. . . JACKPOT! And not just any little bars, but ones made from a fresh, Meyer variety straight from my Mom’s tree! These homegrown lemons are some of the best I’ve tasted, and so are these bars. Truthfully, I don’t usually like lemon-flavored desserts because they seem either too sweet, or too strong. However, this recipe has a very natural citrus taste that perfectly pairs with the buttery, pastry crust. These are best served chilled, and are great for summer gatherings (or just whenever)! I get requests for these often, and was recently gifted a generous supply of the coveted fruit, so let’s hit the bars shall we?
We need to prep a simple crust, and then a simple lemon filling. You’ll want to let your butter come to room temperature to work into the crust. It’s a good idea to take your eggs out of the refrigerator beforehand as well. Our lemons are a sweeter variety, though inherently tart, so we’re adding a touch of vanilla to smooth-out the fruity flavor.

- 4 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 7 T flour
- 7 T fresh, lemon juice
- 1 T fresh, lemon zest
- ¼ tsp vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup powdered sugar (extra for dusting bars)
- Pinch salt
- Pinch cinnamon
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
- Grease and flour a 9x13 glass pan.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- First make crust by combining flour, salt, powdered sugar, cinnamon in a bowl, whisk well.
- Cut-in softened butter with pastry cutter (or hands) until crumbly & incorporated evenly. (If your fingers stick to crust, dip in some flour)—this may take several minutes to achieve texture.
- Press crust mix into bottom of prepared pan.
- Bake crust alone for 20 minutes.
- Now make lemon filling by zesting lemon and squeezing fresh lemons for juice, set aside.
- In mixing of an electric mixer, combine sugar, eggs, lemon, zest, vanilla, & flour, mixing on low.
- When crust is done, pour lemon mix over and bake for another 25 mins.
- Remove from oven and cool completely.
- Once cooled, cover and transfer to fridge and chill well (~30 minutes).
- Once chilled, cut bars & sprinkle with powdered sugar & serve!
The bars are best chilled for at least a couple of hours or better yet overnight! Though it will be tough to wait that long. I love the subtle & sweet tang of these & hope you’ll enjoy them too.
Lemonade is good, but these are better! I hope you enjoy.
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Yay gma’s lemons rock!! Those look super yummy! I’m thinking an orange pound cake next with a yummy glaze!! Let’s get on this! Beautiful pics, is that a macro lens you are using? : )
I made these today…amazing! I haven’t tried them chilled yet because I couldn’t wait! Thanks for the great recipe!
You are most welcome. I’m glad you tried and like them! I just about ate the entire pan myself and do like them room temp, but once you chill them, they are even better! Enjoy!
[…] summer-worthy, and when I came across a bunch of very ripe meyers, I decided to skip my usual lemon bars—though a favorite—and try a cake. I wasn’t sure how much lemon to incorporate at first, but I […]