Super Easy Lemon Bars. With only 5 simple ingredients and an incredibly easy recipe. Bake these luscious lemon bars and anyone who tastes them will just rave about them!
Super Easy Lemon Bars
Great lemon bars are an absolute baking classic. When I came home from school yesterday I found the house filled with the scent of these easy-to-make yet simply irresistible cookie bars.
Easy is the operative word in this recipe. They start with simple 3 ingredient crispy shortbread bottom. The simple whisked-together lemon custard top is also oh so easy. By the end of the day, the entire batch had disappeared.
Super Easy Lemon Bars
With only 5 simple ingredients, these lemon bars are sure to become a new stand by recipe in your house like it did in mine. Once you see how fast and easy it is to throw together a batch of these incredibly tangy and delicious lemon bars, you’ll never waste another lemon again.
Organic unwaxed lemons are always best for zesting.
For lime lovers check out the Lime Bars version of this fantastic, easy recipe.
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Super Easy Lemon Bars using only 5 simple ingredients
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Super Easy Lemon Bars
Using only 5 simple ingredients & a very quick preparation time, this is the easiest & best lemon bar recipe I've ever tried in almost 40 years of baking.
Ingredients
For the pastry base
- 1 cup cold butter, cut in small pieces
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 cups flour
For the lemon layer
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 4 eggs
- zest of two lemons, very finely chopped
- juice of 2 lemons, about 2/3 to 3/4 cup juice
Instructions
To make the pastry base
- Using a pastry cutter or in a food processor blend together the butter sugar and flour.
- Press evenly into the bottom of a greased and parchment paper lined 9×13 inch baking pan.
- Bake for 20 to minutes at 350 degrees F ( 325 degrees F if you are using glass bake-ware) The bottom should just be beginning to brown slightly at the top edges.
For the lemon topping
- Simply whisk together the sugar flour, eggs, zest and lemon juice until the sugar is dissolved.
- Allow the topping to sit for about 10 minutes before whisking together well again and pouring over the baked shortbread base.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for about another 20- 25 minutes or until the top is slightly browned and the custard appears to be set. Cool completely. Sprinkle with icing sugar when cool or try adding a meringue topping.
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
36Serving Size
gAmount Per Serving Calories 125 Saturated Fat 3g Cholesterol 31mg Sodium 52mg Carbohydrates 17g Sugar 11g Protein 1g
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Lemon squares are one of my ultimate favourites and I’ve been craving them for awhile – I’ll try this recipe tonight!
I have been craving lemon bars – yours look delicious!
FINALLY got around to making these over the weekend – BEST LEMON SQUARES EVER!! They were breakfast, lunch and dinner at our house – love them!!
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These are going to be my “go-to” Lemon Bars… what am I saying, all your recipes are becoming my “go-to” recipes. Wonderful!!!
Oh my goodness Barry, these are phenomenal!!! Holy cow. Just made these today and I think I screwed up a little bit – disnt let filling sit for 10 BEFORE I mixed it and I think I overtakes them a tad. I have a 3yo and 14 month old twins do I am lucky I even got to make these!! They are SO good though!! Thank you do much for sharing 🙂
Oh my goodness. Very first recipe I tried to start my new life of cooking and treating myself well and luckily. It was this one. Literally melt in your mouth deliciousness. Thank you for sharing.
Great to hear!
Just made these tonight as a thank you present for a friend who helped me move and loves lemons. Of course I taste tested, and they are great! So lemon-y! He will love them!
This recipe is dangerous! It’s so delicious and easy to make, I’ve just made my second batch. I made the first one a week ago.
Gave this recipe a try (I had never made lemon bars before) and as I took the crust out of the oven, it was bubbly and oily :/ maybe I let the butter get too soft? Next time I’ll freeze the butter
Double check your measurements too. I have never had that happen. Did you use real dairy butter?
These are delicious! But I have to ask. How is the crust supposed to be? Hard or soft? Mine turned out quite hard.
Crisp but not hard. Your oven may be a little hotter than mine. Try baking the bottom for a little less time next time.
Just made these as part of my rainy Sunday cooking marathon (I love rainy/snowy Sundays)….wow… Easy and Yummy.. Definitely a keeper!
Are these freezable?
I find they do freeze for short times. Add the powdered sugar after defrosting though.
THANK-YOU! I’ve been looking for a simple lemon bar recipe to make for 200 at an upcoming Christmas community event. Should I chill them before cutting? Also, if I make them a day or two ahead of time would it be best to keep them in the fridge or at room temp? Thanks again! 🙂
Best in the fridge I think. I’d keep them in the parchment lined pans, then dust them with the icing sugar and cut before transporting or on-site.
When you say whisk, you mean with a hand beater, stand mixer or by hand?
I do it by hand.
omg! Delicious, easy and oh soo good!
Everyone says so! It sure is a popular recipe.
Baking right now…smells heavenly!
What if I do not have parchment paper? Is this a necessary requirement?
Not necessary but it makes them super easy to lift from the pan and cut.
Have a question I am making them and how should the crust look.. Mine looks powder.. I use the right amount of flour and butter and food processor.
It should be fne as long as you press it well into the pan.
Okay i don’t cook much but could’t help but try this recipe! Question, I used an electric mixer to mix the crust part. (which was kinda a mess) – i don’t have a food proccessor.
it was really powdery. once i got it to the pan though i just used my fingers and got it together? and also is the filling suppose to be kinda runny before adding it to the crust?
A mixer must have been quite a mess! You may have also over measured the flour but as long as you pressed it firmly into the pan it should have worked pretty well. The topping will be quite runny before baking.
can you suggest a good Gluten free flour mix to use for this recipe
Never made them gluten free I’m afraid.
I just made these gluten free using coconut and almond flour and using palm of coconut sugar. They are really quite tasty!
What was the measurements of the flour mix?
Sorry, I don’t understand your question.
Bob’s Red Mill – one for one flour. Use it all the time
Hi just checking when you say flour, do you mean self raising or plain flour? Having a family dinner and would love to make these. Thank you!!
plain flour. We don’t use self rising flour at all here.
Oooh that looks fabulous!
This recipe is the best! I made them at Christmas and they never made it to the dessert table. After the first person tried one everyone wanted one and they were gone 10 minutes after I walked in the door. I’m an inexperienced baker and all the Rock recipes I’ve tried (about 6 now) have turned out great – I love this site!! The strawberry chiffon bars are another huge hit with my family. Thanks so very much for sharing!
So great to hear they were a success.
Baking these for the first time for my husband who loves anything lemon. Curious if the crust is to be cooled before pouring topping over?? Or just pour ready topping right after you take crust out of oven after it’s prebake?? I’m going to go ahead and pour topping over the hot crust………
Looking forward to seeing how these turn out. 🙂
I don’t cool it.
Hello, do you know how many calories are in this dessert?
No idea. There are online calculators for that sort of thing.
I made these over the holidays and this recipe is a keeper!
I’ve got these in the oven right now; I can’t wait to try them! Only change I made was that I ended up needing four lemons instead of two in order to get 3/4 of a cup of juice. Maybe my lemons weren’t as juicy! 🙂
I just pulled these from my oven! They went together fast , easy. They smell and look awesome. ( I added alittle spash of homemade limoncello) and I happened to have fresh meyer lemons ♡ YUM! Thanks for sharing.
Just tried baking these! They’re amazing!!!
Absolutely love! So easy and fast to make! They taste wonderful!
Can I just check that the lemon layer is quite watery when unbaked? I’m not too confident about pouring this liquid layer above my pastry!
Yes the flour will thicken it.
love it…instead of using the lemon though I use the 2 tsp lemon extract and it still came out great. Thanks.
Can you make these the night before? If I do, do they need to be refrigerated?
I always refrigerate them when cooled and baked.
They look delicious but I definitely would not consider it a “super easy” recipe.
I actually laughed at that comment. If this isn’t easy, I don’t know what is.
Best lemon bars ever! and so easy to make. Thank you!
Just made these for dessert. Super easy and super delicious!! Everyone loved them!
I made these Lemon Bars for my brother for his Birthday. I took the whole pan to him and did not cut them. He tasted them and said they were delicious but he wanted to know why they had paper under them. I reread the recipe and did not see any instructions for removing the paper.
did miss something. Overall a great easy recipe and delicious too.
I truly mean no disrespect and I hope you are not offended but that really did make me chuckle out loud. My blog has been visited by millions of people and I have written hundreds of recipes that use parchment paper to line pans and never in the past 8 years has anyone ever mentioned this. Your brother must have been pretty hungry! 😉 I’ve never seen parchment paper stick to anything baked ever before either. I’m afraid that comes under the umbrella of self explanatory. My wife just said you never have to tell someone to remove the paper liner from a cupcake before eating it. LOL! Sorry, I’m counting on your sense of humor here. 🙂
That was hilarious about the parchment paper! No disrepect either, but I needed that laugh!!!
These lemon bars were super easy and extremely delicious. My son went crazy over them. My crust wasn’t as firm as I wanted it, so I’ll bake it a little longer the next time.
How much is 1 cup of butter? Is it 1 pound?
One cup of butter is 1/2 pound of butter.
These look amazing. Lemon bars are my fav. I’m so glad this recipe doesn’t call for lemon pudding. I love raw ingredients and not anything boxed. I’m going to be making this tomorrow. I have something to look forward to tomorrow evening. Thanks! 🙂
P.s. Arlene, I saw no one answered your question. 1/4 cup of butter is half the stick of butter 🙂
Hi, these look lovely! What type of sugar did you use?
Plain white sugar
Can you use bottled lemon juice instead of fresh lemon juice?
I’ve never tried.
Hi, Barry. I was wondering if oranges could be substituted in for lemons to make “orange bars” instead? Just wanted to get your opinion before trying 🙂
I have done that before. It should work.
I can’t wait to try making these! Quick question: salted or unsalted butter?
Either really. Your preference. I mostly bake with salted butter and omit any salt tin the recipe.
When you say whisk the custard….i assume you were making a lemon curd and I wished over the stove…I think now . Should not have…
No, just whisk together and pour on.
This recipe is my go to recipe. It’s the simplest dessert recipe I have, yet it’s my husband’s and my sister’s favorite.
For glass pans, you recommend baking the pastry bottom at 325. After you pour in the filling, do you still bake it at 325 or bring up the heat to 350?
No you can continue to bake at 325 for glass bakeware.
How big of a pan do I use?
9×13 is listed.
Barry, the same exact recipe is listed on dessertsthendinner website, but it says to use an 8×8 pan. 9×13 is quite a bit larger. I’m afraid there won’t be enough crust to cover the bottom & definitely not be able to come up the sides. How thick is the crust when fully pressed out?
I don’t like the crust too thick. Lemon bars are traditionally thinner than a lot of other cookie bars but to each their own.
Barry, how thick should the crust be when pressed into the bottom of the pan?
First time making lemon bars, thank you for sharing this easy recipe they came out delicious!!
Do these freeze ok? Trying to get the rest of my christmas baking done and want to make these and hoping they can be frozen. I have all 3 of the Rock Recipe cook books and love trying the recipes. Great gift for people how live away like myself!
They do freeze okay but freeze them on a cookie sheet before freezing them in airtight containers with parchment paper between the layers.
Twice I have made these, first time with a gluten free flour replacement. Worked out fine, a little more dense base than with flour. The lemon seem to be overpowering. as I used the zest and juice of two lemons. Having to top up the lemon juice to 2/3 cup with real lemon concentrate. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the outcome. It was worth a try.
Second attempt I used a little less lemon zest, zest of 1 1/2 lemons. Juice of 4 smaller lemons. Regular flour. I have yet to try them as they are in the cooling process. Smelling, looking awesome. Am a huge fan of your recipes Barry.
Thanks So Very Much For Sharing a piece of the “ROCK”
Made these last Christmas and have this Christmas’ in the oven. My favourite and will always be on my annual Christmas baking list! Delicious and simple.
I don’t have a food processor, I have a bullet, kitchen aide and a food chopper. Suggestions on what to use to make crust?
Just cut the butter in with 2 butter knives held between your fingers if you don’t own a pastry cutter.
This is my new go-to recipe. They are literally fool proof!
The only thing I do differently, at the advise from a fellow baker, is I melt the butter and mix in the flour/sugar for the crust and pat down in pan and bake per instructions. I would have never thought this was a good idea–now I don’t know if I will ever use my pastry cutter again. I have made these 3 times this way and the crust is awesome this way and what a time saver!!!!
Still laughing about the paper on the bottom and when to remove. And great analogy about a cupcake!
Anyway, thank you for such a great recipe using more than a lousy tablespoon or two of lemon juice!
Melted butter? Really?!
I am apprehensive about trying it (who has time to start over?), but am intrigued.
Do you do this for all crusts?!
I melt my butter too. Turns out great.
Anybody know the serving size and calories per serving?
Is the amount of lemon juice a whole cup or 2 lemons? I’ve never seen 2 lemons that would produce 1 cup of juice. They would need to be the size of oranges. Just want to be sure. They look divine.
There was an error in the word order with recent the new recipe format software. It is now fixed.
I made these at Christmas and gave to neighbors with other cookie treats and I am asked to make more!!!! My truly favorite part is the crust! I’ve never been able to make pie crust but you’re instructions made it easy and perfect! Thank you!
I am a little worried about the lemon zest part. What do you mean by “finely chopped”? I have never zested a lemon, but I know I would need a zester. Right? Would it be necessary to chop the zest?
I actually use the fine side of a box grater to zest lemons. The goal is to avoid as much of the bitter white part of the peel as possible. I then put the grated zest on a cutting board and finely mince it into specks using a chefs knife.
Just wanted to say that this recipe was a real “find”… am presently in Mexico and wanted a recipe for lemon bars that used ingredients I have on hand… which was everything except the confectioners sugar. So I looked up online how to make confectioners sugar from regular sugar. I used my blender and just blended it into powdered sugar… for the sprinkle of powdered sugar topping. I may never buy powdered sugar again.
I also want to say it’s a good idea to let these set a little while after cooking before serving them. But then they are perfect! Thank YOU!
Follow the recipe exactly and you will NOT be disappointed. They dough may look like it won’t fill out the bottom of a 9×13-don’t worry, it will and the lemon topping will be watery when you place it in the oven-don’t worry, it will stiffen up.
Never made before tonight, will make again for sure! Big hit and super easy.
Recipe made about 15 bars (appx 2in by 2in) but you can get more out of it easier by cutting differently.
I would love to make this but ‘cups’ aren’t commonly used here and I was wondering if you have the recipe for the metric system?
I know i can look up how to convert but I’m scared the quantities won’t be the same then….
I don’t have a converted recipe at hand but it isn’t difficult to do the conversions online. This one from Cooks Illustrated shows some common baking ingredient conversions that I’ve found to be accurate. https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5490-baking-conversion-chart
I made these yesterday in glass bakeware and cooked the crust at 325 as directed. That was a BAD idea. I had to cook the crust for an additional 8 or 10 minutes after that…I looked up a few other lemon bar recipes, and they all say bake at 350. I’d suggest removing that part from the recipe.
After that, I baked the entire thing (with the lemon topping) at 350, not 325, and it turned out great.
Quite unusual. Almost every baking recipe I’ve ever seen says to lower the temp for glass bakeware. Perhaps your actual oven temperature is off.
thank you so much for the recipe these came out amazing!
The recipe is amazing! I’ve made it so many times! But how would one go about to incorporate some blueberries into this recipe? Would I just add them or should something be scaled back on to get the right consistency?
Might be tricky. The blueberries will give off extra moisture.
Help! What the hell happened? Followed step by step it came out a mess. The lovely tasting custard/curd ended up leaking below the paper under the shortcake. Came out a squishy mess 🙁 ?
No idea but something went astray in your method. Thousands of other people have great success with this recipe. Did you use real butter in the bottom layer?
Looks delicious! Might be a dumb question but how necessary is the lemon zest?? I don’t have lemons and I’m wanting to make these tonight!
For full flavour, I think it is necessary but the recipe will work without it…just not as lemmony.
I have made lemon squares for a few years now, this is the easiest and most delicious recipe. The lemon bars came out perfect and very delicious. Got tons of compliments. Thanks Barry for sharing!
Here’s a new one! My pan came out of the oven with one side of the pan looking great; however, the other side had the bottom layer on top and the lemon custard on the bottom. Tastes ok (except its difficult to get them cut with the parchment paper there………). Probably my oven.
I have tried a few lemon square recipes and this one will be my favorite one by far!!
Hi,
I was wondering if I can cut the amount of sugar for the lemon layer? Looks very delicious.
Never tried that but probably a little
Made these luscious lemon squares tonight. Perfection and super easy to make. I grated my cold butter into the food processor to ensure a fine crumble base. Added the seeds of one vanilla bean pod to the cookie base. 3 juicy Meyer lemons gave me 3/4 of a cup of juice. Used the zest of all 3 lemons in the curd. Delish! I’m going to make them with a meringue layer next time. Thx!
Made these tonight and they are so yummy! They remind me of the lemon squares my grandma made when I was a kid. Very easy to make and turned out beautiful. This recipe is a keeper. Thanks for sharing.
Do you know of a gluten free crust so I can make these., thanks.,
I don’t bake a lot of gluten frre beaking but if you can find a flour that works well in shortbread it should be ok here.
Pillsbury has a gluten free flour and I made them with that. They turned out FANTASTIC. I have even been asked to sell them! I usually sift the Gluten free flour a few times to put some air in it. It works with anything I bake and it is easier to find than some. Good Luck!
Sobey’s has gluten-free flour!
Okay wow. no one at home likes lemon bars but i still got compliments. My opinion mattered the most because i was craving them and i was searching for along time for the perfect recipe and good Godthsi was it! after i failed miserably twice using other recipes i was hesitant to use this but i did and it it turned out great. the biscuit layer was SOO delicious that i think i might make cookies out of it !:)thank u for this lovely recipe !
These lemon bars look amazing! Our family loves this classic spring dessert. A question though; why does the filling rest for 10 minutes before baking?
The flour in the filling is the thickening agent. Letting it rest expands the gluten in the flour and aids the lemon filling to set.
How can I use margarine instead of butter? Freeze the margarine? I know it won’t be as good but I don’t have butter.
I always use butter…but many people bake with margarine. I’d certainly try it.
As a child growing up in Cape Breton I have fond memories of the Co-op bakery horse and wagon going around the neighbourhood in the 60’s. My fondest memories are of the Lemon squares that my mom would routinely purchase.
I have dreamt of these for years. And you have found them for me! I made these yesterday and wish to thank you so very much for the memories and the delicious recipe. I think next time I bake these I will not bake the crust as long as they were harder than I remember…but still delicious. And I did not coat with icing sugar..I don’t beleive it’s necessary.
Thanks again Barry!
Can you make these in a sheet cake pan (10×15)?
If so does cooking time change?
Thanks in advance.
Too large a pan. When scaling up pan sizes, just calculate the area of the pan as opposed to the area of the pan used in a recipe and make the necessary adjustments in ingredient amounts.
I have many friends who love lemon bars and this is bar far one of the best recipes. I am making it tonight with gluten free flour for my gluten sensitive friends. They ask for them often. I messed up and made them in an 8×8 dish one day. Once I figured it out they were already in the oven, so I increased the baking time and prayed! They were amazing!!! I have even drizzled fresh raspberry sauce on them for a super special treat! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I am 16 years old and learning to cook, I made these for mothers day and my mom loved them! Thank you for the great recipe 🙂 <3
So great to hear that you are learning such a valuable skill so young. You’ll never regret it. I know that for sure!
Hi, I don’t have a food processor. What else could I use?
Just the old fashioned way: A pastry cutter or just a couple of butter knives held between your fingers.
Hi really want to try these but I’m confused about the crust part. I bake it first then take it out and add the filling?
yes, then back in the oven.
I absolutely love anything made with lemons. I lost a really good recipe I had had for lemon squares, so in my search for a new one, I came across yours and tried it. What can I say other than thank you for your amazingly delicious recipe! It tops my old one in flavour and in ease of making. I’ve made these lemon squares many times now, and I’ve yet to have them not turn out beautifully. I think the key is to line the pan with parchment paper which makes them a breeze to lift out of the pan to cut and serve. Thank you again for sharing your wonderful recipe, which has now become a family favourite.
and thank you for such a great review!
How do I put the meringue topping on, like after it is baked and cooled??
There is no meringue topping in this recipe but I suppose you could if you wanted, in the same way you would do it for pie.
Would cutting the recipe in half work for an 8×8 or 9×9 pan? I need to make a smaller batch than a 9×13 pan.
A 9×9 is 2/3 of the recipe.
Really yummy and so lemony! The base was slightly underdone (not crisp) in the middle, but that’s the fault of our oven, not the recipe!
Please advise of what dish to use for 18 bars.
Not sure what you mean.
If you were wondering about the gluten free crust, I use Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour. It’s the one in the blue package – NOT the red one.
I followed the recipe but I don’t get what to do at the end. Do I pour the lemon layer/filling part on top of the crust and bake it again? i tried to pour it over but it was liquidy and ran down the sides of the crust. Did I do something wrong when making the lemon part or something?
Seems like your oven may be running a bit hot but yes, you go pour the liquid lemon mixture into the crust and bake again.
These lemon bars are amazing. I never had good luck making lemon bars so i don’t make them.
These came out perfect. So easy. I used 2/3 cup lemon juice and I think that was just the right amount. I love your recipes. This is my favorite website.
I folded 1.5C of raspberries in after letting the custard sit for 10 minutes, before pouring over the pastry. I then let the bars chill overnight before serving. Delicious!!!
Has anybody made pudding delight bars…you make the shortbread ., then cream cheese w/ cool whip on top of crust then instant pudding on top then cool whip on top..if anybody has a gluten free recipe would u please print it…thanks…I reall need the shortbread recipe more.