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Tart and tangy lemon filling on top of a shortbread crust is exactly what these Lemon Bars are all about! A perfect sweet treat for any occasion or holiday!
We are a lemon loving family and these delicious bars cure all our lemon cravings! They are super simple to make and require minimal ingredients. Definitely a lip smacking dessert!
Lemon Bar Ingredients
Crust:
- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup salted butter, cold
- 2 tablespoons cold water
Lemon Filling:
- 4 large eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- ¼ cup unbleached all purpose flour
- Juice and zest from 2 large or 3 small/medium lemons (or ½ cup of bottled 100% lemon juice)
Topping:
- ¼ cup powdered sugar for dusting
How to Make Lemon Bars
First step after gathering all your ingredients is to make the crust.
To make the crust preheat the oven to 350° and either grease a 9x13 baking dish or line it with parchment paper, leaving a overhang for easy removal.
Next, in a large bowl combine the flour and powdered sugar. Next cube the butter into pea size pieces and add to the bowl. Using a pastry blender, fork or your hands, blend the butter until it resembles fine crumbs and is starting to form a dough. Then add in the cold water and mix it all together with a rubber spatula or your hands. Honestly, I use my hands because it works the best for me. You also could use a food processor. Once the dough has formed, firmly and evenly pat it into the prepared baking dish. Bake the crust for 15 minutes.
While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. To prepare the filling, whisk together the sugar and flour, then add the eggs, lemon zest and juice. Whisk it well, until it looks a bit frothy on top and there are no lumps of flour lingering about.
Once the crust is done, pour the filling on top of the partially baked crust and bake for another 25-30 minutes until the filling is no longer jiggly and the edges are starting to turn golden brown.
Let the bars cool for an hour and then chill them for another hour before serving. Once chilled, slice them and dust with powdered sugar using a small fine mesh strainer. Works like a charm and makes them beautiful, but no too beautiful to eat!
How to Store Lemon Bars
These Lemon Bars have a custard base, so they need to be stored in the fridge. Store them in an air tight container in the fridge and they will last 4-5 days, if they even last that long without being devoured.
Looking for more dessert bar recipes? Look no further!
No Bake S'mores Bars
No Bake Peanut Butter Bars
Dark Chocolate Walnut Brownies
Oatmeal Fruit Bars
No Bake Cookies N' Cream Cheesecake Bars
Fresh Fruit Pizza
No Bake Cheesecake Bars
Peanut Butter Brownie Bars
Chocolate Chip Banana Blondies
If you try these tart and tangy Lemon Bars let me know if you enjoyed them in the comments below! Pictures encouraged on Instagram with the hashtag #heathershomemadekitchen You can also follow me on Social Media to see what other crazy things my family and I are doing! If you like what you see, please share with your friends and family!
Pin the recipe for later!
Lemon Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup salted butter, cold & cut into pea size pieces
- 2 tablespoons cold water
Lemon Filling
- 2 cups sugar
- ¼ cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- 2 large lemons, or 3 small/medium, or ½ cup bottled lemon juice
Topping
- ¼ cup powder sugar for dusting
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9x13 baking dish or line with parchment paper leaving an inch overhang for easy removal.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour and powdered sugar. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or your hands until it resembles fine crumbs. Add the water and mix until a crumbly dough forms. (Alternate method: combine flour, sugar and butter in food processor and pulse until crumbly, add water and pulse until a dough forms.)
- Firmly and evenly pat the dough into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes.
Lemon Filling
- Zest and juice the lemons.
- Whisk together the sugar and flour. Add in the eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice, whisk until slightly frothy.
- Pour filling over hot crust and bake for another 25-30 minutes, until the custard is no longer jiggly in the middle and the edges are starting to turn golden brown.
- Let cool for one hour on counter and then place in fridge and chill for another hour.
Topping
- Slice into 18 bars and dust with powdered sugar.
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