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The Best Lemon Bars

Averie Sunshine

4.65 from 77 votes

Updated: Aug 13, 2026

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The BEST Lemon Bars 🍋👏 have BIG lemon flavor with the perfect balance of sweet and tart in every bite. They have a buttery shortbread crust topped with a smooth, bright lemon filling that sets up beautifully. These classic bars are EASY to make and perfect for spring and summer gatherings, holidays, potlucks, or anytime a lemon craving hits!

Easy Lemon Bars Recipe

• I’m pretty picky about my lemon bars. The filling, the crust, and the sweet-tart balance all has to be just right. I’m like Goldilocks with her porridge.

• These classic lemon bars are Goldilocks approved.

• Before making these, I researched dozens of recipes, studying each meticulously, but nothing sounded exactly perfect. I referenced one of my favorite cookbooks, The New Best Recipe,but when I saw seven eggs, I slammed the book shut immediately.Unless you’re feeding a football team, any one singular dessert does not need seven eggs, period. I also checked out another trusty resource, The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion, and many others. But in the end, I came up with my own.

• These classic lemon bars consist of an easy shortbread crust, topped with an intensely lemony filling. The tartness and sweetness are well-balanced. You don’t even have to lug out your mixer to make them.
• Just as cornstarch helps cookies stay soft and tender, it does the same for the crust of these homemade lemon bars. Shortbread crusts tend to become too dry, hard, or tasteless, and remind me of dog biscuits, which is why I never make biscotti. I’m sorry for anyone who likes it but it’s so unsatisfying for me because I can’t get past that dry, hard-yet-crumbly dough. The cornstarch keeps this crust just a bit softer than some, preventing the cardboard phenomenon.
• Another notable difference in this classic lemon bar recipe is that the ratio of lemon juice ratio is much, much higher than in most recipes. For an 8-inch square pan, most call for two tablespoons whereas mine uses eight (one-half cup); four times the amount. You’d think this would make you pucker up up for days but really, it doesn’t.
• The bars are robustly lemon-flavored, but not ridiculous, and they’re how I think a lemon bar should be. If I wanted a blondie with a hint of lemon, I’d use two tablespoons of lemon juice, but I wanted a good old-fashioned lemon bar, full of zing and tang. But they’re also sweet enough to be considered dessert, not torture.
• The overall depth of lemon flavor is boosted from two teaspoons of lemon zest. Most recipes this size use one teaspoon, but I doubled it and used two. I also added a tiny bit of vanilla extract, something that isn’t traditional in lemon bars, but I love vanilla.
• I am so pleased with these because the flavor is robustly lemony and tart, but they’re not sour, pungent, bitter, or overwhelming. They’re just sweet enough, but not too much. The sprinkling of confectioners’ sugar gives them a tiny bit of additional sweetness and gives them that classic lemon bar appearance.
• The filling itself is dense but light, almost like a lemon custard with a touch of creaminess. It’s smooth and firm, without being rubbery. The crust is buttery, just crisp enough, but retains some softness, flakiness, and tenderness. It’s a ever-so-slightly sweetened and thick enough to stand up to the layer of lemon filling and not be overwhelmed by it. I don’t like it when shortbread crusts are paper thin and prefer them on the thicker side. Not too thick, not too thin. Hello, Goldilocks.
• My almost six-year old is a lemon fanatic (heads up this is a repost from 2013 and she’s now 13!). She’ll reach into a water glass with a lemon, fish it out, and eat it. She loved these easy lemon bars because anything lemon-flavored is a hit with her. 
• I wouldn’t call them The Best Lemon Bars if I didn’t really think they were.

Ingredients in Lemon Bar

• Unsalted butter, all-purpose flour, confectioners’ sugar, cornstarch, and salt: These make the buttery shortbread crust. Cornstarch helps keep the crust tender, while confectioners’ sugar gives it a delicate texture.
• Eggs, granulated sugar, half and half, lemon juice, lemon zest, Vanilla extract, and lemon extract: These create the smooth lemon filling with big, bright lemon flavor. Use both fresh lemon juice and zest for the best flavor, and lemon extract gives the bars an extra pop without making them too tart.

Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.

How to Make Lemon Bars

• Make the crust by combining the flour, confectioners’ sugar, cornstarch, and very soft butter until a crumbly mixture forms.
• Press the crumbs into an 8-inch pan, prick the crust with a fork, and bake just until it firms up without turning golden.
• While the crust bakes, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, cream, and extracts to make the lemon filling.
• Pour the filling over the warm crust and bake until the center is just set but not overbaked.
• Cool the bars at room temperature, then chill before slicing and dusting with confectioners’ sugar.

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4.65 from 77 votes

The Best Lemon Bars

By Averie Sunshine

🍋👏 They have BIG lemon flavor with the perfect balance of sweet and tart in every bite. They have a buttery shortbread crust topped with a smooth, bright lemon filling that sets up beautifully. These classic bars are EASY to make and perfect for spring and summer gatherings, holidays, potlucks, or anytime a lemon craving hits!

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 9

Equipment

• (8×8 inch) Baking Pan

Ingredients 

For the Crust

• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, very soft
• ▢ 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ ¼ heaping cup confectioners’ sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• ▢ pinch salt, optional and to taste

For the Filling

• ▢ 2 large eggs
• ▢ 1 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ ½ cup lemon juice, or to taste (about 2 juicy medium lemons; see note below)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons half-and-half, whole milk or cream are okay
• ▢ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, optional and to taste
• ▢ ½ teaspoon lemon extract, optional and to taste
• ▢ 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoons lemon zest loosely packed, or to taste (see note below)
• ▢ confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Instructions 

For the Crust:

• Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine all crust ingredients and cut the butter into the dry ingredients with a pasty cutter or just stir and mash with a spoon until a sandy, crumbly mixture forms. I do it by hand because it’s easy, fast, and I don’t have to wash out my food processor; but use one if you prefer.
• Transfer crumbly mixture to prepared pan and using your fingertips, press crumbs down to form an even flat layer of crust.
• Prick crust with a fork haphazardly in a dozen places so air and steam can escape while it bakes. If air bubbles form while baking, prick them down and return pan to oven.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until crust has just barely set. It should not be golden or browned at all, it should still be white. You just want it to stick together and it doesn’t need to be cooked through fully since pan is going back in the oven to bake filling.
• While crust bakes, make the filling.

For the Filling:

• In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, lemon juice (start with ¼ cup and increase to taste; I find that using less than ½ cup isn’t intense enough, but add to taste), half-and-half, optional vanilla (I used it even though it’s not traditional), optional lemon extract (I don’t find it necessary and omitted it), and whisk until smooth.
• Add the flour and whisk until lumps are gone.
• Add lemon zest (add to taste, starting with 1 teaspoon but I prefer 2 teaspoons) and whisk to combine.
• Pour mixture over crust. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes (I baked for 18), or until the top has just set and isn’t jiggly in center. Some movement and looseness is normal and desired, you just don’t want it liquid-like or runny; slicing into some looseness is fine, liquid is not. Top will be yellow and lemon-colored, but not browned.
• Allow bars to cool at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
• Cover pan and refrigerate for at least three hours, or overnight, before slicing and serving.
• Optionally, dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Notes

• Store extra bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 324cal, Carbohydrates: 52g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Cholesterol: 70mg, Sodium: 38mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 39g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Originally published January 16, 2013 and republished June 5, 2020 with updated text.