My Favorite Classic Lemon Bars Recipe

When life hands you lemons, make lemon bars! This lemon bar recipe is the perfect way to add a bite of sunshine to the day. These bars boast a buttery and lightly spiced shortbread crust, and a creamy smooth lemon filling that’s the perfect combination of tangy and sweet. Indulge in a square (or two) of these my favorite lemon bars and brighten up your day/week/month. They’re that good!

There’s an old Wilson family cookbook that I laid claim to early in my baking days.  It’s one of those spiral bound, church-compiled cookbooks that doesn’t quite lay flat and bunches at the seams. I took to this book for all of it’s church lady baking wisdom, leaving dates and notes alongside each recipe I tried.

By far the most butter stained page in this book is the recipe Lemon Squares.  They were simple enough for a young Joy the Baker to make on her own but like… a dessert with layers? Multiple steps?  I felt like a child baking prodigy. I was really in the kitchen doin’ somthin’.

Today’s recipe continues our month of CLASSIC BAKES, taking it back to that floppy old cookbook.  Here’s my very favorite classic lemon bars recipe.  True to its roots, with a little extra lemon and spice.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need for my Classic Lemon Bars recipe:

•  fresh lemons are essential for lemon bars. Skip the jarred lemon juice.  You’ll want the tartness of fresh squeezed lemon juice along with lemon zest from the skins

•  unsalted butter, at room temperature

•  large eggs

•  granulated sugar

•  all-purpose flour

•  cornstarch

•  sea salt or kosher salt

•  ground coriander, optional but lovely

•  powdered sugar

We’ll start this sweet little lemon dessert in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  If the thought of dragging the mixer from its home in the cabinet onto the counter top is just too much, I get it – a medium bowl with a handheld electric mixer will do the mixing just as well.

Combine flour, sugar, softened butter, salt, coriander (my favorite subtle balancing spice for citrus), and lemon zest.  So much lemon flavor is hiding out in the zest, I love to double down on its powers for both the shortbread crust and the lemon filling.

The shortbread crust mixture will be rather shaggy and feel heavy with butter – that would be correct.

Prepare the baking pan by first lining two sides with parchment paper.  Allow the parchment to come up two sides of the pan.  These are little handles that will make the baked lemon bars easier to lift and remove from the pan after they’re baked.

I prefer metal pans over a glass pan for this lemon bars recipe.  A metal pan will heat the shortbread crust faster, crisping the edges of the buttery crust before it has a chance to get soggy. 

Press the crust into the prepared pan and set it off to bake while you assemble the lemon filling.

The lemon filling is a simple mixture of eggs, sugar, lemon zest (we love her), flour and cornstarch (to help set the curd), and a generous pour of fresh lemon juice.  Whisk to combine.  It’s really that easy.

The par-baked crust will be just golden around the edges and slightly wrinkled across the top. It won’t be entirely cooked through and that’s exactly right.  Pour the lemon curd filling over the warm buttery shortbread crust and pop it all back in the oven to bake until the filling is set.

You’ll know the lemon bars are cooked through and set when the top jiggles slightly but doesn’t have wave like jiggles. Waves mean the bars need more time in the oven.  A solid jiggle means it’s done!

Allow the bars to cool completely before slicing. You can even speed up the process by sliding the pan into the refrigerator to quick chill the bars.  Use a sharp knife to cut the cooled lemon bars into squares.

We can’t call these lemon bars without a generous dusting of powdered sugar before serving.

Pro Tip: If you’re taking these lemon bars to potlucks or picnics, dust them with non-melting powdered sugar instead of conventional powdered sugar which can, over time, disappear by soaking into the bars.  

These really are my best lemon bars – mostly classic with a subtle hint of spice and an incredible amount of lemon flavor.  For a little twist, add poppy seeds and make Lemon Poppy Seed Bars, and for a gluten-free version try these Almond Flour Lemon Raspberry Bars.

Leave your questions, comments, and rate the recipe below! Happy baking, friends! xo

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