Super Easy Lemon Bars. Using only 5 basic ingredients!
Super Easy Lemon Bars. New and improved, with a deeper lemon layer! 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!
Great lemon bars are an absolute baking classic. Over the last 10 years this recipe has been one of the most used and raved about cookie recipes on this blog.
Since we have over 200 Cookie recipes, on site, that is a very substantial endorsement indeed.
Easy is the operative word in this recipe. They start with simple 3 ingredient crispy shortbread bottom, which couldn't be easier to put together and then press into the bottom of a baking pan.
The simple whisked-together lemon custard top is also oh so easy.
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.
2021 Lemon Bars Update (originally published March 2011.)
Although, I find the original recipe to be excellent, I had a thought while recently making another batch. Can I make these with even more lemon punch?
A lemon bar could never be too tangy for me, so I thought, why not a thicker lemon layer? I modified the recipe slightly to try it.
All I did was simply increase the ingredients in the lemon layer by 50% to get even more of that silky lemon layer on top. It worked out very well indeed.
I sampled more than a few myself and then sent the remainder to friends, who raved about them as well. They were just too good to keep to myself.
The other tweak I tried was adding just a little baking powder to the shortbread bottom layer. With the extra weight of the topping, I wanted to be sure the shortbread base would not get soggy.
It worked perfectly and is well worth trying when you make your next batch.
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Super Easy Lemon Bars
Super Easy Lemon Bars. New & improved with a deeper lemon layer. Using only 5 simple ingredients & a very quick preparation time, this is the easiest & best lemon bars recipe I've ever tried in almost 40 years of baking.
Ingredients
For the pastry base
- 1 cup cold butter, cut in small pieces
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder (optional. See notes below)
For the lemon layer (See notes below for ingredient amounts to use for a thicker lemon layer)
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ¼ cup flour
- 4 eggs
- zest of two lemons, very finely chopped
- juice of 2 lemons, (about ⅔ 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.
Notes
Making a deeper lemon layer.
! For a thicker lemon layer (See notes below for ingredient amounts to use for a thicker lemon layer)
2 ¼ cups sugar
⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon flour
6 eggs
zest of three lemons, very finely chopped
juice of 3 lemons, (about 1 cup juice)
Note on the shortbread bottom.
I added just a little baking powder (¼ tsp) to the shortbread bottom layer. With the extra weight of the topping, I wanted to be sure the shortbread base would not get soggy.
It worked perfectly and is well worth trying when you make your next batch.
Recommended Products
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Nutrition Information
Yield
36Serving Size
gAmount Per Serving Calories 125Saturated Fat 3gCholesterol 31mgSodium 52mgCarbohydrates 17gSugar 11gProtein 1g
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.