This post may contain affiliate sales links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This Easy Lemon Bars Recipe has the perfect combination of tart and sweet. Made with a vanilla crust and a smooth lemon filling, these are easily the best lemon bars ever!
Easy Homemade Lemon Bars
This recipe has the most wonderful ratio of crust to lemon filling – they compliment each other without overpowering one another. The crust is seriously so good. It has just the right amount of sweetness to offset the tart lemon filling.
I played with the crust recipe until it turned out exactly how I wanted it to. The amount of flour in this recipe will ensure that the crust isn’t too soft or too firm. It has the perfect amount of vanilla extract to give it that sweet flavor. The powdered sugar sprinkled on top of the bars also adds a sweet touch that’s not too much.
I’m so happy with how the filling for these lemon bars came out! It has the best texture and flavor and it won’t crack when you bake it. I decided not to use lemon zest in the final recipe, because it made the filling taste a bit too strong, which threw off the balance of this dessert.
Recipe Ingredients
I tested every possible combination of lemon bar ingredients, and this is the recipe that came out on top! It’s an easy dessert that uses super simple ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need to make the best lemon bars you’ve ever tasted:
For the Crust
- All-Purpose Flour: Don’t change the amount of flour called for in this recipe – it will give your crust the perfect consistency.
- Powdered Sugar
- Salt
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract will give your crust an amazing flavor to compliment the filling.
- Unsalted Butter
For the Filling
- Granulated Sugar: Aside from giving your bars a touch of sweetness so they’re not too tart, the sugar will add moisture so the bars won’t crack when you bake them!
- All-Purpose Flour
- Large Eggs
- Fresh Lemon Juice: Bring on the lemon daydream with some fresh-squeezed lemon juice. So good!
- Salt
How to Make Lemon Bars
- Prepare Pan for Baking: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line the bottom and sides of a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper that sticks up above the sides of the pan. This will help you remove the bars later for easy cutting. Set the pan aside.
- Make Your Crust: Combine the flour, powdered sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Add the melted butter & vanilla extract and stir to combine completely.
- Assemble Crust: Crumble and distribute your crust over the bottom of the pan and press it evenly into the bottom.
- Bake: Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are just getting lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Make Your Filling: Combine the sugar and flour in a bowl. Add the eggs, lemon juice & salt and whisk together to combine. Don’t over mix.
- Bake & Let Cool: Pour the filling on top of the crust and bake for 18-22 minutes, or until relatively set. Remove from the oven and cool for 15-20 minutes on the counter, then refrigerate until cold and firm.
- Assemble Your Dessert: Remove bars from the pan and dust with powdered sugar, then cut into squares and serve!
Tips for the Best Lemon Bars
- Don’t Reduce the Sugar: I know it may be tempting for those who are trying to cut back on sugar, but sugar not only adds sweetness (which helps reduce how tart the filling could be), but it also adds moisture. That moisture helps to keep these bars from cracking.
- Use Fresh Lemon Juice: Definitely opt for fresh lemon juice rather than bottled – the flavor is very different, and the fresh lemon juice will make these bars SO much better. Trust me.
- Don’t Over Mix Your Filling: If you notice some air bubbles or even a little white layer of air bubbles on top of your baked bars, it’s ok. It’s just the air from the filling rising while the bars bake! To help avoid too much of that, just be sure not to over mix your filling.
How to Get Lemon Bars Out of the Pan
In order to get your lemon bars out of the pan easily, be sure to use plenty of parchment paper to line the pan. It should cover the entire bottom of the pan as well as the sides, and you should even have the paper sticking up above the sides to make sure nothing sticks to the pan.
This extra bit of parchment paper doubles as a handle to remove the bars with! Simply run a thin, sharp knife along the sides, lift your dessert right out with the parchment paper “handles,” and transfer it to a cutting board.
If your bars have been chilled enough, you should be able to cut into them with no problem. But if you’re having trouble, running your knife under hot water before each cut will make your job even easier!
How to Store Lemon Bars
These lemon bars are an amazing make-ahead dessert, because they’ll last for nearly a week if stored properly! Be sure to put them in a covered container in the refrigerator. They’ll stay good for up to 6 days!
More Great Lemon Treats
Lemon Curd
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake
No Bake Lemon Cheesecake
Lemon Poppyseed Cake
Lemon Mascarpone Cream Pie
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”BI3W6fgI” upload-date=”2020-07-22T13:44:58.000Z” name=”Easy Lemon Bars” description=”This Easy Lemon Bars Recipe has the perfect combination of tart and sweet. Made with a vanilla crust and a smooth lemon filling, these are easily the best lemon bars ever!” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]
Print
Easy Lemon Bars Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 20-24
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Easy Lemon Bars Recipe has the perfect combination of tart and sweet. Made with a vanilla crust and a smooth lemon filling, these are easily the best lemon bars ever!
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups + 2 tbsp (276g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (115g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup (224g) unsalted butter, melted
Filling
- 2 1/2 cups (518g) granulated sugar*
- 1/2 cup (65g) all-purpose flour
- 7 large eggs
- 1 cup (240ml) fresh lemon juice (4-5 lemons)
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line the bottom and sides of a 9×13 baking pan with parchment paper that sticks up above the sides of the pan, so that you can remove the bars later for easy cutting. Set pan aside.
- To make the crust, combine the flour, powdered sugar and salt in a medium bowl.
- Add the melted butter and vanilla extract and stir to combine completely.
- Crumble and distribute over the bottom of the pan and press evenly into the bottom so that it’s even.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are just getting lightly browned. Remove from oven and set aside.
- To make the filling, combine the sugar and flour. Add the eggs, lemon juice and salt and whisk together to combine. Don’t over mix.
- Pour the filling on top of the crust and bake for 18-22 minutes or until relatively set. Remove from the oven and cool for 15-20 minutes on the counter, then refrigerate until cold and firm.
- Remove bars from pan and dust with powdered sugar, then cut into squares. Bars are best when stored well covered, and they’ll last for 5-6 days.
Notes
Don’t reduce the sugar. It not only adds sweetness (which helps reduce how tart the filling could be), but it also adds moisture. That moisture helps keep these bars from cracking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 239
- Sugar: 26.1 g
- Sodium: 100 mg
- Fat: 9.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 36.6 g
- Protein: 3.3 g
- Cholesterol: 74.6 mg
Keywords: easy lemon bars, lemon bars, lemon bars recipe, best lemon bars, recipe for lemon bars, how to make lemon bars, lemon dessert recipe
My lemon bars split and there is a slight amount of liquid in the crack. Do you think they are safe to serve? I cooked for 3 minutes longer than your recipe says, because they were still pretty jiggly. My final jiggle test there was slight jiggling, but not much.
It sounds like they were over baked. I’m guessing they are safe to eat and that the liquid is just some condensation.
I chose to make this recipe because the newsletter indicated it wouldn’t crack – but mine got a crater in the middle and several smaller cracks around the edges. Mine also took a little longer to cook. As I have to bring these to a birthday party tomorrow any help on what I did wrong so my next batch comes out better? Thanks for any help you might have.
Something that is custard-based (heavy on the eggs) like this really needs to not be over baked or it’ll crack (just like a cheesecake). You said you added to the bake time, but I’m guessing that you over baked them. They may look a little jiggly when they are done, but the filling firms up as it cools. You don’t want to over bake or they will crack.
I made these lemon bars for a niece who just had a baby and her family. They loved them. I did use store bought lemon juice just because I did not feel like squeezing lemons but otherwise everything was the same. Awesome
★★★★★
So glad they were a hit!
Not a keeper. Followed to a T, and crust so came out hard and filling was gooey and stuck to the parchment. These took way more than 22 minutes. More like 45 minutes. I read all the notes on what to do for them to turn out right and a lot of the comments with tips as well. Disappointed and won’t make these again.
★★
Also had a big crack and rather hard crust( but tasty crust).
Probably will not make filling again.. too eggy for my taste..( will make crust again!)
How do you get your bars that yellow?
That’s just how they turned out. It could be the quality of the eggs and how fresh they are. Some egg yolks have a brighter yellow color.
My family lives this recipe, but for some reason, every time I make them I get these white circles rise to the top (kinda looks like floating egg whites). How can I prevent this? It never looks pretty but tastes good so idk
★★★★★
Those are most likely little air bubbles that rise to the surface during baking. The best way to avoid it is to not over mix the filling before you add it to the pan. Fortunately, a little powdered sugar on top should cover those up pretty well. Glad to hear you enjoy them!
Can these be frozen?
Yes, just cut them into individual bars and wrap them in a layer or two of plastic wrap. You can store them all in an air-tight freezer bag for an extra layer of protection. They should be good for up to 3 months.
Oh no! I am not sure what happened, but these are way too sour. I am super disappointed, b/c I followed the recipe exactly. I used 5 lemons,, 7 eggs, didn’t reduce any sugar. It was all so easy and I felt so good about the crust and the baking, etc., but I don’t think they are edible, really. My throat is burning from my test bite. I just used standard lemons from Costco. Also, when I cut them, after being in the fridge for 2 hours, they a bit less solid in the middle than I thought. Would putting them back in the oven help at all, with the texture and possibly sourness?
Hmm, that sounds very strange. It sounds like you used fresh lemons and not bottled lemon juice or something so I don’t know where a sour taste would come from. Assuming all your ingredients were fresh and OK, I’m really not sure. I’m sorry!