I’m not afraid to say that these are The Best Lemon Bars you’ll ever make. With a sweet, smooth, and bright filling all stacked on top of a buttery crust, these little bars pack a lot of WOW.
The Best Lemon Bars
Is there anything quite like the sinfully sweet, deceptively simple lemon bar? I absolutely love that citrusy hit that I get whenever I bake a lemon centered treat and I know there must be some other lemon heads out there who agree with me. My recipe is super simple and packed full of sweet, smooth, melt in your mouth flavor.
What Is A Lemon Bar?
If you’ve never been formally introduced, then allow me to elaborate on our lemony little friend. Lemon bars take a simple, sweet lemon filling and stack it on top of a melt in your mouth buttery crust. That’s all it takes to achieve a dessert that tastes like sunshine solidified!
Ingredients In The Best Lemon Bars
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Crust
- Butter – We always use unsalted butter for baking, be sure to keep the butter cold and cut it up into small pieces.
- Sugar – I used just white sugar for this Lemon Bar recipe.
- Flour – All-purpose flour is all we want for this recipe. Feel free to sub gluten free flour 1:1 if you’d like.
- Salt – Just a touch of salt will really bring the lemon flavor to life. Don’t leave it out!
Lemon filling
- Sugar – I used regular granulated sugar as we want our flavor to be light and clean.
- Flour – Again all purpose, feel free to substitute gluten free flour if you’d like.
- Eggs – The binder for our filling, look for large eggs.
- Lemon – Both the juice and the zest are used today, this will ensure we can taste every ounce of that citrus. Lemon juice must be freshly squeezed.
How To Make The Best Lemon Bars
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Preheat the oven: Start by preheating the oven to 350 F degrees. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with parchment paper.
- Make the crust: In the bowl of your food processor add all the crust ingredients and pulse a few times until it starts to form into a ball. Press this evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Use your hands if needed to flatten it out over the entire surface. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the edges start to brown slightly.
- Make filling: Whisk together all the filling ingredients. Pour over cooled crust.
- Bake lemon bars: Transfer the baking pan back to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes or until the custard appears to be set. Let it cool at room temperature.
- Serve: Cool completely before cutting it into slices. Dust with icing sugar before serving. If time permits, chill them for a couple hours before slicing and serving.
How To Zest A Lemon
Lemon peel contains even more nutrients than the fruit of this fruit, offering numerous benefits to the body so let’s figure out how to incorporate them into this dish!
Prepare the lemon: If you’re not using organic lemons, I recommend washing them in warm water using a clean sponge. Warm water melts the wax layer that protects the fruit and dissolves any chemicals with which it has been sprinkled.
Grate the lemon: Wipe the lemons well after they have been washed and grate them on the smallest holes of your grater. You must be careful that the white and bitter part of the shell is not grated so change where you are zesting often. If you look at the lemon and see you have hit any white parts you’ve zested too far.
How Much Juice Is In A Lemon?
The answer varies because each lemon is different in size. Usually one lemon yields about three tablespoons of juice. I recommend keeping your lemons at room temperature and rolling the whole lemon firmly against your countertop to ensure you get the most juice.
Tips For Making The Best Lemon Bars
- Make sure to respect the amount of flour as too much flour can lead to a super dry and crumbly crust.
- The icing sugar will dissolve into the bars the longer they sit so make sure you let them cool completely before dusting them with icing sugar. I recommend sifting on top of the lemon bars right before you serve them.
- Let the lemon bars cool completely then chill them in the fridge for at least 2 hours before slicing them up!
- Use parchment paper. It will help you to get your bars out the pan without losing any crust or making a big mess.
- Make sure to grate only the yellow part of the lemon – the zest – the part that contains all the fruit flavor. The white side that lies underneath is bitter. Use a citrus zester if you have one!
Storing Leftover Lemon Bars
Fridge
Once chilled, slice the bars and store them in an airtight container, using parchment paper or wax paper to keep the stacks separate. They’ll last in the fridge like this for up to 3 days.
Freezer
The great thing is that these bars also freeze well! They can last up to 2 months in the freezer if stored in an airtight container. When you want to serve, just thaw overnight in the refrigerator and you’re ready to eat!
More Delicious Citrus Recipes To Try:
- Easy Homemade Lemon Curd
- Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
- Halloween Poke Cake
- Lemon Shortbread Cookies
- Strawberry Lemon Bundt Cake
- Lemon Butter Baked Cod
- Old Fashioned Lemon Bread
- Mojitos
- Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf
Craving More? Follow Along:
The Best Lemon Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
For Crust
- 1 cup butter unsalted, cold cut in small pieces
- 1/2 cup sugar granulated
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For Lemon Filling
- 1 1/2 cups sugar granulated
- 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tablespoon lemon zest from 2 lemons
- 3/4 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: Start by preheating the oven to 350 F degrees. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with parchment paper.
- Make the crust: In the bowl of your food processor add all the crust ingredients and pulse a few times until it starts to form into a ball. Press this evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Use your hands if needed to flatten it out over the entire surface. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the edges start to brown slightly.
- Make filling: Whisk together all the filling ingredients. Pour over cooled crust.
- Bake lemon bars: Transfer the baking pan back to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes or until the custard appears to be set. Let it cool at room temperature.
- Serve: Cool completely before cutting it into slices. Dust with icing sugar before serving. If time permits, chill them for a couple hours before slicing and serving.
