Easy Lemon Bars With Shortbread Crust

Both tart and sweet, this classic lemon bars recipe is the perfect flavor combination. These easy lemon bars are prepared with pantry ready ingredients. Simply delicious!

To make this recipe from scratch, you combine a buttery shortbread crust with a lemon curd filling to have a classic lemon bar. These are simply the best treat. Everyone will love them! Just like this delicious lemon blueberry bread with lemon glaze. Adding a dusting of powdered sugar, makes this is a simple yet pretty dessert.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

A classic small batch recipe with just enough lemon filling to satisfy your sweet tooth without being overpowering. You won’t have leftovers with this delicious treat.

This is a simple dessert that looks as if you spent hours in the kitchen putting it together. But you didn’t. This will be our secret!

Storing And Cutting Lemon Bars

• Do lemon bars need to be refrigerated after baking?
  • Once completely cooled, store lemon bars in the refrigerator for up to one week. Keep them in a covered container. If laying the bars on top of each other, separate the layers with wax paper so they don’t stick together.
  • How do you cut lemon bars cleanly?
    1. The bars need to be completely cooled before cutting or you will have ragged edges. I didn’t wait which is why my bars are a bit on the rustic side. Oops.
    2. Using the parchment paper, lift the cooled lemon bars out of the pan.
    3. Place on a cutting board. Peel off the edges of the paper to expose the bars.
    4. With a sharp knife, make a long cut per row. Be sure to wipe off the knife before each cut.
    5. Make four rows across then four rows down to have sixteen lemon squares.
    6. Sprinkle the powdered sugar on the bars after cutting.

How To Zest A Lemon

Using a micro plane is my favorite way to zest a lemon. I lay the micro plane across a bowl and begin to run the lemon back and forth. Keep turning the lemon so you are grating only the rind and not the white pith. The pith is bitter and you don’t want that in your lemon bars.

By grating over the bowl, the lemon zest falls into it. You may have to tap the micro plane to remove all of the zest.

Do Not Use An Uncoated Metal Pan For Lemon Bars

Do not use an uncoated aluminum metal pan with citrus foods. Acidic foods will react to aluminum resulting in a metallic taste. Use an oven safe glass pan if you don’t have a nonstick coated baking pan.

I am using an aluminum pan with a nonstick coating. This will not react with the lemon filling. I also use parchment paper which acts as a barrier to the metal pan.

How To Make The Shortbread Crust

For the complete instructions, see the recipe card below.

1. Line an eight inch square baking pan with parchment paper. I like to use parchment paper for two reasons. It keeps the bars from sticking to the pan and it makes it easy to remove them.
   • Be sure to leave a slight overhang from the top of the pan. This will enable you to easily lift the cooled bars out of the pan to cut them.

2. In a large bowl, add the all purpose flour, powdered sugar and softened butter. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter through the dry ingredients. Continue until all the butter has been mixed in. This is somewhat like a pie crust but without the added water. You will have a crumbly mixture when finished.
   • You could use a food processor for this but it’s really unnecessary. This is very simple to blend together and you won’t have more stuff to clean up.

4. Once the ingredients are combined, pour the crumbs into the prepared pan.

5. Press the crumbs firmly onto the bottom of the pan. You could use your fingers but I find that using the bottom of a dry measuring cup works better. Try to spread the crumbs evenly in the pan.

6. Bake the shortbread crust at 350 ℉ for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown around the edges.