If you enjoy eating scrumptious classic lemon bars, you’re going to love this delicious recipe! It starts with a beautiful buttery shortbread crust that’s filled with sweet, slightly tart lemony goodness. This bakery-style dessert is very easy to make and tastes 10 times better than a boxed lemon bar mix. Last week my good friend Mike requested that I make a batch of yummy lemon squares and post up the recipe. So here it is!
About Classic Lemon Bars
This traditional dessert is just like the ones you’ll see displayed on cake stands under large glass domes at bakeries, coffee houses and diners. Below are all the ingredients you’ll need to make the shortbread crust and lemon filling for classic lemon bars. You might already have most of these ingredients in your pantry. It’s also helpful to have a 9X13 bar pan or cookie sheet, and some parchment paper.
Delicious Homemade Lemon Squares
If you don’t have fresh lemons on hand or they aren’t in season when you’re craving these luscious classic lemon bars, it’s absolutely fine to use bottled lemon juice. Today I bought fresh lemons at the market. In my backyard I have 4 large lemon bushes, but they don’t produce fruit until mid-October. So in a few months I’ll be making and posting more recipes that call for lemons!
How to Make Lemon Bars
To make classic lemon bars you don’t need any fancy kitchen equipment. I use my KitchenAid stand mixer, but you can use a mixing bowl, pastry cutter, wooden spoon and a whisk. Start by adding the butter and sugar to your mixing bowl. Cream them together.
Lemon Bar Recipe
Add vanilla and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to the bowl. Mix briefly. Add in the flour, cornstarch and salt. Mix until all ingredients are incorporated. The dough for your shortbread crust should look like this.
Lemon Squares from Scratch
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9X13 pan with parchment paper. Leave a few inches of parchment paper hanging over the sides of the pan. Later you’ll use these edges to lift up and remove the classic lemon bars from the pan. Transfer the shortbread dough to the pan. Use your fingers and/or a spatula to spread the dough in an even layer within the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Today I made the edges of my crust shallow. You can build them up a little higher if you’d like.
Easy Lemon Bar Recipe
Bake the shortbread crust for about 15-16 minutes until it’s just lightly golden brown all over. Remove the pan from the oven and allow the crust to cool off completely.
Lemon Filling for Lemon Bars
While the crust is cooling, make the lemon filling. If using fresh lemons, squeeze one full cup of lemon juice. For this classic lemon bars recipe I ended up using 8 fresh lemons. But it really just depends on how juicy the lemons are. So I always make sure I have a few extra lemons on hand, just in case.
In a clean mixing bowl, whip the eggs, granulated sugar, one cup of lemon juice and the flour until fully combined. Your lemon filling mixture will look like this.
Best Lemon Bars Recipe
Pour the lemon mixture into the cooled-off crust. Bake your classic lemon bars at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the filling is set. Just look at how beautiful and scrumptious this looks. My kitchen is filled with the gorgeous smell of shortbread and lemon. It feels so satisfying to make this homemade treat for family and friends.
Lemon Bar Texture
When you pull this yummy dessert out of the oven, the top of the lemon mixture will have a lot of small bubbles. That’s perfectly okay. Most of the bubbles will settle down a bit while cooling. Allow your dessert to cool off for one hour at room temperature. Then place the pan in the refrigerator for two hours or overnight.
When you’re ready to serve your classic lemon bars, sprinkle the top of the lemon filling with a generous amount of powdered sugar. Use the oversized edges of the parchment paper to lift the lemon bars up and out of the pan. Transfer it to a cutting board.
How to Slice Lemon Squares
Slice into 12 even squares. Or if you’re hosting a party with a lot of different desserts, cut each of the 12 classic lemon bars into four little squares. It’ll make this yummy dessert stretch a lot farther!
Time to Garnish Your Lemon Squares!
If you’d like, you can garnish each piece of dessert with lemon zest. Enjoy your classic lemon bars with a tall glass of ice-cold milk or a cup of tea.
Classic Lemon Bars
Classic lemon bars are perfect for breakfast, dessert or a yummy mid-day treat. They’re also a wonderful dessert to take to a friend’s house when you’re invited over for dinner.
Half of these lemon squares are headed to my daughter Ashley’s house. She’ll share them with a group of friends who are coming over to her home this evening to study for a big law school exam. The rest of these classic lemon bars are packed up and ready for my husband to take to work. He’ll eat one or two squares and share the rest!
Refrigerate any leftovers on a covered plate or in a large Ziplock bag. These classic lemon bars will stay fresh for up to a week. But if your family’s anything like mine, these scrumptious classic lemon bars will magically disappear in a day or two!
Best Kitchen Tools for Making Lemon Squares
I love using cake stands. The one you see here in this post I got online through Minted. But you can get a similar one from Amazon. Because I have so many lemon bushes in my yard, it really helps to have a citrus press. They come in three different sizes for limes, lemons and oranges.
Classic Lemon Bars
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 16 servings 1x
Description
If you enjoy eating scrumptious classic lemon bars, you’re going to love this delicious recipe! It starts with a beautiful buttery shortbread crust that’s filled with sweet, slightly tart lemony goodness.
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS FOR SHORTBREAD CRUST
- 3 sticks unsalted butter (24 tablespoons), softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 + 1/2 teaspoon pure Mexican vanilla (or vanilla extract)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- 1 + 1/8 teaspoons salt
INGREDIENTS FOR LEMON FILLING
- 6 large eggs
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed or bottled
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS – SHORTBREAD CRUST
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Line a 9X13 pan with parchment paper. (Leave enough parchment paper over the edges of the pan so later you can use these as handles to lift the dessert up and out of the pan when it’s ready to cut and serve.)
- In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla and lemon juice and mix briefly. Add flour, corn starch and salt. Thoroughly combine all ingredients.
- Spread the dough over the bottom and sides of the pan in an even layer. Use your hands and/or a spatula.
- Bake the crust for about 15-16 minutes until it’s just lightly golden. Remove from oven.
- Allow the crust to cool completely.
INSTRUCTIONS – LEMON FILLING
- While the crust is cooling, prepare the lemon filling.
- In a mixing bowl whisk together the eggs, lemon juice, granulated sugar and flour until everything is well combined and there are no lumps.
- Once the crust has cooled, pour the lemon filling into the crust.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. When the filling has set, remove from the oven. There will be a lot of small bubbles on top of the lemon filling. That’s absolutely fine!
- Cool the dessert on your countertop, then refrigerate for two hours.
- When you’re ready to serve the classic lemon bars, generously sprinkle the top of the lemon filling with powdered sugar. Lift up the edges of the parchment paper and transfer the dessert from the pan to a cutting board. Slice into 16 squares. Enjoy!
- Cover and refrigerate any leftovers for up to one week.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Breakfast, Tea Time, Snack, Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American, Italian, French
Keywords: lemon bars, lemon bar recipe
LEMON SQUARES RECIPE > PIN IT TO PINTEREST
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MORE DELICIOUS LEMON RECIPES
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CLASSIC LEMON BARS > JOIN THE CONVERSATION!
Have you enjoyed one of these classic desserts this season? Do you have a favorite lemon dessert? I’d love to hear your thoughts about lemon bars and lemon recipes in the comments below. Join the conversation!
I’ve made this recipe three times in just a few months because everyone who tastes it asks me to make it again! These are sooooo good!
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Has anyone actually made these? Looks good but I love hearing reviews from people who have tried the recipe.
Hi Lynn! These lemon bars are really good! Extended family now ask for them when we all get together for large gatherings. I will usually make an extra batch for my brother-in-law who has become addicted to these lemony treats. :-)
Hey Denay, love your site! I made these lemon bars over the weekend and ran into some trouble. The lemon filling didn’t quite solidify in the way I had anticipated. I put them in the fridge overnight and in the morning the filling was more jiggly than I expected, to the point where it wouldn’t cut without spilling out. I froze the lemon bars for a few hours and that did help, but I haven’t taken the lemon bars out of the fridge long enough to see if they start melting, but it did seem like the got a little looser after a few hours out of the freezer. Any thoughts on where I might’ve gone wrong? They’re super yummy, just hard to share with people haha!
Hello Josee! I’m so happy you love my blog, but I’m sorry to hear that your lemon bar filling did not set. I’ve made this recipe numerous times. The last time I made them for a party at my sister-in-law’s house. The lemon bars came out of the oven and were still cooling on the counter when we needed to leave for the party – so they never got refrigerated. When we arrived at the party I planned to put them in the refrigerator, but someone got to them first – they were sliced up and served! The consistency was much softer than they would have been with refrigeration, but they were not at all melty. I live in California at almost sea level with no humidity. I’m wondering if maybe altitude or humidity had something to do with the filling being soft, or maybe the lemon bars weren’t in the oven long enough to set. It’s hard to tell. But from my kitchen to yours – many good wishes are sent your way for a wonderful rest of the week!
Apple strudel !! You presented this recipe very nice!! Now I will try this at home :)
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Glad to have read about this recipe. I only tasted lemon bars once, in an event in a hotel, and it really captured my palate. I looked for it in the nearby bakeshops but I can’t find any. I am excited to try this. a nice replacement for the usual cakes that we bake.
Oh wow! I am so craving for lemon bars right now and seeing this made my mouth water.
My colleague brought in the office brownies yesterday and I am now assigned for some lemon bars to bring in the office next week. Good thing I got your recipe! No more problem for me now. I hope I can do it just like yours.
First of all, love anything with lemon or a lemon. Looks so good! Bookmarked this so I could let my sister bake it for me.lol
I have been craving lemon bars so I definitely need to make these. They look so delicious!!
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What a delicious snack! I would love to try this recipe with my mom and little sister.
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This lemon bars look delicious and they look simple to make. I would want to make them asap. Thanks for sharing.
I love lemon bars but have never made them. Definitely giving these a shot.
Oh these look amazing!!! I love lemon desserts so I need to try these. I’ve never made something like this – I think I need to! They’re great for a party too!
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Well I’m a big fan of food.. me and friends will definitely love this. We are actually planning to include this in our cooking session this week, hehehe thanks for the recipe.
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These lemon bars look absolutely amazing and I am sure they taste great. Can’t wait to try them out.
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These look great! I am a huge fan of lemon so I will have to veganise your recipe! I think egg replacer and vegan butter will do!
My husband loves all things lemon and these are definitely going on my “to make” list. Wife of the year award coming right up!
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I love lemon everything. I will have to give this recipe a try on the weekend. I am sure it will be a big hit.
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Oh, Denay! Lemon bars are my weakness. They are sooo good. These look amazing! Can’t wait to try.
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These bars look amazing! I know when making anything with lemon, you have to check the freshness of each otherwise, the whole dish gets ruined. Lovely images with soft balanced light, just perfect.
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Is there anything better than a delicious lemon bar? And this coming from a choco-holic like myself :) These look fabulous.
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This lemon looks so amazing just feel like taking a bite from my PC.. Lol..
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Hahahahha! Gideon, if it was possible to share these classic lemon bars right through the screen, I’d save the first one for you! :-)
This looks absolutely delicious. Lemon Bars are one of my favorite desserts. So I will ha ve to be trying this out.
Hello David! I’m honored that you stopped by for this classic lemon bar recipe and left a comment. I send wonderful wishes your way for a fantastic week!
Lemon Bars are hands down one of my favorite dessert (or anytime!) treats. That being said, I’ve never actually attempted to make them from scratch. But, looking at these lovely photos, and the step by step recipe, will definitely change that! I can’t wait to whip up a batch of these very soon!
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Yahoo!!! I’m thrilled to know you’ll soon be enjoying a batch of classic lemon bars. I love how amazing it is to make beautiful, tasty desserts from scratch. :-)
MMM I’ve been dying to make something lemon lately! Thanks for sharing!
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You’re so welcome, Lauren! With so many bright and beautiful lemons at the market right now, it’s the perfect time to bake up a batch of scrumptious classic lemon bars. :-)
Lemony desserts are my very favorite. I can’t wait to give this one a try. Thank you!
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Danielle, you are so welcome! Thank you so much for visiting me here on Confetti and Bliss. :-)
Lemon is such a perfect flavor for hot summer days! Your classic lemon bars recipe sounds absolutely amazing!
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Aww…thank you Heather! I know you’re going to love these classic lemon bars. :-)
Mm I’d try a lemon bar! Sounds great!
Thank you Rachel for stopping by for a visit and leaving a comment. Many good wishes for an excellent week! :-)
These lemon bars sound so good and I will be trying them soon. I also think they would be a great hit at our block party!!
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Woo-hoo! Anne, I love that you’ll be making these classic lemon bars for your block party. Instead of cutting them into 12 squares, cut them into 48 little pieces. They’ll stretch a lot farther and there will be enough for everyone to enjoy. :-)
These looks sooo yummy!! I’m not sure if mines would turn out well. I would love to make these
Hi Autum! What’s awesome about this classic lemon bars recipe is how easy it is to make. Your lemon bars will look just like mine!
Yum! Lemon things are my fave!
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Hi Rachel! Anything lemony puts a smile on my face. You’ll really enjoy these classic lemon bars. Yum!
These look absolutely mouth-watering! I love the photos that show each step in the process because I always wonder if my batter is supposed to look like that! Pinned for future use! Thanks!
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Jen, thanks a million for sharing the love for these classic lemon bars by pinning this recipe to Pinterest. I really appreciate it! Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful week.
Looks amazing! I must try this at home!
Belle
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Yippee! Belle, I’m so happy to hear you’ll soon be enjoying these classic lemon bars.
Now this looks like it would be an absolutely delicious treat, I am really a fan of anything which includes lemon, lemon cake has to be one of my favourite for instance.
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Oh yes! Sarah, these classic lemon bars are divine.
I might be drooling. These lemon bars look so good.
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Hahahaa, that’s just too cute Maggie! Time to bake up a batch of lemon bars and taste the homemade goodness. :-)
Oh man I used to love lemon bars, I haven;t had them in forever! These look delicious!
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Lemon bars are one of those delicious old-fashioned comfort foods perfect for any season. Danielle, I hope you’ll whip up a delicious batch this weekend. :-)
Lemon is such a delightful flavor!
I wish Kitchen Aid would make it possible to change the color of their mixers. I love mine, but sometimes I wish I could make it this kind of yellow!
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I know, right? I would love to change the color of my two white KitchenAid mixers too. I’d probably go for ice blue and either yellow or green. Thank you Alyx for stopping by and leaving a comment!
I LOVE lemon bars, but I am sure I would screw them up if I tried to make them myself! ha! I pinned this anyway, for a day when I am feeling motivated!
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Wow! Lauren, thank you so much for pinning this tasty lemon bar recipe to Pinterest. I appreciate it more than words can say.
These look great, you have so many awesome recipes…keep it up!
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Thank you Michael. Your wonderful comment just made my day!
I’ve never had a homemade lemon bar and I think it’s about time! These look so amazing!
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Woo-hoo, yes! Kate, I’m loving that you’ll soon be sinking your teeth into a beautiful, scrumptious lemon bar. :-)
oh, my! These look delicious!
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Thank you Ashley for taking the time to stop by and leave a comment. :-)