It’s likely that lemon bars were first made during the 1930s, because that’s when cooks started baking cookies in large sheet pans and cutting them into squares. However it wasn’t until 1963, with the publication of Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book, that the first known recipe for lemon squares appeared. The recipe became widely popular, and by the 70s everyone was making them. These sweet and tangy dessert bars feature a crumbly shortbread crust topped with a gooey custard-like lemon filling.
Recipe Servings: 24
Prep Time
15 minutes
+ 3 hours resting
+ 3 hours resting
Cook Time
45 minutes
Total Time
4 hours
Vegetarian
Vegan
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Kosher
Halal
Ingredients
- crust
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- filling
- 1½ cups sugar
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice
- Powdered sugar, as needed to dust the bars
Directions
- Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment, leaving some to hang over for easy removal.
- Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cube the butter into small pieces and add it to the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or your hands, cut the butter into the mixture until it is crumbly and starts to come together.
- Pour the mixture into the baking pan and press it down into an even layer.
- Bake the crust for 20–25 minutes or just until the top is set and edges are lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside. Keep oven set at 350°F.
- Filling
- Whisk together the sugar and flour in a large bowl.
- Add the eggs and lemon juice, mixing until fully combined.
- Pour the filling into the crust and return it to the oven to bake for 18–22 minutes or until the filling is set.
- Remove the pan from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool for 1 hour before covering it tightly and chilling it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- Sift the powdered sugar over the lemon filling and then slice it into bars.
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