These EASY LEMON BARS are so good and beyond easy to whip up for a tasty treat anytime of the week. The perfect balance of tart and sweet!
I told you a couple of weeks ago that I was on a lemon kick and now you can see that I wasn’t lying!
This lemon bar recipe is probably my favorite lemon dessert and I think you guys are going to love it too!
The rich, buttery crust pairs so perfectly with the slightly tart, slightly sweet filling. I think this tastes like lemonade in dessert form!
I could really get in trouble with these lemon bars in the house, which means that it’s a good thing this recipe is for an 8×8 pan instead of a 9×13. I’d seriously eat the whole pan!
This recipe came from a Taste of Home magazine and I made zero changes – it’s perfect as is!
How to make these easy lemon bars:
You’ll start by preparing the bottom layer of the lemon bars and it starts with a simple shortbread dough.
You’ll need flour, butter, and powdered sugar. That’s it!
Beat those together with a mixer and press into an 8×8 baking dish.
Bake the base for 20 minutes before adding the lemon topping.
To make the lemon topping, you’ll whip up a couple of eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice, zest, and a little baking powder.
Totally simple and you don’t even need the mixer – just grab a wire whisk and start stirring!
Pour the filling right over the cookie base and pop all this back in the oven.
You’ll want to cool this on a wire rack before giving it a generous dusting of powdered sugar.
Should lemon bars be refrigerated?
Yes, store these tightly covered in the fridge. They’re delicious cold, but you can also bring them to room temperature before serving.
This lemon bar recipe should last up to 4 days in the fridge – if you don’t devour them all first.
Special Tools Needed to make this lemon bar recipe:
The below links are affiliate links.
Microplane Zester: The perfect tool for zesting citrus fruits or shaving Parmesan cheese into fluffy little mounds!
Dusting Wand: This is just a little gadget you fill with powered sugar and then you shake! So easy and I use it to dust powdered sugar over my homemade brownies too! No big clumps of powdered sugar.
8×8 Baking Dish: I love this dish and it comes in a range of pretty colors!
More easy dessert recipes to try:
Eclair Cake: No need to heat up the oven with this no bake recipe!
Blackberry Cobbler: We make this alllll summer long!
Lemon Cookies: Simple and sweet!
Apple Cobbler: Always a classic!
Lemon Bars
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
For the filling
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 whole lemon juiced
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- powdered sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
For the crust
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the flour, butter, and powdered sugar to a bowl and beat with a mixer until the dough comes together.
- Press the dough into an ungreased 8x8 baking dish.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
For the filling
- Add the eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, lemon juice, and lemon zest to a mixing bowl and whisk until well combined.
- Pour the filling over the crust and return to the oven for 25 minutes. The filling should be just slightly jiggly.
- Cool for one hour before dusting with powdered sugar.
Denise Browning says
Hi, Karly! Thanks for the easy recipe. Lemon bars are one of my favorite American desserts. In fact, I had some a few days ago– although i bough them.
Krysten Gossard @freshfitchen says
I absolutely love Lemon Bars! Such a fresh and delicious summer dessert!
Lisa A Langston says
Do you remember which issue of TOH this recipe is in?
Karly says
No, sorry. I tend to tear out the ones I like and keep a big stack of ripped up papers until I’ve tested them – then they get typed up online and the paper goes in the trash. 🙂
Natasha Minocha says
These look and sound so good! Love sweet tart gooey lemon bars.
Sabrina says
love and miss eating these, what a great memory you’ve evoked, so thank you, love lemon bars but forgot I did, probably because of my diet!
Jeannie says
Loved this receipt. So easy and delicious. The only thing I found was refrigerating over night made them hard. I put them in the microwave for about 20 seconds and they softened right up. Very Easy
Fran says
This sounds so easy. I can’t wait to try it.