This is the Best Lemon Bars Recipe you will ever make!

This is the Best Lemon Bars Recipe.
The shortbread crust is crunchy and buttery. The center is rich, tart, sweet, and gooey. A light, sugary crackle top seals it together. One bite of these lemon bars is a bit of heaven in your mouth. This is one dessert you will want to make homemade!
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I have this little "Charlie Brown" Meyer Lemon Tree.
It looks quite pitiful, but I have managed to keep it alive for 7 years. Every year the Meyer Lemon Tree - Fruiting Size/Branched Plant - 8" Pot - Indoors/Out blooms these beautiful little fragrant flowers that turn into lemons.... 1 to 2 with each round of blooms. It blooms in the winter and in the summer. The lemons are like little treasures. They have the most delightful fragrance and the most amazing flavor. The store bought lemons can not even come close in taste to comparison. (Some people are able to produce more than 1 to 2 lemons with each bloom, I just don't have a green thumb. It is a miracle I have kept this thing alive!!!)
Therefore, I have to make something really, really special with every lemon I harvest. These homemade lemon bars were the perfect thing to make with my lemon.
Years ago, I played Bunco with a group of ladies. Whoever was hostess of the game cooked for the entire group. My sweet friend Holly Richter hosted a dinner and made these lemon bars for dessert at one of the games. Holly is a fabulous baker and I couldn't stop eating them. They were incredible. Therefore, I asked her for the recipe and she was nice enough to share it with me.
And now you are in luck, because I am sharing the recipe with you!! My little Meyer Lemon made these bars AMAZING!!!! If you don't have your very own grown lemon, definitely use a fresh lemon!!!!!! No cutting corners with that prejuiced stuff. That will ruin the flavor of the bars.
I must warn you. When I make these, I have a goal in mind to share with my friends. However, little fingers in my household quickly snatch these bars up and there rarely is any left to give away.... So you may want to go ahead and make 2 batches. Just saying------
If you like this recipe, check out: Easy Chocolate Cherry Sheet Cake, Chocolate Eclair Cake, and Ooey Gooey Butter Bars.
Recipe
The Best Lemon Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 sticks butter
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Whisk together 2 cups of flour, vanilla, and confectioners sugar.
- Cut in butter until mixture clings together.
- Press dough in 13x9x2inch baking dish.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Beat eggs.
- Add granulated sugar and lemon juice to eggs.
- Mix in remaining flour and baking powder.
- Pour over crust.
- Bake 25 minutes.
- Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes.
- Dust confectioner sugar on top and serve.