I don’t know if it’s the sweet, tart, lemony glaze or if the proportions are just different enough from other lemon bar recipes or if the baking time is just a little shorter (thus avoiding the horror of overcooked eggs–seriously, stuff nightmares are made of!), but these are not only my favorite classic Lemon Bars, but the only classic lemon bars that I’ll eat. They have a delicious crust and the filling is not overly eggy. I will always eat way more of these than I need to, so if my local friends and neighbors suddenly find lemon bars on their doorsteps, you know where they came from!
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
Crust
- All-purpose flour
- Powdered sugar – Powdered sugar gives the crust a light, crumbly texture.
- Butter – Always use real butter if you can. You will want your butter to be nice and cold, straight from the fridge, so you can cut it into the flour and powdered sugar to create a light, flakey crust.
Filling
- Eggs – Make sure you set them out ahead of time to reach room temperature before making the filling. If you forget, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water while you gather your other ingredients.
- Lemon juice – This is no place for bottled juice! Use fresh lemon juice from ripe lemons!
- Baking powder
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
Glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Lemon juice – Again, freshly squeezed only!
How to Make Glazed Lemon Bars
- You’ll start of by cutting some cold butter into a bit of flour and powdered sugar. I find the easiest way to do this is to grate the butter with a cheese grater directly into the dry ingredients.
- Press that mixture gently into a baking pan and pop it in the oven to bake.
- While the crust is baking, mix up some room temperature eggs, lemon juice, flour, sugar, and baking powder. You’ll want to use an electric mixer here to make sure the mixture is well-blended and frothy.
- Pour that mixture right onto the hot crust and put the pan back in the oven. Bake until lightly golden brown on top.
- Let the bars cool completely and then mix up a quick, tart glaze of freshly-squeezed lemon juice and powdered sugar. Spread evenly over the bars and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting into squares and serving.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store leftover lemon bars in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results.
- If you’re making these ahead of time, wait to glaze them until a few hours before serving time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Lime bars are divine.
If you need lots of these lemon bars, I recommend making multiple batches as the baking time is tested for a single pan. You could certainly bake two pans at once in the oven, though. I’d just make sure they’re evenly spaced on the same oven rack to ensure even cooking.
Yes! They actually taste the best on day two, in my opinion. If making these for an event I would make them up to 24 hours ahead of time. You may want to glaze the day of serving for best results.
Glazed Lemon Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups all-purpose flour lightly spooned into the measuring cup and leveled with a knife
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup butter (2 sticks) softened to room temp
Filling
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- ¼ cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice strained of pulp and seeds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups white sugar
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons strained freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Lightly spray a 9×13″ pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. Whisk together the flour and powdered sugar and then cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture is crumbly. Lightly press into the pan and bake for 15-20 minutes or until light golden around the edges. Remove from oven.
- During the last few minutes of the shortbread’s baking time, mix the eggs, lemon juice, flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed for three minutes. The mixture should be frothy and very, very pale yellow. Pour the mixture over the warm crust and then return the pan to the oven for another 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top. You might want to check the bars at 17-18 minutes to make sure the top isn’t getting too dark.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool completely. When the bars are cool, whisk together the glaze ingredients until smooth and then gently spread over the bars. Refrigerate for at least two hours and then cut into squares before serving. Makes about 36 bars.
Notes
- Store leftover lemon bars in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy within 3-4 days for best results.
- If you’re making these ahead of time, wait to glaze them until a few hours before serving time.
Nutrition
Questions & Reviews
I discovered that I didn’t have enough sugar while I was making the lemon filling (only had 1 cup), so I added sweetened coconut. It turned out pretty good.
do you think it would be ok if i lined the pan with foil, so i can make perfect cuts to these bars?
I made these tonight with my 11 year old daughter and we LOVE them! I love the ratio of shortbread to the topping because I’m not a huge fan of the consistency of the lemon part (which is why I usually shy away from lemon bars.) I think I actually want a little more shortbread – it was delicious! Thank you!!
I disagree with the last comments. These lemon bars are awesome and the only lemon bars I like. I think they must have made them wrong because they are super good.
Nope, I did not make them wrong. Other people have had the issue with the crunchy, crust like top as well (which is because of the long beating time, you are beating air into it and when it bakes it bakes UP and forms the light crust). However, I can see that people who don’t like TRADITIONAL lemon bars like these because they are basically lemon flavored sugar and taste nothing like the traditional. I will say that they lasted a LONG time in my house (because we didn’t rally care for them, but didn’t want to throw them in the garbage) and after several (5 or 6 days) the flavors mellowed and it was less sugary tasting. So like I said, if you don’t like traditional ones then I udnerstand why you like these. I don’t think they are really comparable to traditional ones though, which I like.
I was very unpleased with the result of these lemon bars. I followed everything absolutely perfectly, and consider myself a fairly experienced baker. Beating the eggs until they are “frothy and very, very pale”, about 3 minutes caused them to have a crunchy crust like top on the bars after baking where the bubbles (froth) rose to the top. I pulled the bars out when they were lightly browned (the crunchy top was lightly browned anyway) and put them in the fridge overnight. When I cut into them the next morning the bars were too soft and didn’t hold their shape well when pulled apart. I also agree with Diane (comment 107) that these have too much sugar. They really do taste like lemon flavored sugar. I prefer a tart lemony taste and these just didn’t fit the bill.
I will also note that I was so unpleased with the result I would have been embarrased to take them to a BBQ like I had planned.
I thought the last episode of Lost was amazingly wonderful and I have to say the same about these lemon bars!
I made these last night and am quite disappointed. I entered the ingredients in Google and found the recipe on other sites and read the reviews, which I should have done first. I will make a version of this again because I love lemons but I would reduce the sugar by half a cup, double the lemon and bake longer at 325. Our family loves sweets, but these taste only like sugar with a hint of lemon.
Do you think this would work with lime instead of lemon? I’m assuming they are interchangeable, but wanted to make sure before I make them to take for other people to eat. 🙂
Not sure Jen, we’ve never tried that 🙂
This post couldnt be more precise!!!
I have made these bars SEVERAL times in hopes that they will turn out right, I don’t know what I”m doing wrong , but they are always SO runny! I love the taste of them with the glaze, so that’s why I keep trying, but do you have any suggestions as to why they come out so runny every time? I have even tried leaving them in longer to bake…. but no cigar 🙁
I honestly don’t know–I’ve never had that problem. Maybe try adding 1-2 tablespoons more flour and see if that helps?