The delicious, refreshing taste of summer is captured in this easy lemon bars recipe. Made with a buttery shortbread crust and tart lemon filling that will have you coming back for seconds!
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- These lemon bars are the perfect summer dessert!
- They're tart and sweet, with a buttery shortbread crust that will melt in your mouth.
- And they're so easy to make, you'll be whipping up a batch in no time!
When you need a sweet treat but don't have time to make something complicated, this easy lemon bars recipe is just what the doctor ordered. This sweet treat will delight your whole family's taste buds.
🛒 Ingredients
Note: The full list of this recipe ingredients with their amounts and options are listed in the recipe card below.
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- All-purpose flour -- to make these lemon bars gluten-free replace the regular flour with gluten-free.
- Confectioners sugar
- Butter -- may use salted or unsalted
- Vanilla extract -- for optimum flavor use pure extract
- baking soda
- Lemon zest -- fresh from one lemon
- Eggs - large
- Granulated sugar - this is white sugar
- All-purpose flour - to make this gluten free, use gluten-free flour
- Lemon juice - use freshly squeezed
- Lemon zest - use freshly grated
🗒 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Add the crust ingredients into the bowl.
- And mix with a hand mixer on low speed for 2 minutes until the consistency is crumbly.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease the baking dish.
- Pour the crust mixture into the baking dish.
- Make sure to add the all of the crust to the baking dish
- Then press the crust firmly into the baking dish.
- Bake the crust for 22 minutes until the edges are golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a cooling rack. (The crust does NOT need to cool beyond the time it takes to prepare the lemon custard.)
- While the crust is cooling add all the custard ingredients to a mixing bowl.
- Use a hand mixer on low for 2 minutes until the consistency is smooth and silky.
- Pour the lemon custard over the crust.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Use a toothpick to make sure the lemon custard comes out clean.
- Place the baking dish on a cooling rack for 1 hour until cooled. Transfer the pan to the fridge for 2 hours or until chilled. Cut into 20 bars. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Add an additional lemon slice (optional).
🔪 Equipment
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You’ll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- Baking dish 9X13 inch ceramic or glass
- large bowl
- hand mixer
- mixing bowl
🤔 FAQs
These are the questions we are most frequently asked about making our Easy Lemon Bars Recipe.
One possibility is that you baked them too long. Lemon bars should be baked until they're jiggly like jello and set in the middle. If they're too loose they need to bake for a few minutes longer.
Lemon bars can be kept at room temperature for a day or two, but after that, they should be refrigerated.
Lemon bars will keep in the fridge for about a week.
Lemon bars freeze well and can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- I strongly recommend that you use fresh lemon juice in this recipe. The fresh-squeezed juice really makes the flavors stand out in this classic dessert.
- You don't need to allow the crust to cool completely, it will still be warm when you add the custard filling.
- You can tell that the lemon bars are done when they are no longer jiggly in the center. Or when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- I do not recommend that you reduce the sugar in this recipe.
📚 Variations
- Try adding a little bit of grated ginger to the crust for a delicious twist on these classic lemon bars.
- If you want to make these lemon bars a little bit more special, try adding a simple icing made with powdered sugar and lemon juice.
🥫 Storage
These lemon bars can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to a week.
You can also freeze lemon bars, wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer-safe bag. They will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
When you are ready to enjoy, thaw the bars overnight in the fridge and then bring them to room temperature before serving.
📗 Related Recipes
- This Lemon Tart recipe has a crumbly and buttery almond biscotti crust and a creamy and vibrant lemon curd filling. It's oh so delicious!
- This delicious Lemon Dump Cake recipe brings a delightful creamy citrusy flavor to this quick and easy dessert. You are going to love this simple dessert.
- This Lemon Blueberry Poundcake is perfectly balanced with the flavor combination of blueberries and lemon, topped off with a simple lemon sugar glaze.
🍽 Serve with
- Italian Sausage Pasta is one of the quickest penne pasta recipes that you'll find. It's the perfect meal to serve with these easy lemon bars.
- These Italian Grilled Vegetables are the best-grilled vegetables you've ever tried. They are generously seasoned and then cooked until crisp-tender and caramelized.
- These easy homemade soft breadsticks are light and fluffy, topped off with melted butter and garlic salt for truly restaurant-quality breadsticks that you’ll soon be dying to serve alongside your favorite meal.
📞 Chiacchierata (chat)
When I was a child, spending time in the summer with my nonna always meant that she would be cooking up some new dish or another. One of her favorite past times? Making these Gooey Lemon Bars! If you are like me, you will quickly fall in love with this Old Fashioned Lemon Bars recipe.
Tutti a tavolo, è pronto!
These bars are always a hit, and you can't beat the summertime to make them! A buttery shortbread crust piled high with tart lemon filling - what more could your mouth desire?
Tutti a tavola, è pronto!
What's new? Check out my All Our Way Store on Amazon. We'll be adding more items we love and use or wish we had to make cooking fun and easy.
📝 Recipe Card
Old Fashioned Easy Lemon Bars are a classic dessert that tastes just like grandma used to make. If you are a simple dessert that brings back all your childhood memories then this is the recipe for you.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
📖 Recipe
Old-Fashioned Easy Lemon Bars
Equipment Needed
- 9X13 baking pan ceramic glass or ceramic* see notes
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients
- 1½ cups All-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup Confectioners sugar
- ¾ cup Butter softened (1-½ sticks)
- ¼ teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon Baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon Lemon zest
Lemon Custard Filling
- 6 Eggs
- 2 cups Granulated sugar
- 6 Tablespoons All-purpose flour
- ½ cup Freshly squeezed lemon juice about 1-½ lemons
- ½ teaspoon Lemon zest
Instructions
Lemon Bar Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Grease a 9X13 baking pan with butter and set aside.
- Add the crust ingredients into the bowl and mix with a hand mixer on low speed for 2 minutes until the consistency is crumbly.
- Bake the crust for 22 minutes until the edges are golden brown.
- Remove the pan from the oven and place on a cooling rack. (The crust does NOT need to cool beyond the time it takes to prepare the lemon custard.)
Lemon Custard Filling
- In a bowl add the lemon custard ingredients.
- Use a hand mixer on low for 2 minutes until the consistency is smooth and silky.
- Pour the lemon custard over the crust.
- Bake for 25 minutes. Use a toothpick to make sure the lemon custard comes out clean.
- Place the baking dish on a cooling rack for 1 hour until cooled. Transfer the pan to the fridge for 2 hours or until chilled.
- Cut into 20 bars.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. Add an additional lemon slice (optional)
Notes
- Use a glass or ceramic pan. Do not use metal, the lemon bars will taste metallic.
- Always use fresh juice over store-bought. The taste will be more flavorful with fresh juice.
- The bars may seem wobbly and not fully set, even though the toothpick comes out clean, but they will continue to bake while cooling and set.
- The chill time is extremely important for the bars to be completely set.
- These can be gluten-free by replacing the all-purpose flour with gluten-free all purpose flour.
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