These Lemon Bars are sour and sweet and very easy to make. Buttery shortbread crust meets tangy lemon curd filling. Just 7 ingredients! You won’t be able to stop eating these.
You can also use any other citrus fruit for this recipe like grapefruit, orange, or limes.
Step-by-step instructions
This is an easy story to tell. Place flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a food processor and pulse until it starts to clump.
Transfer the crumbs to a parchment paper layered baking pan and evenly press into the bottom. Bake for 20 minutes, fill with the lemon curd filling, and bake again.
The filling is very easy to make. You need just 5 ingredients. Eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Beat eggs, sugar, and zest until creamy. Then add flour. Slowly mix in lemon juice, and you're done.
Pour on top of the pre-baked shortbread crust and bake until almost set with a very slight wobble. This will take about 35-40 minutes. To prevent the top from browning too much, cover loosely with parchment paper after 20 minutes or to your preference.
NOTE: I played around with the amount of lemon zest and think that 1 teaspoon lemon zest is the perfect amount for the filling. Lemon zest adds a tangy taste but can add a bitter taste as well.
TIP: When grating lemon rind, watch out that you grate just the yellow rind and not the white one. The white part of the rind is very bitter, and when you accidentally take too much of it, the filling can get a bitter taste. In this case, you might need to dust much more powdered sugar on top before serving to balance the bitter taste.
What I also want to say is, please make sure that you take organic lemons that you can safely eat the rind. Also, wash them very well because of the uneven skin.
If you make this Lemon Bars Recipe leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #alsothecrumbsplease on Instagram! Would love to see your snap!
You may also like Dark Chocolate Orange Cupcakes, Cream Cheese Swirled Lemon Bundt Cake, or Easy Pistachio Cake Recipe From Scratch.
Best ever Lemon Bars Recipe
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240g)
- ⅓ cup granulated white sugar (67g)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅞ cup cold butter (198g)
Lemon Curd Filling
- 6 large eggs
- 2+½ cups granulated white sugar (500g)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (120g)
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (240ml)
Video
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 9x13" (23x33cm) baking pan with parchment paper with an overhang on all sides. Set aside.
- Make the shortbread crust in a food processor: Place flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a food processor and pulse a few times just until it starts to clump.
- If you don't have a food processor, then make the shortbread crust with a pastry cutter or two forks instead: In this case mix together flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Then add butter and cut it into the mixture until it starts to clump.
- Transfer crust to the prepared baking pan and press with your fingers evenly into the bottom of the pan. Place a piece of paper on top and flatten the crust with the back of a flat-bottomed cup. Bake for 20 minutes until crust is lightly browned.
- While the crust is baking, prepare the filling: In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, mix eggs, sugar, and lemon zest on medium speed until creamy and sugar is completely dissolved, about 2-3 minutes. Add flour and mix just until incorporated. On low speed, slowly stir in lemon juice just until combined. Pour onto crust. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until filling is almost set with a very slight wobble in the center. Cover with parchment paper after the first 20 minutes to prevent browning too much, if desired.
- Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Then chill in the fridge overnight. Cut into 20 bars. Before serving, dust with powdered sugar. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Julie
Hi, do I have to let it rest over night? Or can I just put it in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving?
Sabine
It's best when stored overnight because the filling needs time to set and the flavor develops as well. However, I recommend chilling it at least 6 hours in the fridge. Hope that helps.
Deb
What is that tool you flatten your crust into the pan with?
Thankyou
Sabine
You can use either your fingers or a flat bottomed cup. Hope that helps!
Phil
VERY large amount of filling. Mine spilled over the edges. The parchment buckled and it spilled over the sides.
I shouldn't have filled it all the way. Just trying to follow the recipe exactly. Otherwise delicious.
Sabine
I'm sorry to hear that you had troubles but if you used a 9x13" baking dish as in the pictures shown this couldn't have happened. In fact, the pan is about half full with the filling.
Geeta
I don’t have a mixer. Can I hang mix the filling ?
Sabine
Yes, just make sure that the ingredients are well combined, the sugar is dissolved and no lumps remain.
Mary
I weighed all ingredients to the gram. Used the correct size eggs. Followed directions. The crust was perfect and delicious. The top was a mess. It had a sponge cake consistency with a thin layer of lemonyness. Dry, sad, lemon sludge. What a bummer
Sabine
I'm sorry to hear that. But something must have gone wrong down the process. You see the consistency in the photos and video. It is very creamy and like lemon curd. When it turned out like a sponge cake, there must be something wrong with the wet/dry ingredients ratio. You said you measured everything in grams. The liquid is measured in ml, not g. That's a difference. Because 1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice is actually pretty much and the bars are very tangy. Other than that, they could be overbaked.
Clara
I don’t have a food processer can I just hand mix the crust?
Sabine
If you don't have a food processor, skip step 2 and continue with step 3. Step 3 explains how to make the crust without a food processor. Hope that helps!
Karryn
Rather than a curb ba I got a cakey top. I can’t figure out what I did wrong - any ideas?
Sabine
I'm sorry that you had troubles with the recipe. There could be the following reasons why this happened to you:
1. Wrong egg size: please make sure to use large eggs.
2. Too much flour: If you don't measure with a kitchen scale (highly recommended though), please make sure to spoon and level the flour in the measuring cup. A packed cup of flour equals 1.5x the required amount of flour.
3. Too little lemon juice: please make sure to fill up the measuring cup with freshly squeezed lemon juice.
4. Overbaking: Please remove the lemon bars from the oven when they still wobble (almost set). An additional oven thermometer helps to be sure that the oven has the correct temperature and is not too hot.
Hopefully, that helps! If not, please reach out to me to figure out what was the problem.
Andrea
These really are the Best Ever! The crust is perfect and the the topping has excellent texture! I saw this recipe and knew I wanted to try it. I tried another popular recipe previously and it just kept producing a soft, cakey crust that just absorbed too much of the topping. I was ready to give up on lemon bars before I tried this. Thank you!
Sabine
I’m so happy that you like this recipe, Andrea! Thank you so much for your feedback!
Kim
Made these for my nightshift tonight, tasted a little corner and they are delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Sabine
Awesome! I'm happy that you like them. Have a great weekend!
Carol Skinner
Sounds wonderful! Can they be frozen?
Sabine
Yes. Therefore don't sprinkle with sugar before freezing. Cut chilled lemon bars into bars and place in the freezer uncovered for about 2 hours until they are firm. Then wrap each bar in plastic foil tightly and place in a zip-lock bag. Thaw in the fridge overnight by removing the foil and placing them in an airtight container. Although they freeze well, they are best eaten fresh. The curd can get a little bit gummy. You can freeze them up to 1 month.