Lemon Bars!
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Easy five ingredient lemon bars – soft delicious buttery shortbread, smooth sharp lemon curd topping!
Lemon bars
I will say from the very first sentence now, that I am completely and utterly obsessed with these. They are the dreamiest of dreamy and I love them. If you like lemon, you will be obsessed!
Lemon Bars are something that I have had so many requests for over the years, but I just generally never got round to posting them.. finally, when I had a craving myself, I thought I would actually write up the recipe!
I know it sounds like it’s easy, but once you add on the photography, writing, editing etc… it does take a while to write up a recipe post! Also, I have to make sure not to eat all of the lemon bars before I’ve got the camera out. They’re too yummy.
So lemon bars have been around for a very long time – there are lots of yummy recipes out there such as from Sally’s Baking Addiction, and Once Upon a Chef – and they are definitely amazing inspiration for these.
Shortbread base
The base, is the same as for my millionaires shortbread – a simple shortbread of unsalted butter, sugar, and flour. I like to use block butter for the best result, caster sugar for the best sweetness, and plain flour.. obviously.
I use an easy ratio of 2:1:3 when I make my shortbread these days, and I find it works wonders. 200g butter, 100g sugar, 300g flour! Mix them together as per the recipe, and you have a lovely crumbly shortbread. Press them into your 9×9″ square tin – and bake! So simple.
Lemon topping
The topping for this, you can make whilst it’s baking. It doesn’t take long, and you are making a sort of lemon curd, lemon meringue pie style lemon filling – that you will bake straight on top of the shortbread. It can end up making the shortbread look under baked, but it’s not – it’s just soaked up the delicious lemon goodness.
I like to use the lemon zest and lemon juice from the lemons for the most flavour – but you can leave the lemon zest out if you want. Bottled lemon juice works fine too! There is definitely nothing wrong with buying bottled lemon juice in my books.
Make sure to zest your lemons first, and then juice them – the amount of lemons may vary because of the sizing – but it’s about 5 lemons you use. I grate my lemon zest on the fine one so the pieces aren’t too large!
I add in my sugar and plain flour to a bowl and whisk until combined. Then, I add in the lemon juice, zest and eggs mix until smooth. It really doesn’t take long at all which is why it’s so good!
Top and bake!
Once the shortbread has baked, take it out, pour the lemon mixture straight on – and put back into the oven. It really is that simple! I like to call this five ingredients as you have the sugar, butter, flour, eggs and lemon. You could argue the zest and juice is two, but as it’s from one lemon…
Tips!
For an optional end, you can dust the top with icing sugar – but it’s not essential. I just think it looks pretty!! I hope you love these delicious lemon bars as much as I do! Feel free to try this with other citrus fruits too – like lemon and orange! x
Lemon Bars!
Ingredients
Shortbread Base
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 100 g caster sugar
- 300 g plain flour
Lemon Curd Topping
- 375 g caster sugar
- 50 g plain flour
- 6 medium eggs
- 225 ml lemon juice
- Zest of 5 lemons (optional)
Extra
- 1-2 tbsp icing sugar (optional)
Instructions
Shortbread Base
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan, and line a 9x9inch deep square tin with parchment paper.
- Cream together the sugar and butter in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until smooth – mix in the flour until a dough is formed. It will be crumbly but the ingredients will be evenly dispersed!
- Firmly press the mixture into the bottom of tin and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until pale golden on top! Towards the end of baking, make the lemon mixture!
Lemon Curd Topping
- Sift your flour into a large bowl, and add the sugar.
- Whisk the two together until combined!
- Add in your eggs, lemon juice and zest, and whisk until combined.
- Once the shortbread is baked, remove from the oven and pour the lemon mixture over the top.
- Return to the oven, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the lemon mixture no longer wobbles!
- Leave to cool at room tempearture for about 2 hours, and then put in the fridge for another 2 hours (or over night) to firm up.
- If you want to, dust the top with icing sugar, and then cut up and enjoy!
Notes
- These will last for up to one week, in the fridge!
- I use this 9x9" square tin!
- You can use lime, orange, or grapefruit in place - follow the same ideas just switch out the lemon!
- These can be frozen for up to 3 months!
ENJOY!
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J x
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Gosh the lemon flavour in these is immense!
I baked my shortbread layer for about 30 min and it didn’t seem to go golden. Should the shortbread taste like actual shortbread or will it be a bit softer due to the lemon mix? I’m not sure if I undercooked it or if it was meant to be a bit soft.
Hiya! This is correct – it will be slightly softer because of the lemon mix! Also, your oven may be slightly too cool which would be why the shortbread didn’t turn golden. Hope this helps! x
hi im keen to give these a try as i have lots of lemons needing used up, but sometimes i dont have lots of real lemons can you use the lemon juice you get in the bakeing isle of the supermarket instead if you dont have fresh lemons? Thank you
Hiya! I believe this should work – but I personally always use fresh lemons! Hope this helps x
Oh. My. Days.
I’m a huge Jane’s Patisserie supporter, little makes me happier than delving through your recipe index and rustling up a traybake, however I’ve never attempted a recipe like this before!
I was anxious as hell to be straying away from my beloved brownie and blonde recipes, but as I wanted to bake my mum something for her birthday – and she’s a massive lover of all things lemon – I put on my big girls’ pants and had a go.
Well blow me. These are incredible!! The recipe was simple to follow as it always is, no weird and wonderful ingredients and my goodness, what a result.
Okay so I did have to try just ONE, I couldn’t serve them to my mum without taste testing first haha.
Thanks Jane, you’re a star!
These are really delicious and easy to make. I did push the lemon mixture through a sieve to get rid of a few flour lumps that wouldn’t incorporate in the stand mixer. Worked well.
Just finished these and taken out the oven to cool…the smell amazing but it seems as though the mixture has separated on the top. There is a whitey yellow almost foamy layer and then underneath the ‘lemon curd’ has formed. It’s like the egg white and flour has floated to the top…I followed instructions…any suggestions for improving my bake?
Hi
Can I substitute plain flour for gluten free plain flour?
Thanks
This also happened to me!!!
I have made this a couple of times and I personally leave it in the oven a little longer to go golden-brown on top. I’m almost certain the topping is deliberate as it makes a thin cakey layer on top. Deliciously fantastic bake, thank you Jane!
Saw these on Instagram so decided to give them a go. I never bake but these were so easy and delicious!
Another amazing recipe Jane, I absolutely love anything lemon. I think mine turned out how they were meant to., they looked like yours. The lemon topping did have a bit of a ‘skin’ though. Is this normal?
Awh thank you!! Yasss I love a lemon bake. What do you mean by skin?X
Hi,
Yes mind had a thick skin on too, then lemon deliciousness under that. They tasted great, just a strange texture xx
What size lemons do you use please?
Average supermarket size x
Second time commenting and second time making this recipe. This time I made it I took my own advice and didn’t whisk the egg mixture but mixed it till just combined. It STILL gave the bready eggy top – possibly even worse this time! Unfortunately it seems this time the egg did not incorporate properly so the top bready layer was bright yellow (from the yolk) and after peeling it away, the mush underneath was not as silky as last time and was a pale sad colour. I love the taste of these I just wish half the mixture didn’t get wasted and I’m not sure what to do??
Hi, unfortunately the method in the recipe is the correct one to follow – so something may have gone wrong the first time and it is most likely the oven temperature causing this xx
Hey Jane just wondering if u have a recipe for like jam bars. Like U know the ones where it has a base of shortbread then the middle is stuffed with jam and has another layer of shortbread on top. I’ve been looking for a jam bar recipe for a while but they all have a crumbled top which I don’t really like. If not would there be a way to adapt this recipe to fit the jam bars thanks a lot!
Just made these and I read the comments before making so I tried not to over whisk my eggs and cooked on a lower heat for longer but mine still went like a cake on top 😔
Will have to try it again and see if I can get it right lol
Hi Jane,
Could I make these without the shortbread base and just have the lemon square?
Thanks x
Not really as its quite integral to the bake x
No idea where I’m going wrong with this recipe. I’ve made tons of.tour recipes, all straight forward with great easy steps to follow. I follow this to a T and both times the top is cakey. So I strip the top off and underneath its still 😋but still, not how it should look. I’ve turned the oven down too and baked for longer. I also don’t mix the egg mixture too much so god knows where I’m going wrong with this one. 😪 when you’re a perfectionist it’s hard to let it defeat you lol. Appreciate all your recipes Jane and looking forward to your book xx
Hey, what type of oven do you use? Ahh thank you so much, me too!xx
Update! Looks like I was being a little hasty in how the 2nd bake was coming along lol! I turned the oven down and then once it had cooled it has a slight ‘skin’ to it, but it’s really nice and helps keep the lemon in tact and the Icing Sugar dusting finishes it lovely. Xx
I have made these before and they are amazing! However I want to make them in a 9 inch round tin… So it’s more like a tart that I can serve up at BBQs and birthdays etc. Have you any idea how I woild convert the measurements?
Hey! The recipe is about a 1/5th smaller as a guesstimate xx
Hi Jane,
I was wondering if I could make these with a passionfruit jam/curd?
Hey! The lemon part of the recipe is creating a set curd itself so adding a different curd would change this xx