You need just 5 ingredients to make perfect luscious lemon bars. This lemon bar recipe is the perfect balance between sour and sweet.
Lemon bars are a classic dessert. People always love the bright zippy lemon on that delicious melt-in-your-mouth shortbread crust. This recipe makes the most lusciously thick lemon bars. The ratio of crust to lemon is perfect, giving you all the bold lemony goodness on top of shortbread. It’s so easy to make and lemon bars really only require 5 simple ingredients: sugar, butter, flour, eggs, and lemon juice. That’s it!
Did you know? The bottom crust of a lemon bar is a shortbread. Making shortbread is as easy as 1, 2, 3 since the basic recipe for shortbread is 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter, 3 parts flour. This recipe has a little extra flour to help support the weight of the lemon topping.
What kind of lemons should I use to make Luscious Lemon Bars? Can I use Meyer lemons?
You can use any variety of lemon to make lemon bars, including Meyer lemons. A Meyer lemon is a mix between lemons and mandarin oranges. They are sweeter and produce a more orange color of juice.
Can I use lemon juice from a bottle?
Freshly squeezed lemon juice will provide the best flavor in your lemon bars, but you can definitely use lemon juice you buy in a squeeze bottle from the grocery store. The flavor never tastes quite as bright or fresh, but it does work and should be used in the same amount as called for in the recipe.
How much juice comes from one lemon?
The amount of juice that comes from one lemon can vary. Sometimes it depends on the size, but often it’s just a matter of fact that some lemons are simply juicier than others. In our testing we have found that 1 large lemon can generally yield between 2 tablespoons and 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) of lemon juice. Therefore, a good rule of thumb is 3 tablespoons of juice per lemon. There are 16 tablespoons in 1 cup. You will need between and 4 to 8 lemons to yield 1 cup of lemon juice. We recommend purchasing at least 6 lemons to make this recipe.
Storage Instructions:
Store your lemon bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious dessert recipes:
- Easy Pumpkin Bars
- Heavenly 7 Layer Bars
- Cinnamon Roll Swirl Coffee Cake
- Gooey Caramel Pecan Monkey Bread
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Absolutely delicious! But my crust was more like a pie crust than your light and fluffy crust.
I had a small and a medium size food processor, do you think they weren’t big enough!
Tasted delicious but would like to do your crust.
What do you think I did wrong?
Made these to take to a party. What a hit! They were delicious! I did add some lemon zest though. Made them extra tart. Yum!!
Made these last night and they were delicious! Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes!
I used an 8×8 pan and we found the bars delicious but the shortbread a little too thick. 9×9 pan next time
I love that your recipes are so easy to access directly from your social media sites. Thank you for sharing such great recipes in such user-friendly ways!
These are awesome and so easy to make!
Has anyone made this gluten free? If so, which type of flour did you use? Thanks. 🙂
I’ve had good results with Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 gluten free flour. Made several different desserts and all turned out great.
Easy and super yummy!