Easy Lemon Bars
Lemon bars with a buttery shortbread base and a soft, tangy lemon filling, baked in one pan and cut into squares.
- Measurements grams + cups
- Cuisine American
Why You'll Like This Recipe
- The filling goes onto the crust while the crust is still hot, which is what keeps the two layers bonded instead of sliding apart.
- One pan, two stages, no separate mixing bowls for the base.
- Sharp enough to taste of actual lemons rather than just sugar.
Recipe
Easy Lemon Bars
Buttery shortbread base under a soft, tangy lemon filling.
Ingredients
Ingredients scaled. The method below still refers to the original quantities.
For the shortbread base
For the lemon filling
Instructions
Bake the base
- Step 1. Heat the oven to 175 C / 350 F. Line a 20 x 20 cm / 8 x 8 inch pan with parchment, leaving an overhang on two sides so you can lift the slab out later.
- Step 2. Mix the 170 g butter, 50 g granulated sugar, 190 g flour and salt until a soft, sandy dough forms and holds together when pressed.
- Step 3. Press evenly into the base of the pan. Push it right into the corners and level the surface with the back of a spoon.
- Step 4. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, until pale golden at the edges and set in the centre.
Add the filling
- Step 5. While the crust bakes, whisk the eggs, 250 g granulated sugar, lemon juice, zest and 30 g flour until completely smooth with no streaks of flour.
- Step 6. Pour the filling over the hot crust as soon as it comes out of the oven.
- Step 7. Bake for a further 20 to 24 minutes, until the centre is just set and no longer wobbles in a wave when you nudge the pan.
- Step 8. Cool completely at room temperature, then chill for at least an hour before cutting.
- Step 9. Lift out using the parchment, dust with icing sugar and cut into 16 squares.
Notes
- Pour the filling onto the crust while the crust is still hot. The heat sets the very bottom of the filling on contact, which is what glues the two layers together — poured onto a cold crust they tend to separate when you cut.
- Take them out while the middle still has a slight set-jelly wobble. It firms as it cools, and a fully firm centre in the oven means overbaked filling that weeps.
- Dust with icing sugar only just before serving. On a chilled bar the sugar draws moisture and dissolves into patches within an hour or two.
Easy Lemon Bars — Simple Table Recipes · https://simpletablerecipes.com/recipes/easy-lemon-bars/
Ingredient Notes
- Fresh lemon juice
- Worth squeezing. Bottled juice carries a flat, slightly bitter note that has nowhere to hide in a filling this simple, where lemon is most of the flavour.
- Lemon zest
- The zest holds the aromatic oils, which is where most of the lemon smell lives. Juice alone gives sourness without much perfume. Grate only the yellow layer — the white pith beneath is bitter.
- Flour in the filling
- Just enough to set the custard into something sliceable. Too much makes the layer cakey rather than soft, so measure it rather than eyeballing.
- Softened butter for the base
- Softened, not melted. Melted butter makes a greasy base that fries rather than bakes, and the crust turns hard instead of short.
Equipment
- 20 x 20 cm / 8 x 8 inch baking pan
- Parchment paper
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Fine grater or zester
Substitutions
- Lemon
- Lime works with the same quantities for a sharper, more floral bar. Meyer lemons are sweeter and less acidic — cut the sugar by about 25 g if you use them.
- All-purpose flour
- A cup-for-cup gluten-free blend containing xanthan gum works in both the base and the filling. Let the pressed base rest 10 minutes before baking so the flour hydrates.
- Unsalted butter
- Salted butter is fine in the base — leave out the added salt.
Storage & Freezing
Storing: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days. They cut most cleanly straight from the fridge with a knife wiped between slices.
Freezing: Freeze the uncut slab, or individual bars separated by parchment, for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge and dust with fresh icing sugar before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my lemon bar filling runny?
Usually underbaking, or too little flour in the filling. The centre should be just set with only a slight wobble when the pan is nudged, and it needs a full chill afterwards — a bar cut while still warm will always look loose.
Why did a white layer form on top of my lemon bars?
That is foam from whisking air into the eggs, which rises and bakes into a pale meringue-like crust. Whisk gently rather than beating, and skim off any thick foam before pouring the filling over the base.
Can I use bottled lemon juice?
You can, but it is the one substitution that changes the result most. Bottled juice tastes noticeably harsher in a filling where lemon is doing nearly all the work.
Why did my crust and filling separate?
The filling went onto a cold crust. Pouring it over a hot crust sets the contact layer immediately and bonds the two together.
How do I get clean slices?
Chill the slab thoroughly, use a large sharp knife, press straight down rather than dragging, and wipe the blade between cuts. Warming the blade under hot water and drying it also helps.
Can I double this in a 9 x 13 pan?
Yes. Double everything, use a 23 x 33 cm / 9 x 13 inch pan, and add roughly 5 minutes to each stage. Check the base is golden before the filling goes on.
Did you make this?
Let other people know how it went. One tap, nothing to fill in.
Thanks — that helps.
