With a shortbread base and lemon curd topping that’s tart and not-too-sweet, these Lemon Bars are really easy to make. Tastes like a Lemon Tart – but so much more straightforward!
Lemon Bars
These Lemon Bars are like a simpler form of Lemon Tart which is made with a shortcrust pastry that’s chilled, rolled out, blind baked then cooled before filled with lemon curd, then baked again, then cooled.
Beautiful. Elegant. Impressive.
But for the days when you don’t have time for all that, Lemon Bars is what you make! It’s incredibly simple: the base is blitzed in a food processor, pressed in a pan, baked, then just pour over a simple lemon curd mixture and bake again.
LOVE the lemon curd! Jammy, a bit custardy, tangy and not-too-sweet. Hits the spot!
Ingredients in Lemon Bars
Here’s what you need to make these Lemon Bars.
For the shortbread base
The same ingredients I use in my shortbread – because that’s exactly what we’re making!
Flour – Just regular plain / all-purpose flour.
Rice flour – Makes the shortbread more crumbly. I don’t use it in my classic shortbread cookie recipe because it doesn’t improve the end result (due to the particular method I use). But for the quick ‘n easy food processor blitzing method used in this recipe, it helps keep the shortbread base “short” (ie crumbly), the signature texture we all know and love about shortbread.
Substitute with cornflour / cornstarch which yields a very similar result, or even ordinary flour will work fine (the base will not be quite as crumbly like shortbread, it’s more like a vanilla cookie).
Butter – Cold, unsalted, cut into cubes to blitz into sand with the flour.
Icing sugar / powdered sugar – The fine grains are required to make tender, crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread. Regular sugar makes tougher shortbread – that’s not what we want! 🙂
Pinch of salt brings out the other flavours. Standard practice in sweet baking – doesn’t make it taste salty.
Lemon curd filling
In my “proper” Lemon Tart, I ask you to separate eggs and use extra egg yolks for the lemon curd. Not today! Sticking with whole eggs.
Eggs – 3 large ones, which are 55 – 60g / 2 oz each, sold in cartons labelled “large eggs”. No need to bring them to room temperature (which I usually call for in baking recipes!). The eggs set the lemon curd when baked.
Caster sugar / super fine sugar if you’ve got it, because the finer grains ensures it dissolves into the curd more easily. However, regular sugar (granulated sugar) is fine too.
Flour – Just a bit helps to ensure the curd sets properly. We don’t use flour in the Lemon Tart filling because it’s made “properly”. But today, we’re going easy!
Fresh lemon! We’re using the zest and juice today. Zest for beautiful lemon flavour, and the juice for tang!
Making lemon bars
Promised easy, and easy it is! Here’s how to make this lemon bars:
SHORTBREAD LEMON BAR BASE
In my pre-appliance days (read: when I was a poor uni student), I used to make shortbread using my fingers to rub the butter into the dry ingredients. These days, I’m lazy and use my food processor. Few pulses, and it’s done. Bonus: no worries about hot little fingers melting the butter!
Blitz – Put the shortbread ingredients in a food processor with the standard “S” blade. Blitz 5 to 10 times until it turns into a loose sandy mixture.
Press – Pour it into a paper lined 20cm/8″ pan with overhang so you can lift the Lemon Bars out once set. Spread the base mixture out then use something with a flat base to press it in firmly. I use a measuring cup.
⚠️ Be sure to press it firmly right into the corners and right up to the wall of the pan so the lemon curd won’t leak down the sides and make the base soggy.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are light golden.
Remove from oven and fill with curd straight away. ⚠️ Don’t let it cool as the base will shrink, causing the curd to run under the base which will make it soggy. Been there, done that!
Lemon curd – While the base is in the oven, whisk the lemon curd ingredients together.
Pour the filling onto the base.
Bake for 20 minutes until the top is set but still soft. There might be a small crack or two on the surface, that’s entirely normal and gets covered up with a dusting of icing sugar!
Cool – Fully cool on the counter then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before slicing to serve!
Optional – To make it pretty, dust with icing sugar. It will sweat, so do this just before serving.
Eat on the go.
I love these lemon bars not only because they’re so easy to make, but also because I’m a big fan of baked goods you can eat on the move with one hand. Don’t get me wrong. I won’t turn down a big fat slice of cake, nor can I walk away from a freshly cooked apple crumble.
But they involve plates and cutlery. (And ice cream and cream).
Whereas lemon bars and the like? I won’t even break stride as I swipe one when I walk past, then devour on the go.
Dangerous. Handy. And delicious.
Which also means it makes excellent food for taking to school bake sales, gatherings and morning tea at work. Just – easy to eat. High appeal factor!
– Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Easy Lemon Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread Base
- 3/4 cup plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 1/4 cup rice flour (or cornstarch/cornflour) (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup icing sugar / powdered sugar , sifted
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 110g / 1 stick unsalted butter , cold, cut into 1cm / 1/2" cubes
Lemon Curd Topping
- 3 large eggs (55-60g/2oz each)
- 1 cup caster sugar / super-fine sugar (sub regular sugar)
- 2 tbsp plain flour (all purpose flour)
- 1 tbsp lemon zest (do this before juicing)
- 1/2 cup lemon juice (2 – 3 lemons)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (160C fan). Spray a 20cm/8" square tin with oil and line with baking/parchment paper with overhang (so it can be lifted out once cooked).
- Base – Place Shortbread Base ingredients in a food processor fitted with the standard "S" blade. Pulse 5 to 10 times until it becomes like sand. (Or use tips of fingers, Note 2). Pour into the tin, spread, then press firmly into the base, pushing it right up to the edges. Using something flat to press in is helpful!
- Bake base for 20 minutes or until golden on the edges and pale golden in the middle. Remove from oven. (⚠️ Note: don't let it cool, pour in curd immediately).
- Lemon Curd – While the base is baking, place Lemon Topping ingredients in a bowl and whisk until combined.
- Bake 20 minutes – Pour Lemon Curd onto base, then bake for 20 minutes until the topping is set but still soft.
- Cool – Remove from then oven and cool on the counter for 1 hour, then fridge for at least 2 hours. Slice into 16 squares. Dust with icing sugar (confectionary sugar) and serve!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published April 2016. Updated with an improved recipe with a more custardy lemon curd and an improved base. Plus much needed sparkling new photos and recipe video. And who doesn’t want to see a Life of Dozer update – Then and Now??
I love bars and slices.
Easy to eat on the go!
Life of Dozer
Part of the fun of re-publishing old recipes (aside from improving them and replacing old photos) is seeing Life of Dozer Then and Now.
Except….it dawned on me that nothing has changed, other than more grey hairs on his face. Proof:
THEN – 2016
(The original Lemon Bars publication date)
What I wrote in 2016: Dozer….in disbelief that none of these Lemon Bars came his way….
Now – 2023
Dozer….in disbelief that none of these Lemon Bars came his way….
I am going to make this tonight, but not serving until 2 days from now (have no time tomorrow to make), should I refrigerate until I serve it? Or no need? Thanks.
Hi Cathy! If it’s hot where you are, I would refrigerate it then bring to room temperature. Otherwise just store them in an airtight container. 🙂
Oh my goodness! This is my absolute favourite recipe. I made it for the first time yesterday and have to make it again this morning. I must confess, I couldn’t wait for it to cool down and did a taste test while still hot. Amazing! I can’t even begin to describe just how delicious these Lemon Bars are.
Thank you thank you thank you
Yay!! I am so SO glad you loved these too! N xx
Perfect result! I have been following your blog for a while but never commented.
This is the first time I try to bake something from your website and they turned out great! 🙂
Hi Eleanor! Nice to hear from you! Your timing is brilliant, can you believe I made a batch this morning too? Seriously! So glad you enjoyed these, thank you for taking the time to come back and let me know! N x
Dear Nagi,
I recently saw your Lemon Bars, and had to try them (it was the first time I dared try baking lemon bars), and they came out absolutely gorgeous! For some reason, the lemon curd didn’t set like yours did (it oozed more despite cooling and even after an evening in the fridge, looking gorgeous regardless), which actually made me wonder: do you think that the filling itself might be made separately into lemon curd by say, mixing all the ingredients for it together and cooking it over the stove in a pan or bran marie? It was the best lemon curd topping I ever tasted, and I’d love to be able to make it separately, too!
If you haven’t tried making it by yourself, that is okay: in that case, whenever I try that, I’ll let you know! Until then, thank you for the lovely recipe!
Hi Einzel! I’m sorry to hear yours didn’t set. That’s really odd, with that much egg in the recipe, it really should set. I haven’t tried this as a curd, normally it has butter in it so I’m not sure if this will work as a curd 🙂 I would love to know if you try it though!
Dear Nagi,
I come bearing news! We mixed up half a batch of the lemon topping, put it in a bowl, and cooked it over a bran marie. It thickened nicely after quite a bit of stirring. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to store it away, so I cannot tell you what it would have been like after a day, or used as lemon curd, but it was delicious.
After it spent a bit of time in the fridge, my mom added 50 g of butter to that half batch, and mixed thoroughly. We then used it to fill a sponge cake! The result was a lovely creamy filling that doesn’t quite set, though it will dry and crack on the surface, so it’s sadly useless for decorating cakes, unless someone wanted a very wrinkly pale yellow look, but it tasted fine regardless, and the filling between the sponge layers remained oozy and curd-like. It was definitely delicious, so we will be making it again!
This might not be of much use, but I waited so long to try this out that I wanted to let you know how we fared! Thank you again for sharing a recipe so great, it made me want to experiment, and have the original again and again! <3
Gosh, that IS helpful! Thank you so much for sharing that Einzel, I think I’m going to give it a go myself!! 🙂
I´ts look great!
I just finished the recipe but I replaced lemon with sweet lime. I tell you later…
Look forward to hearing!! 🙂 N x
Your recipe lemon bars make my mouth water, must try I love lemon though. Your recipes make me go crazy. Haha tks God bless u dear. Nawarat
Awww, thank you Nawarat, you flatter me! 🙂
These pictures are gorgeous, the bars look super delicious, recipe pinned!
Thanks so much Fida!! <3 N x
It looks really easy, great, I will try it. Your pictures are amazing. Thanks for sharing.
No worries Cecilia!
We love Nagi and I pinned this to my Dessert board and a photography board that I have. You’ve inspired me so much with your ebook, blog and FB! Thank you!
Awww, thank you so much Julie! You flatter me 🙂 I hope you had a wonderful weekend!!!
Made these yesterday…….. Super Easy, and Super Yummy!!!!
I’m going to try freezing one (if I can stop everyone eating them)
Just to see how it goes
Thanks again for such fantastic easy recipes, I’m always getting asked to make pork sliders with caramelized onions!……. U r making me look fabulous!
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed it Tania! Thank you for letting me know! N x
These look amazing! I love a good lemon bar – especially with our tree currently bursting with lemons!
I’m so jealous you have a lemon tree, I don’t even have herbs!!!
Hi Nagi,
We have a Brain Cancer Action Week fundraising bake sale (May 1st -7th…shameless plug) and I need freezeable recipes. Would these freeze well??
PS obsessed with your recipes. You have made my friends think I actually know what I’m doing in the kitchen when I would really be lost without the level of detail in your instructions. Thank you!!
Hi Heather! I am so buggered, I totally forgot to test this, I meant to reserve one bar to freeze to test this! PS You ARE a great cook, I just give a few tips to help you along! 🙂 N x
I tried freezing a couple to try….. Works great!
The lemon flavor gets a little bit stronger and the shortbread crust stayed crunchy….. Was really yum! Totally worth doing for a function
WOO HOO! Thanks so much for the tip Tania!!!
They look delicious, Nagi. I love the idea of the zing and the sweetness together. I’ve never had anything like it but I love lemon so that would definitely be my cup of tea! Dozer doesn’t look too impressed, though!
Really?? I thought there was something similar in French baking????
Oooh I love lemon bars and yours look perfect 🙂 Also your photos of Dozer are adorable, he’s so photogenic!
He is so shallow, he uses his looks to try to get anything he wants….. 😉
I would love to be able to make these right this minute. Alas, our lemon tree doesn’t have a new batch ready yet. Since it is supposed to rain most of the weekend, I hope we have some next week. My husband and I have been talking about finding a good recipe for lemon bars. I need look no further!
Thanks so much for posting this recipe. You can never have too much shortbread!
Thanks Channon! I’m so glad you like the look of this recipe!! <3 N x
You’re welcome. I finally got to make them today and had an unexpected problem: the shortbread broke apart as I poured the filling in. Any idea why? (I used a mix of Stevia and sugar for both parts) Perhaps it wasn’t baked enough? Or I needed to cool it some before putting the filling on top. Or something else… what do you think?
Hi Channon! I’m sorry to say that I don’t know enough about Stevia to know whether it was the problem here. Baking is a bit of science so it’s risky to substitute anything, even substituting brown for white sugar. So I do think that the Stevia was problem the problem here 🙁 I hope it sort of bonded together once you poured the filling in and baked it??
Ohhh both baby hands and Dozer made an appearance in this one 🙂 WOO HOO! Love lemon bars and shortbread… As always Nagi brilliant 🙂 Have a great weekend doll.
BA HA HA! HEY! Leave my baby hands out of it!!! 😉
After scanning your clicks 1000 times, I guess I’ll be making this dessert soon. You are a good cook Nagi and I am saying this because I tried your recipes 🙂
By the way, I wanted to thank you for something and always forgot, so I’m going to do it here since I’m afraid to forget again!
I have followed your tip to not install a plugin to show recent or popular post, and use an image instead. I did it and you will see it on the right sidebar of my blog. It’s obvious that I’m not creative enough so it looks a little like yours but bigger 🙂 . Thanks a lot, it made my blog load much faster!
I’m so glad to hear that Muna!!! It made such a difference to my load time before I moved to a faster server 🙂
A dessert and it’s one of my favs! I had to read this as the mention of Scottish shortbread grabbed me. Never heard of it and thanks for the rice/corn flour info. These look like 3 would do me 🙂 Hi Dozer!
Never heard of scottish shortbread??? Huh?? The Scotts invented shortbread!! 😉
I had no idea, none. 😉
Lemon bars, my son’s favorite dessert treat (he is 26!), are always a treat. And these look particularly lovely. Love that lemon curd!
No way!! Really?? Well now, it doesn’t matter how old he is, I think you should still take him home cooked food!!!
These pictures of Dozer are like blog posts sealed with a kiss – I love it!
And how do you do it? You take dishes, savory AND sweet, that I’m familiar with and make them look and sound irresistible!
Not at all!!! You know I’m not a baker, the only desserts I know how to do are really simple ones!!! 🙂