Lemon Bars – a buttery shortbread crust with a creamy lemon filling. Top with powdered sugar for a sweet, tart, and delicious treat!
I love lemon desserts. It can be something that is no bake and super creamy like Lemon Lasagna Dessert. Or it can be cookies. I am an equal opportunity lemon dessert person. Lemon Crinkle Cookies are so good and so easy to make.
I did not grow up with lemon dessert recipes. In my family it was chocolate on chocolate all the time. Homemade Brownies were a staple every weekend. My dad is a completely choco-aholic, so that was pretty much all we had. Don’t get me wrong, I loved it. But now that I can make my own desserts, it is nice to switch it up sometimes. And Lemon Bars are one of my favorite ways to mix it up.
I think this may have been the first lemon bar recipe that I have ever made. I made Lemonade Pie a couple years ago, but this is the first real bar that I tried. They are sweet, tangy, tart, and just plain good! My husband is not a fan of chocolate, so he loves it when I mix up what I am making.
I love this easy lemon bar recipe because it just takes a couple steps and a few ingredients to make. The crust is like a shortbread cookie crust. It is sweet, buttery, flaky, and delicious! It is perfect for the tart lemon filling.
When you are making this lemon bar recipe it is best to use fresh lemon juice. It is just so much better than the bottled stuff. It can take awhile to squeeze 1/2 cup of lemon juice, but trust me, it is so worth it! My mom made this recipe for lemon bars with lemons from her tree and it was even better. There is just something about fresh lemons.
Strawberry lemonade bars are pretty much the exact same recipe with fresh strawberries mixed in. So not quite as tart, and sweet from the strawberries. So if you want to get the pretty pink color and mix it up, that is a fun twist you can put on lemon bars.
I love these easy lemon bars, because they come together quickly without a ton of work, and everyone loves them! Once they cool dust them with a little powdered sugar. It helps make them pretty, because when they bake the filling gets a little bubbly on top.
I don’t like to store lemon bars in the fridge, because it just soaks in the powdered sugar and leave a layer of moisture on top of the bars. So I just store them covered at room temperature. And if you need to dust with more powdered sugar to serve them later, not a big deal!
Lemon Bars
Lemon Bars - a buttery shortbread crust with a creamy lemon filling. Top with powdered sugar for a sweet, tart, and delicious treat! .
Ingredients
Base
- 2 cups flour, , sifted
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup butter, , cut into cubs
Lemon Layer
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degree. Spray a 13x9 inch pan with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine flour, powdered sugar, and butter. Using your hands, mix until it comes together as a dough. Press into the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven.
- Meanwhile in an electric mixer bowl mix together sugar, eggs, and lemon juice. Mix on medium speed for 4-5 minutes; until light, fluffy, and the sugar is completely dissolved. Add flour and baking powder, and mix until well incorporated.
- Pour over the baked crust. Return to the oven and bake for 22-25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, and cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar, and serving.
Notes
If you want the bars to be a little more tart add 1 tsp of lemon zestbr]
Adapted from [Food.com
Nutrition Information
Yield
20Serving Size
20 ServingsAmount Per ServingCalories 217Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 62mgSodium 100mgCarbohydrates 29gFiber 0gSugar 18gProtein 3g
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Carol at Wild Goose Tea says
YES! to going outside without a jacket. We in the Pacific NW actually have had days like that. But I am GREEDY. What a perfect ‘sunny’ recipe to post to bring out our inner
sunshine and warmth. Good choice. Smiles——
Kristen says
Lemons are such fresh, friendly fruits. They make me want to open the windows wide and let the blue checked curtains that I do not own blow in the breeze. Your lemon bars scream Spring. Now, if only the weather will cooperate 🙂
Free Akins says
1/2 of what lemon juice? Cup, 1/2 a lemon, teaspoon?
Erin S says
1/2 of a cup. I have updated the recipe, sorry about that.
Denise Morris says
The recipe for this is very much like traditional British Lemon meringue pie. The exceptions are it’s a whole pie and you also add some lemon zest for an extra lemony zing into the filling, then top the pie with meringue and bake. A great favourite in the UK.
Erin S says
Lemon Meringue Pie is a favorite in the US too! Love the sweet and tart combo!
Tran Tran says
I once used a mixer to mix the layer’s ingredients. Unfortunately it got bubbles and had a foam layer on top. The bars tasted just fine but the appearance was… not that great, since the white foam covered the golden yellow of the lemon 🙁
Erin S says
Part of that might be the time you mixed it. You need to make sure to mix for a long time, to have the sugar fully dissolve. An easy way to fix those bubbles, it to just dust with powdered sugar – no one will know the difference 🙂
Tran Tran says
Thank you so much! 🙂
Kim Beaulieu says
I love lemon bars. These look absolutely amazing and I bet I’d eat the whole batch all by my lonesome.
Dan from platter talk says
These lemon bars look fantastic! We have a bag of lemons on our counter; I know what we will be doing with them this weekend!! Thanks for the post 🙂
Mary says
Oh Erin I’m with you – I can’t wait for the warmer weather – your lovely lemon bars certainly spread a little sunshine – simply delicious
Mary
Michelle @ The Complete Savorist says
I agree with you 100%! There’s nothing like fresh lemons, especially in baking. I love anything lemon.
Taylor @ Food Faith Fitness says
This is my FAV recipe. Totally obsessed with these!
Kristen says
Lemon bars are such a classic dessert. We love them so much at our house.
Delaney | Melanie Makes says
These are perfect for summer!
Jennifer Farley says
Lemon desserts are the best! These bars look tasty!
Liz says
Lemon is a close second to chocolate around here! Your bars are fabulous
Michelle says
I love lemon desserts too!! These would definitely be a hit in our house!
Jennifer Blake says
There is nothing better than a nice tart lemon dessert at the end of a great summer meal. The more tart, the better!
Ashlyn says
Everything about these is amazing! I cannot resist a good lemon bar!
Abeer says
So creamy and so flavorful! I need to try these lemon bars!
Suzy | The Mediterranean Dish says
Mmm these lemon bars look amazing!
Sandra | A Dash of Sanity says
These look really good! Such a delicious summer dessert!