Easy Lemon Bars with Shortbread Crust

Easy Lemon Bars with a shortbread crust and tangy lemon curd filling have the perfect balance of tart and sweet. An easy dessert recipe for spring!

Grandma’s Easy Lemon Bars Recipe

This is my grandma’s lemon bars recipe, and it makes the BEST lemon bars ever! These lemon shortbread bars have a buttery shortbread crust topped with a tart lemon curd center and a dusting of powdered sugar on top — the perfect blend with tons of lemon flavor! If you like lemon desserts, you’ll love these easy lemon bars!

My grandma’s recipe is actually called lemon squares, but we always called them bars. Since they’re made in a 9X13 pan and cut into a bar shape, I guess that makes sense.

If you don’t have fresh lemons, get them! You need fresh lemon juice and zest to to give these old fashioned lemon bars an extra burst of lemony flavor, or zing. If you have extra lemon juice, try lemon chicken piccata or lemon blueberry muffins.

Ingredients Needed

You only need a few simple ingredients for this classic dessert. Full amounts are in the printable recipe card below.

• All purpose flour — for the crust and filling
• Cold butter — to make the buttery crust. I use salted butter, but unsalted butter is fine.
• Powdered sugar — for the crust and to dust on top
• Salt — just a pinch to cut the sweetness of the crust
• White sugar — to sweeten the lemon curd
• Eggs — large eggs to form the filling
• Fresh lemons — You will need lemon juice and zest from 3 small or 2 large lemons

You’ll also need a zester, grater or microplane for the lemon zest. If you have a food processor or stand mixer with paddle attachment — great! But you don’t need any fancy cooking gadgets to make lemon bars. Grandma didn’t have them!

How to Make Lemon Bars with Shortbread Crust

Start with cold butter — It’s essential for a flaky crust. Then, use a pastry cutter, 2 knives or forks to cut the butter into the flour and sugar. It will look like lumpy wet sand, but that’s what you want!

Next, press the crust mixture into the prepared baking pan using your hands or the bottom of a measuring cup. I love using parchment paper because it makes it easy to remove the bars. But, you can grease the pan or use foil if you want.

Make sure the crust is pressed tightly against the sides of the pan in an even layer. It helps keep the lemon curd from spilling over the crust.

While the crust is baking, make the lemon curd in a large bowl. I use a hand mixer on medium speed to mix the filling. You can use a wire whisk or

When the crust is light golden brown, and the center is firm, it’s done. There may be little air bubbles, but this is totally fine. Pour the filling on the crust right away — as it cools, the crust will shrink a little, and you don’t want filling spilling out over the edge. The filling will be a pale yellow color when it’s done — it’s bright yellow when you slice it!

I like to sprinkle some sifted powdered sugar over the top of the bars when they’re still warm. This way it sticks to the bars. You can add more before serving, if you want. Let the bars cool down a little, then pop them in the fridge for an hour or so before cutting.

You can try cutting them while they’re still warm, but they’re so much easier after they cool down and firm up. And, they’re cool and so refreshing when you eat them cold!

Do lemon bars have to be refrigerated?

Yes, they do need to be refrigerated. They keep for about 1 week in an airtight container in the fridge.

How long do lemon bars last in the fridge?

Homemade lemon bars are best if eaten in 3 to 4 days. But, they probably won’t last that long — people eat these right up! You can wrap them up and freeze in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

Helpful Tips

Be sure to use cold butter so the crust is nice and flaky.

Roll the lemons back and forth on the counter before squeezing to release more juice. Also — zest the lemon before slicing!

Pour the filling over the warm crust straight from the oven. It will shrink a little as it cools, and the filling may run over the edges. A cool crust will also absorb some of the filling, and it won’t be as thick.

Use parchment paper to easily remove the bars from the baking pan.

More Lemon Dessert Recipes

Lemon lovers will enjoy these delicious desserts!

• Lemon Dump Cake
• Lemon Crinkle Cookies
• No Bake Lemonade Pie
• Cake Mix Lemon Bars

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Recipe published in 2019 and updated in 2024.