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Sunburst Lemon Bars

An easy lemon dessert recipe made from scratch. These outrageously delicious Lemon Bars are made with a shortbread sugar cookie crust and a sweet lemon pie filling made of eggs, lemon juice, and sugar. The crust features a classic bakery-style bar with incredible almond flavor.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword dessert bar, Lemon, lemon bars, Sugar cookie
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 32 servings
Calories 179kcal
Author Jessica @ swankyrecipes.com

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup powdered confectioners' sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup packed almond paste totally optional for almond flavor

Filling

  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice about 2 lemons

Icing

  • 1 cup powdered confectioners' sugar
  • 2 - 3 tablespoons lemon juice or water
US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Heat oven to 350°F. Line a 13x9-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Do not use foil for this recipe.  If you don't have parchment paper to easily remove bars from pan after baking then proceed with an ungreased baking pan. 
    In large bowl fit with a mixer, beat base ingredients on low speed until dough comes together. Press mixture evenly in bottom of a 13x9-inch pan. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until light golden brown.
    In medium bowl whisk eggs. Beat in filling ingredients; granulated sugar, flour, baking powder, and lemon zest. Beat in 1/4 cup lemon juice.
    Remove the partially baked base from oven. Pour filling evenly over warm base.
    Return to oven; bake 25 to 30 minutes longer or until the top is light golden brown. If the top starts to get too brown, cover with foil and continue to bake until center has settled.  Cool completely, about 1 hour.
    In a small bowl, combine powdered confectioners' sugar and lemon juice or water.  Evenly spread glaze over the top of the cooled bar.
    Refrigerate Lemon Bars until center is set then cut into bars.

Nutrition

Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 41mg | Sodium: 11mg | Potassium: 41mg | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 4.3% | Vitamin C: 1% | Calcium: 1.5% | Iron: 3.3%