The Best Lemon Bars
These really are the best lemon bars on the planet with the perfect ratio of crust to delicious, creamy, ultra-lemony filling and a healthy sprinkle of powdered sugar. YUM!
For as much as I’m a chocolate lover through and through, there are just certain times when lemon bars, and only lemon bars, will do.
It took me a while to get lemon bars perfected just the way I like them (meaning, a substantial crust to filling ratio to cut the sometimes overbearing sweet tanginess of the lemon filling).
And while the lemon filling is perfectly and very robustly lemon, it doesn’t overpower in a way that makes you think “wow, I’m not going to be able to eat anything lemon for a week!” after tasting one.
Brian sums up lemon bars like this: “it’s rare that I actually crave lemon bars, but when they are sitting there right in front of me, I can’t stop eating them!”
Yep, lemon bars are like that. Totally irresistible.
Also, lemon bars are so, so easy to make.
The shortbread-like, buttery crust of the bars is quickly mixed together, pressed into a pan, and pre-baked for a few minutes. While the crust bakes, the quick and easy lemon curd filling is whisked together and poured right on top of the hot crust and baked again.
Don’t forget the sprinkle of powdered sugar! Not only does it help pretty up the bars a little bit, but the light sweetness helps cut the delicious, but strong, tanginess of fresh lemon.
Fresh lemon juice vs bottled lemon juice
In the case of people vs lemon bars, it has been proven time and time again that using fresh lemon juice is the only way to go. The flavor of bottled lemon juice will make the bars taste artificial and flat. It will take about 3-4 lemons for this recipe (you’ll want to zest them before you juice them, because you’re using both the zest and juice!).
How this recipe has changed over the years
As with any recipe that I make dozens and dozens of times, I find that over the years I’ll make a few changes just simply based on my own preferences. In this case, it’s all about How Mel Enjoys Her Lemon Bars in Different Phases of Life.
This recipe has been on my site for over five years and in that time, I’ve found that sometimes I’ll increase the butter from 1 1/2 sticks to 2 sticks (1 cup) so the crust is more buttery and less crumbly (I left the original recipe written below for people that love that version – I still love it, too!).
Also, if I’m lazy (ahem, often), instead of cutting in the butter with a food processor or two knives, I soften or slightly melt the butter and mix all the crust ingredients together with an electric mixer and then press into the pan.
If you’ve been on the search for the best lemon bars, I think you’re going to love this recipe!
One Year Ago: Make-Ahead Sausage and Egg Breakfast Bake
Two Years Ago: Blueberry Fool
Three Years Ago: Perfect Corn on the Cob
Perfect Lemon Bars
Ingredients
For the Crust (see note for adaptations):
- 1 ¾ cups (249 g) all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup (76 g) powdered sugar, plus extra to sprinkle on bars
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons (170 g) butter, 1 1/2 sticks, at cool room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces
For the Filling (see note for thicker filling):
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ⅓ cups (283 g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest, from 2 large lemons
- ⅔ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, from 3 to 4 large lemons
- ⅓ cup milk
- Pinch of salt, about 1/8 teaspoon
Instructions
- Place an oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper and lightly grease the foil/parchment (optional: it helps with removing the bars after baking, but you can instead grease the pan with nonstick cooking spray).
- Whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt (this can be done in a food processor or in a large bowl by hand). Add the pieces of butter and cut the butter into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender, two knives or your fingers (taking care not to melt the butter too much – you might try freezing the butter and grating it into the dry ingredients on the large holes of a box grater) or process in the food processor for 8 to 10 seconds and then as needed until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
- Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press into an even layer on the bottom. Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes. Bake until very lightly golden brown on the edges, about 15-20 minutes.
- For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt, and flour in a medium bowl and then stir in the lemon zest, juice and milk to combine.
- Pour the filling onto the warm crust; reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake for about 18-20 minutes until the filling feels slightly firm to the touch. Cool the bars to room temperature, sprinkle with additional powdered sugar and cut into bars.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from Cook’s Illustrated (used salted butter instead of unsalted, lowfat milk instead of whole milk, and a few other very minor changes) in combination with my mom’s 40-year old recipe
Recipe originally published July 2013; updated with new photos, commentary, and recipe notes.
Just made them and they turned out amazing. I’m going to take them to work tomorrow so thank you for the recipe. Hopefully my coworkers will enjoy them as much as I do. 🙂
I made these last night, for a namesake today. Couldn’t find what I did with my usual recipe, soi I used yours. It was great! Even though I couldn’t find mycorn starch, so substituted tapioca flour. I let them sit overnight, They were easy to cut, just firm enough, and easy to wrap in saran wrap. And they unweunwerapped, easily,too. And sold out.I acted a teensy sliver, and it was really good. Thank you!
hi Mel,
I would really love to make these bars. Do you mind sharing the recipe in grams? Where I live, we’re not used to cup measurement. Hope you can help 🙂
I don’t know the conversion for grams since I don’t use that as a measure in my cooking/baking but there are several online calculators that could help you (just google for conversion calculator for baking).
I had the same problem, but doing the calculations was worth it – my lemon bars were a hit…
350°F ~ 180°C, 325°F ~ 160°C
For the crust:
235 g (1 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour
85 g (2/3 cup) powdered sugar, plus extra to sprinkle on bars
25 g (1/4 cup) cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
170 g (12 tablespoons) butter (1 1/2 sticks), at cool room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces
For the Filling:
4 large eggs
300 g (1 1/3 cups) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest, from 2 large lemons
165 mL (2/3 cup) freshly squeezed lemon juice, from 3 to 4 large lemons
85 mL (1/3 cup) milk
Pinch of salt (about 1/8 teaspoon)
THANK YOU for this.
Mel, thanks for this recipe! I’ve made lemon bars before using another recipe but it stuck horribly to the pan and the crust was too flaky. Today I used your recipe for the 1st time and I love the tartness of the filling and the firmer crust.
However, using 12 tbls butter didn’t get me coarse crumbs, even after pulsing for at least 15 seconds. I had to add 4 more tbls of butter to get it to that texture. It’s not as if I was packing down the dry ingredients either – I actually fluffed them up before measuring and leveling. Am I doing something wrong?
Hmmm, not sure why that happened, Katherine. I think it might be a difference in how we each measure our dry ingredients – sounds like you might have had a little more flour in your mixture than I usually do. Sorry that part of the recipe gave you trouble!
they turned out amazing! I am excited to be able to share them with everyone today!
This might not be quite my definition of “perfect,” but it is pretty close! I worried with the comments of crust and filling doing strange things, so I made it as close to the recipe as possible. However, next time, I won’t do the crust up the sides since that doesn’t do it for me. I also had to cook the filling longer than the suggested time, and maybe should have cooked it another minute or two (possibly because I used extra-large eggs). Yum, yum, yum. And so pretty.
The Cook’s Illustrated Lemon Bars recipe has been my favorite for years! My only pet peeve (and this is true for most lemon bar recipes) is the powdered sugar on top. It’s necessary, but I always manage to inhale it and trigger a coughing fit, or get it on dark colored clothing. I finally found a solution – mix powdered sugar and milk, water or even lemonade or orange juice to make a thin glaze. You still get that hit of sweet contrasting with the tart, but it stays put.
If I use 2 8in pans do I need to adjust time or temp? Thanks
I’m not sure there’s enough crust and batter to split this recipe into two 8-inch pans, Joanne.
Gf
This is the Cooks Illustrated recipe, which usually is great. Unfortunately this one is a bomb. The base isn’t really shortbread…it falls apart. Maybe the cornstarch? The filling was thin and ran under the parchment and made them almost impossible to get out of the pan! They taste good but man, they are a mess. There is no way to serve them…and I have 20 women coming tomorrow AM. Ugh.
Sorry to hear that, Dee! I know how frustrating it can be to make a recipe for company and not have it work out. I’ve made this dozens and dozens of times to great success – which I know doesn’t help you right now, but I wonder if something went wrong in the mixing or adding of ingredients? Again, sorry they didn’t work out for you.
Hi – I have a bunch of Pepperidge Farms chess cookies that I need to use. I was thinking of making crumbs out of them for the crust for lemon bars. If I do this, do I bake the cookie crust before adding the lemon filling on top? I guess I would since I would have to add butter to make the crust stick together right? What I found on line says to add butter & powdered sugar.
I’m not really sure since I haven’t tried it with those cookies, Tammy – but I do think I’d suggest baking the crust.
Well, I don’t know if it was the cookie crust or what, but my bars didn’t work. They are a sticky mess. They tasre good, but I can’t cut them to make nice squares. Not sure what I did wrong. I’m normally a pretty good cook.
you didn’t follow the directions!!! those of you who tweak and change and morph things into something else shouldn’t complain or be surprised when it doesn’t work!
Totally agree with you. I’ve been making these squares (the original ones) for several years now and they turn out perfectly every time.
I made these bars, but split them between an 8×8 ceramic and a 9×9 glass dish for reasons to long to explain here :)… I was worried the crust to filling ratio was too high (there was way less filling than what the pictures show and I was bringing this in for a co-workers birthday so I was a bit nervous), but it was actually a perfect balance of sweet & tart. I used a food processor to cut the butter into the crust and it worked amazing. I didn’t have a zester so I peeled the lemon and diced it really small which created delicious bits of caramelized lemon peel in the filling.
These lemon bars are so yummy! How do you get them to cut so cleanly?
I usually use my large bench scraper to cut them into clean lines.
You can also use a rocking pizza cutter if you have one! It also helps to use parchment paper so they don’t stick to the sides or bottoms 🙂
Does this recipe double and fit in a cookie sheet? Or are the sides too shallow? I’m needing to make it for a large gathering.
I’ve never made it in a large cookie sheet but my feeling is that the sides might be too shallow like you suggested.
In my experience, if you double the recipe, you’ll have too much, but I’ve had great success doing 1.5 times the recipe designed for a 9×13 pan into a cookie sheet. Things do end up slightly thinner, to be sure, but the cooking times generally remain the same. The slightly smaller portions are worth it to me when cooking for a large number of people.
Made these yesterday. Patted the crust with a heavy meat tenderizer, and the crust came out perfect. The filling, too,but I feel there is not enough lemon for the thickness of the crust. I am not a lemon bar aficionado, but, just eel there should have been more lemon. Can I make some more filling and pour it on top, cook for a while longer? Or top it off with dollops of lemon curd?
I made the recipe exactly as written, BTW.
I bake “Xmas gifts” , so start Dec. 1st. I always freeze lemon bars and have not had any complaints. I have never tried this recipe, but will this year. I make a few different types of lemon bars as some of my family want very lemony and others not as tart.
i love lemon bars. i did this recipe and i love the crust, but the filling was too wet for me. i would try adjusting the flour next time. but the richness of the feeling was lemony perfect.
I’ve been collecting recipes for lemon bars but not sarisfied with any — this one is just what I want with the shortbread-type crust. Try it this weekend for sure. I love your site and used many recipes. Yesterday I made the cornbread with zucchini, but made 12 wonderful muffins with it. They were delicious! Had them for dinner last night and breakfast this morning. Thanks for all the great recipes.
I was wondering if anyone had tried this recipe with oranges or limes?
Just made these lemon bars this afternoon. I made one mistake but I had to share because they still taste AWESOME lol!! I measured 3/4 cup lemon juice instead of 2/3 cup. Luckily I noticed it before I added the milk, so I only used 1/4 cup milk to keep the total liquid at 1 cup. They are amazing, yes a little extra tart but they baked, set, look and taste superb. That’s when you know you have an amazing recipe to start with!! So glad I found you and your recipe. I’ll make these forever!!
Hi, I just found your lemon bar recipe and I can’t wait to try! May I ask does this lemon bar freeze well?
I’ve never frozen these but others in the comments may have tried it if you read through the thread.
Has anyone tried to freeze these? How do they thaw?
Thanks!
I’ve never tried freezing them but I think others have if you read through the comments.
Can’t wait to try the lemon bars. I’m going to take them to a baby shower.
I’ve only cut into the corner and noticed the filling is soft (I baked them for 20 minutes). Can I put it back in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes to firm-up? Also the person who mentinoed her lemon bars came out eggy and spongy. Mine came out that way once, because I didn’t whisk the eggs thoroughly.
You could try refrigerating to firm up the filling – not sure about putting it back in the oven but it’s worth a try if the filling is overly soft.
It’s so obvious all the “I’ll give it a try ” comments were paid for…
Dang, guess I missed out on my payment then 😛
How well do these freeze? If they don’t freeze, do you have a recommendation for one of your bar recipes that DOES freeze well and is super easy?
I LOVE your blog. SO many great recipes! I love that when I try one, I know it’s going to be what you say it’s going to be.
I haven’t ever tried freezing these but my guess is they won’t freeze as well as something like these chocolate chip bars or these oatmeal chocolate chunk bars.
Hi there, I have a question! 🙂 I’m in Australia and lemon bars/squares aren’t really a thing here so I’ve never had one before in my life, but in my head I expected a lemon curd/lemon meringue pie filling on a biscuity base. I tried your recipe and while they are absolutely delicious, I was surprised that the lemon filling was soft, eggy and spongey. Is this the way they are supposed to be or did I goof something up? I’m absolutely not complaining because they are very very delicious, I’m just wondering if I’ve earnt bragging rights or if I need to do better next time! XD Maybe I overcooked? Mine we’re a lot more brown on top than your’s.
Hi Jenga – the filling, once baked, should be soft but still hold it’s shape – the way you described them, I think you probably made them the right way. It isn’t as creamy as a lemon curd. Try shaving a few minutes off the baking time if you make them again – that will help the filling stay a little softer.
i loved your recipe. i will use it with your permission
Is the milk necessary in The filling? If the milk were left out would the filling be firmer?
I’ve never omitted the milk so I’m not sure how it would affect the filling.
I have celiac and I’d like to replace the all purpose flour with a gluten free flour instead (rice flour, almond flour, chickpea flour, etc.). Do you think they will turn out the same if I switch up the flour I use?
I have no idea, Dee, since I haven’t tried it but you could certainly experiment.
Fantastic recipe, just the right amount of sugar. I added 1/3 of unsweetened coconut and more lemon zest to my crust. Everyone i shared a piece of lemon bar with said it was excellent and they were glad to be taste testers for this recipe. Good job and thank you for sharing your findings on your blog.
these just finished cooling. They are fantastic. Going to take to relative’s house for Easter dessert. These are definitely a keeper. Lemon taste is right on!!
Do you store these in the fridge?
Yes, you can. Sometimes if it’s just for a short time (a day or less), I keep them at room temperature.
My sister “commandeered” my 9×13 pan, would a glass one throw off the baking time at all?
Hey Katie – decrease the baking temp by 25 degrees if using a glass pan and watch the time carefully – you may need to pull it out a few minutes early.
I’m so excited to bake these — they look amazing! I’ll be using a glass pan and will drop the crust baking temperature to 325 as suggested; do I need to make any changes to the oven temperature when baking the filling? Thank you so much for sharing. I’ve also been on the hunt for the perfect lemon bars…
I’m not sure, Patricia, since I haven’t baked them in a glass pan. I’d suggest taking the temp down 25 degrees the entire time of baking and just keeping an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.
I baked mine in a glass 9×13 (acidic foods are recommended not to be baked in metal) with parchment paper for the temperatures listed. The crust cooked in the stated time though the filling took about 27 minutes until it was set enough.
Hey, I have a question. So I bought unsalted butter -___-… so for the pinch of salt how much can I put for the crust?
I’d suggest about 1/4 teaspoon or so.
These were delicious and turned out perfectly just as everyone said. I love them. They’re not too tart, and absolutely the perfect lemon bar recipe. Thank you. I’m glad I found you, and I now follow you on Pinterest. Yay!
I am thinking of topping with toasted coconut, do you think that would work?
Certainly worth experimenting!
Every time I have made lemon bars, I have the same problem.
When I’ve cooled the bars & sprinkle the powdered sugar on top, it absorbs into the bar and disappears. This is even the day after I’ve made them. Any idea what the problem might be?
Sometimes if the bars have been covered, they get a little moisture on the top and that can make the powdered sugar dissolve instead of stay on top.
Hi: I love these lemon bars – especially the crust! I’d like to use this crust for my lemon meringue pie. (I use the recipe from the New Best Recipe book). Do you think this crust would work in a pie plate? Also, any recommendation on how long to pre-bake it? Any guidance would be most appreciated!
Hi Lisa – I haven’t tried this crust in a pie plate. It’s worth a try although I worry a little that because of the butter, it will slide down the sides of the plate while baking. You might want to line it with foil/pie weights and freeze it before baking. Good luck!
Are lemon bars suppose to be soft on the inside? Sorry its my first time making 🙂
Hi Julie – yes, the inside will be soft and slightly gooey while the crust is firm. Does that help?
hello, can I use a 9 inch square pan to make this? And what kind of butter did you use? Salted or Unsalted?
I used salted butter. You would probably want to halve the recipe if using a pan that small.
I just made these with Meyer lemons from my grandma’s tree in California. They are so good I think I could eat them for the rest of my life and nothing else!!
Also, may I ask why you chose to use salted butter? Just curious.
I always use salted butter – it’s what I keep on hand. 🙂
As I was listening to the radio show of CI (from which you adapted this recipe) I want to share their thoughts about butter. Christopher said they have started using all salted butter. They say it keeps better than unsalted. And it also seems to get incorporated well into the whole recipe.
Hi, there! These sound amazing! Did you use a metal 9×13 baking pan?
Yes, I usually use my aluminum 9X13-inch baking pan for these.
Wow, these are amazing!
Have been so excited to try this recipe and finally did today. Followed instructions but the crust burned after the 20 min baking time:(
Is it salted butter or unsalted?
Salted.
Hands down – the very best lemon bars I have ever made… or tasted. Wonderful, delicious crust that would be good on its own (think buttery shortbread cookie). And the lemon… wonderfully tart, not too sweet. Absolute perfection!!
hi mel, I made the full recipe of lemon bars yes terday They came out delicious
but my filling didn’t come out as firm as hoped. If want a firmer f illing how much
more flour or cornstarch would I need to add. thank you
I’m not really sure as the filling has always been firm enough for me. You’d have to experiment adding more flour or cornstarch. Sorry they didn’t turn out how you were expecting.
H, Mel,
Lemon bars are my mom’s favorite. I used your recipe for lemon bars for her birthday, and she loved them!! I am now going to check out your site for some recipes for dessert goodies for Christmas.
Thank you so much!! You really do a great with your website. I truly don’t know how you have time with 5 kids. I am really impressed.
Chiara Jaffe
Thank you!
if I want to make 1/2 a reciepe in a 9 inch square pan would I just divide all the ingrediants in the crust & filling in half or would I use the original amt for the filling
as I ‘d like to keep the nice balance between the filling & crust, but just in 1/2 the amount?
The surface area of a 9-inch square pan isn’t exactly half of a 9X13-inch pan but it should work pretty well to just divide everything in half.