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Easy Meyer Lemon Bars

Name: Easy Meyer Lemon Bars
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 1 cup butter (softened (2 sticks)); 1/2 cup powdered sugar; 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; 2 cups all-purpose flour; 5 eggs; 1 1/2 cups sugar; 3/4 cup Meyer lemon juice (from about 4-5 lemons); 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon zest (from about 4-5 lemons); pinch kosher salt; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1/4 cup all-purpose flour; extra powdered sugar, lemon zest, blackberries, and/or mint leaves (for garnish (optional))

Published December 16, 2017. Last updated July 7, 2021 By Elizabeth Lindemann / This post may contain affiliate links.

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5 from 29 votes

Confession: as I write this, I am eating one of these Easy Meyer Lemon Bars for breakfast with my coffee. OH MY GOODNESS, these are good. When we planted a Meyer lemon tree in the spring, I knew I wanted to make something extra special with its fruit. This recipe definitely fits the bill, AND it’s super easy to make!

There’s a surprising amount of variety out there for lemon bar recipes. Some call for separating egg yolks, while some call for baking the crust and cooking the lemon curd on the stovetop. Some are filled with a firm filling, some with more of a pudding-like consistency.

I wanted to make lemon bars that really featured the delicious Meyer lemons in all their tart, sweet glory, and make it as easy as possible. I whittled the options down to a recipe that only uses one bowl and one pan, does not require that you cool the crust before filling it, and uses whole eggs rather than just the yolks. I’m never making lemon bars any other way again!

Meyer lemons are not your average lemon. They are known to be sweeter than other varieties- so sweet, in fact, that you can eat the fruit by itself! This means they are a bit less acidic, and it also means you can use less sugar in the bars to sweeten it. With five whole eggs and plenty of lemon juice and zest, these scrumptious dessert bars actually maintain some nutritional value, despite the sugar and refined flour used to make them.

Not that we care too much about nutrition in our desserts, especially around the holidays, right? Right.

(Pardon me for a moment while I go retrieve a second Meyer lemon bar from the kitchen for breakfast…)

Yum. That’s better. I’m going to have to lock my fridge and throw away the key pretty soon here.

To make the crust, just mix together some butter, powdered sugar, a little bit of salt, and flour. It will be a bit of a crumbly dough that sticks together when you press it, kind of like a more doughy pie crust. Press it into a well-greased large baking pan, and bake until starting to brown.

Then, pour the topping on the crust after it’s cooled for only a few minutes- a mixture of 5 whole eggs, sugar, Meyer lemon juice and zest (from about 4 Meyer lemons), a pinch of salt, baking powder, and a little bit more flour to help firm it up. Bake until set, allow to cool, and you’re done!

Unless of course you want to get fancy and garnish the bars with more powdered sugar, lemon zest, blackberries, and mint. It makes them extra pretty to bring to holiday parties or take photos for your food blog (haha).

Can I freeze lemon bars?

Yes! I recommend freezing them individually after baking and slicing. Start by flash freezing them by placing them on a rimmed baking sheet with some space in between each bar and freezing for 1-2 hours, until they’re frozen. Then, you can wrap them each individually in plastic wrap and store in an airtight container or zip top bag, and take them out individually as you want them. That way, they won’t freeze together or smush onto the plastic wrap before they’re frozen.

I have 5 of these delicious Meyer lemons left. What should I make? Maybe this Iced Ginger Honey Lemon Tea? Give me your other suggestions in the comments below!

Here’s the recipe for these super easy Meyer lemon bars.