit! I agree…I always use a little more lemon juice!