the BEST Lemon Bars (with a CRISP base)

The best Lemon bars (lemon squares) recipe! Mine have a crisp, buttery crust (guaranteed to not be soggy!) and a tart lemon curd topping.
Full Printable Recipe: sugarspunrun.com/lemon-bars/
Ingredients
Crust
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 190g
⅓ cup granulated sugar 70g
1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter very cold and cut into small cubes (227g)
1 large egg yolk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Lemon Curd
2 large whole eggs
4 large egg yolks
½ cup fresh lemon juice 120ml
1 cup granulated sugar 200g
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter cut into 8 pieces (113g)
Powdered sugar for dusting
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases from the links below.
9x9 baking pan (Affiliate Link): amzn.to/37LKwq6
Food Processor (Affiliate Link): amzn.to/2Mlm9Zc
Fine Mesh Strainer (Affiliate Link): amzn.to/2MSksnh
Instructions
00:00 Introduction
Crust
00:19 Preheat oven to 325F (160C) and line a 9x9” square baking pan with enough parchment paper (do not use aluminum foil) so that some is hanging over the sides (you want to be able to lift the bars out of the pan once they’ve cooled completely).
00:23 To prepare your cookie crust, combine flour, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in the basin of a food processor¹ and pulse until well combined.
00:43 Scatter butter pieces evenly over the dry ingredients and pulse until the mixture just begins to clump together (about 10 1-second pulses). In a small dish, whisk together egg yolk and vanilla and pour over dry ingredients. Pulse again until mixture begins to cling together. It will still be crumbly, but if you press the dough together with your thumb and forefinger it should hold together (about 18 1-second pulses).
01:33 Pour dough/crumbles into the bottom of your prepared pan and use your hands or the back of a spoon to press evenly into the bottom of the pan to form an even crust (I like to place a piece of wax paper over the dough and then smooth it with a spoon for an even layer, see my video for a visual of how I do this).
02:22 Transfer to 325F (160C) oven and bake for 25 minutes or edges are beginning to turn light golden brown. While crust is baking, prepare your lemon topping.
Lemon Curd
02:34 While the crust is baking, combine eggs, egg yolks, lemon juice, sugar, and salt in a medium-sized saucepan. Add butter and transfer to the stovetop over medium/low heat. Stir constantly (do not let the curd boil) until thickened and mixture coats the back of a spoon.
03:50 Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine mesh strainer into a heatproof bowl.
04:01 Once crust has finished baking, use a fork to poke holes over the crust, only piercing about halfway into the crust. Pour curd evenly over the surface of the crust and return to 325F (160C) oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until topping is set and only slightly jiggly in the center.
03:37 Allow to cool to room temperature, then transfer to fridge to cool completely, about 2 hours. Use the overhanging parchment to lift the bars out of the pan and then dust evenly with powdered sugar and cut into squares before serving.
Notes
¹If you don’t have a food processor you can use a pastry cutter instead. Combine all dry ingredients and then cut butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Whisk together egg yolk and vanilla and then stir well into the batter. It will take a bit more work to do by hand, but mixture will come together with some effort.
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[@debbieking3575]

So glad I found you. I hate mushy bars. Going to bake these tomorrow. Thanks a bunch

[@SugarSpunRun]

I hope you love them! :)

[@plauditecives]

Very nicely done. I'm definitely making these for our next family get-together. Thanks!

[@SugarSpunRun]

I hope everyone loves it! :)

[@AmericanBaker]

Yum! I love lemon bars. 🥰

[@alikut2549]

WooooooooOooooooow perfect😍😍😍😍

[@SweetWilliesCakes]

Thank you so much for this recipe! I was making your lemon curd and lemon cake recipe, and I had so many lemons left over that I made these lemon bars too! OMG...they are so good! The crust is definitely not soggy and the lemon curd is perfect! Thanks again for sharing!

[@SugarSpunRun]

That’s a lot of lemon desserts! I’m glad you enjoyed all of them! 😊

[@lolkids12345]

I have a lemon loving family, definitely making this! Thanks for the tips as well!

[@SugarSpunRun]

I hope everyone loves it! :)

[@jachellasthings8723]

I just made these today. Omg they are delicious 😋

[@SugarSpunRun]

I'm so glad you enjoyed them so much! :)

[@annabelshin4829]

Sam I'm waiting for my dinner to be ready and you're killing me 😂🤣 these look delicious, can't wait to make!!

[@SugarSpunRun]

😂 I hope you love them!

[@christinecourtemanche8023]

I will be trying this recipe! 🇨🇦🇨🇦

[@SugarSpunRun]

I can't wait to hear how you like it! :)

[@HomeCookingJourney]

Wow, amazing! That looks very tasty and a pleasure to eat and enjoy! I'm so glad you posted this professional video, thanks for sharing! It's nice seeing talented people sharing their work with others! Wish you all the best! Much Love, Home Cooking Journey channel♥️

[@eldridgesmart5516]

Thanks for the video. I never knew that Lemon Bars could have a Crisp bottom. Thanks again for your expertise. Take care.

[@SugarSpunRun]

I can't stand having that soggy crust, I had to fix it! :)

[@luv2garden132]

Pass it through, please? 😋 Looks delicious! Can't wait! Need lemons!

[@SugarSpunRun]

I hope you love it!

[@gnanford]

I have made these twice and they are super simple and delicious. The only thing I changed when i made them the second time was that I melted my butter in the microwave and THEN added to the lemon juice, egg, sugar mixture. It really helped to prevent over cooking the eggs.

[@SugarSpunRun]

I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! 😊

[@tennesseegirl1215]

Great video Sam, I love lemon, tfs

[@SugarSpunRun]

Thank you! :)

[@krichard8509]

*“Nobody likes a soggy bottom” - said every Top in the world.*

[@SugarSpunRun]

😂

[@trinaharris4415]

Niiice

[@amandamacleod6200]

Good morning can I double the lemon curd if I would like without it affecting the recipe thank you

[@richardhendrix7894]

Love the idea of this recipe ,but how do you thicken the lemon curd with out anything to thicken it??

[@SugarSpunRun]

It will thicken as it's heated in the sauce pan. :)

[@allibee33]

Sam, you've got to cut it out!! You have got to stop churning out amazing recipes! (just kidding, please don't haha) I made these today and they are the BEST lemon bars I've ever had!! 😊 Of all the recipes of yours I've made, which is a fair few, this is my hands-down favourite! It was hard to beat the hummingbird cake and snickerdoodle blondies, but these take the cake (or bars 😜)

[@SugarSpunRun]

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you have enjoyed everything so much! :)

[@trinaharris4415]

Made ur Oreo cake was goood

[@SugarSpunRun]

Yay! I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@trinaharris4415]

@@SugarSpunRun now u need to make the chocolate version to that

[@andrea.l9389]

Muchas gracias por la receta, simplemente delicioso. ( ◜‿◝ )♡

[@sallysammy7498]

I'm first and nice vid

[@tabbusajid7936]

I’m second

[@cynthiamilo5571]

Thanks for the recipe, but, you talk so fast, it was hard to follow and write.

[@SugarSpunRun]

I actually have a link to the recipe in the description. you can go there and print it off if you’d like. 😊

[@plebisitemanager7055]

Nobody likes a soggy bottom, and yet here you are baking treats every day and then showing us how to make them also.. you're responsible for more soggy bottoms than a... ... a wet thing under a dry thing metaphor.