Lemon bars are one of those things like Lost and Oprah that I know, in theory, I should love, but when it comes down to it, there’s something about them that I struggle with. 
And it doesn’t totally make sense–shortbread? Good. Lemon? Good. Powdered sugar? Good. But my problem is those stupid eggs. I’ve mentioned it again and again, but I really don’t like anything with any overly eggy flavor and that seems to be why I don’t love most lemon bars (or lemon meringue pie, for that matter). I do love, love, love Sara’s Creamy Lemon Bars because I think the cream cheese helps with the egginess, but regular lemon bars usually just make my throat close up.
Except for this recipe.
I don’t know if it’s the sweet, 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. And I will eat way more of them than I need to, so if my local friends and neighbors suddenly find lemon bars on their doorsteps, you know where they came from!
First, you need to preheat the oven to 350. Then, for the shortbread crust, you’ll just need flour, powdered sugar, and butter. You’ll whisk your flour and powdered sugar together and then cut in the butter. A quick shortcut is to use a cheese grater to grate a very cold stick of butter right into your flour. Â Then it’s super easy to mix it up with your fingers!
And then transfer the mixture to a 9×13″ pan lightly coated with cooking spray.
Gently press the mixture into the pan so it’s even, and then bake it for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is light golden around the edges.
While the crust is in its last few minutes in the oven, use an electric mixer on high speed to mix together the filling ingredients: eggs, sugar, strained lemon juice, a little flour, and some baking powder.
Mix it for about 3 minutes or until it’s very, very pale yellow. Then pour the mixture over the warm crust…
Pop that baby back into the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the top is very light golden brown. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool completely.
When the bars are completely cool, whisk together a cup of powdered sugar with a few tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice and then spread it over the cooled bars.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. When ready to serve, cut into squares, rectangles, or triangles
(or hey, circles, parallelograms, or octagons if you’re feeling adventurous–who am I to stop you?!) You can sprinkle grated lemon zest or additional powdered sugar on top of the bars (although these are quite sweet already and more powdered sugar might be overkill). Prepare yourself for lots of love and compliments, even from people who claim to not love lemon (like my husband) or lemon bars (like me).
Glazed Lemon Bars
Recipe lightly adapted by Our Best Bites from The Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking
Crust
2 c. all-purpose flour (lightly spooned into the measuring cup and leveled with a knife)
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
Filling
4 large eggs at room temperature
1/4 c. freshly-squeezed lemon juice, strained of pulp and seeds
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. white sugar
Glaze
1 c. powdered sugar
3 tablespoons strained freshly squeezed lemon juice
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.
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Questions & Reviews
I absolutely LOVE citrus flavored desserts. Sometimes even more than chocolate (I know… go ahead and gasp)! And traditional lemon bars are a favorite of mine because they remind me of my childhood. My Dad always made them because he was allergic to chocolate.
Don’t even get me started about Lost…
Love lemon bars! yum.
and now I have to stand up for my show. If you want answers, you were watching the wrong show. The finale showed us that the show was about relationships and redemption, not science fiction, not time travel, not polar bears, none of that mattered. They would have answered it if it mattered. We got lots more answers than the producers give credit for (Sun didn’t go back to 1977 because she wasn’t a candidate, everyone else was)…I have about 47 posts about LOST on my blog but my husband’s post about the finale sums it up best for me: http://emilyssomething.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-lost-finale.html
(and lots of the questions in that video are addressed, if you’re interested.)
Oh, I still have a soft spot in my heart for the show…but I do feel like a sucker for getting caught up in the details. And the cynic in me feels like they didn’t respect their viewers enough to think they could handle a show about love, redemption, and relationships, so they had to use these cheap, unanswered questions, suspense, and sci-fi elements to get people to come back every week. There are plenty of shows that I LOVE that are about redemption and relationships where I didn’t feel like I got played in the end.
I just read your post and I actually agree largely with what you said–in spite of the show’s flaws, I still loved the characters in the end (with the exception of Kate, but I never loved her) and ultimately, it was about them. The show was literally, though, and I’m not sure how they could have ended things differently, unless they had a very specific map from the beginning.
these look yummy, but you mentioned cream cheese and there is no cream cheese in the ingredient list. maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me since i just woke up
Phyllis–I was referring to these bars: https://ourbestbites.com/2008/04/creamy-lemon-bars/
🙂
I LOVE lemon bars, I can’t wait to try this recipe!
I have a question – where does the cream cheese come in? (mentioned in your write up). I love ALL your recipes – and so does my family! THANKS for sharing!
Julie- she was referring to the other recipe she linked, here:
https://ourbestbites.com/2008/04/creamy-lemon-bars/
I have been looking for dessert to make today, and I was even on your site last night, but I thought I’d check one last time…and you saved me! I am so doing these. Thank you thank you!!
just an update…i made them–maybe i could have cooked them a bit loger, but I was worried about overcooked egginess. I refrigerated them for a long time, but then we went to the party and they sat on the counter until after dinner…that was a mistake. they were good, but runny. but then I took the leftovers home a put them in the fridge for the night and then they were fabulous! not as tart as a traditional lemon bar, but good lemon flavor all the same. I also put a bit of raspberry glaze over the top and made them raspberry lemonade bars:) I think I will learn from my mistakes and make these again soon! Thanks!
Just yesterday my husband said he should make lemon bars to take to scouts tonight. Which means I’ll probably end up making them.
These are almost exactly like the ones we make. Soooo good and the only lemon bars I like. Love that they have the glaze too. Love that so much more than just powdered sugar and the choking as you inhale your first bite. No thank you!
I completely agree with you about Lost…so much time and such an unsatisfying ending! On another note, I just started making a few of your recipes and they are great! Thank you!
Also a faithful watcher of Lost who was like What?? when it ended here.
I haaate eggy flavor as well. Like the german pancakes. I call those sweet eggs. blick!
If ever I try a lemon bar, it will be these 🙂
HA! I hate German pancakes, too for the exact same reason!
I love lemon bars and anything lemon. I have never met a lemon anything i dont like. But i totally agree about eggy items! german pancakes are definitely on my list of things i strongly dislike! its like eating eggs, although id much rather eat scrambled eggs or something!
I thought you said that cream cheese was in it?
DeRae, she was referring to this Creamy Lemon Bar recipe:
https://ourbestbites.com/2008/04/creamy-lemon-bars/
Thanks!
I’m laughing that everyone has to first register their vote for or against Lost! Ha! I only got through the first 4 episodes, then had a baby and DVRd the next three years, never to watch but using up my whole DVR. Whoops!
I’m a BIG fan of Ina Garten’s Lemon Bars – (I think the key is that the filling has tons of lemon zest). But your recipe looks to-die-for! The glaze, are you kidding me? Yes! Even though I am a lemon bar fan, I’ve always hated the messy, inhale-able powdered sugar on the top! Can’t wait to try these!!!
YumYumYum! And now that I have my kitchen back, I can make them!
I actually think a lot of those questions were answered satisfactorily. There’s also a 12 minute epilogue to the series (Google “Lost Epilogue Online” to find it) that explains a few things. We just finished watching the series all the way through a second time, and watching it the second time I started to view the whole series as a sort of dialogue between science and religion; there are some things that can be explained by science (women can’t stay pregnant because a hydrogen bomb was detonated on the island), but there are many things that fall into the island’s religious schema. Like many things religious, some times you don’t completely understand the logic of it all (scientifically explain water into wine to me?), but you accept its truth because you have faith.
I’m not saying Lost is a religion we should practice, but when I view the series as a representation of the relationship between reason and faith, many of those unanswered questions don’t bother me as much.
When in doubt, I always assume it was the smoke monster’s fault.
And the lemon bars look delicious. 🙂
For lemony lemon bars I add lemon zest from one lemon to the shortbread crust! Yum!
OMG! I have those same questions for LOST. That was a great video. The lemon bars sound so good and I have been wanting something lemony.
those look amazing! But I thought Lost was the best finale I ever saw of any finale! But each to their own! Love your website and the cookbook is to die for every single thing I’ve made from it was amazing!!!Thank you!!
what a fun twist on the classic lemon bar! these look fab!
I totally feel you on the lemon thing. I really like lemon, but I struggle with lemon bars/lemon desserts.
I’m the same way with key lime, too. (I’m sure there are people who would disown me as friends because of that statement.)
I guess it’s just a preference thing for me. I’ve always subscribed to the mantra: “If it’s not chocolate, it’s not dessert.” So I guess that kinda tips my hand about how I feel about fruity desserts. 🙂
I have also always hated lemon bars for the eggy texture. I happen to have some lemons that need using and I am freezing so turning on the oven sounds great! Thanks!
These look so good. You know what’s crazy weird? Creamy Lemon Bars were one of the very first recipes I ever posted on the blog, and yesterday of all days I re-took the photos and updated the post! We really do have some crazy brain-sharing thing going on…
Yummy! I will have to try these, I love lemon.
I am totally with about Lost. I LOVED that show. And I just get angry when I think about the ending; it’s like all the writers gave up at the same time and said “Let’s just end this sucker!”
Lemon bars should help ease the pain and frustration. Thanks.
This is almost identical to the lemon square recipe my family uses. I LOVE them. TOO much. I agree, the mushy, eggy ones are not as good. But these, HEAVEN!
btw, I am LOVING your cookbook! Everything is SO delicious!
Natalie…you have the same name as me. (My maiden name Natalie Adams 🙂 Never met anyone with the same name! I should try these for my husband because anything with too much egg he can detect a mile away. 🙂 Agree with Lost comment too…as for Oprah, nothing but love there from me. Thanks for all the great recipes ladies! Everything I make is delicious!
YUM! I also have never really enjoyed lemon bars for the exact same reason. I’m excited to try these. Thanks!
Oh how I wish I hadn’t used the last of my eggs to make Black Bean Brownies last night! Oh well – maybe this will be our dessert next week! They look so yummy and I LOVE LOVE LOVE lemon bars! (If I had known they were this easy to make, I probably would have made them last night instead of brownies).
Not a huge fan of the Lost finale, but I can live with it. I could answer a lot of the questions from that video, but goodness they come fast!
I think some of the early story lines got dropped because a handful of the actors were running wild & getting arrested. That is why they suddenly killed off Anna and Libby (who was clearly going to have something going with Hugo!), and I think why Michael left. When Michael left, they had to ditch Walt too, who was going to grow too old too quickly anyway. They obviously had a lot planned for him though.
As for the lemon bars, I’m not usually a fan, but you’ve got me curious!!
Oh my, my mouth is watering!
Heavens. These look delicious. I think these are what I am using my four extra lemons on. xx