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
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 !