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A simple lemony shortbread crust with a tart, refreshing lemon custard, these gluten free lemon bars are so easy to make. Perfect for any occasion, from potlucks to bake sales.
Why this recipe works
Smooth, creamy and tart classic gluten free lemon bars seem to be beloved by nearly everyone. If you don't love them, or anything lemon flavored, then this recipe is not going to be for you!
If you're a lemon lover, though, the crust is the perfect blend of chewy and crunchy, and the custard is lemony cool and fresh.
You’ll need at least one fresh lemon for the lemon zest so your crust, not just your filling, is robust with lemon flavor.
If you’ve ever had lemon curd, which is similar to a lemon pudding or custard, this filling will taste similar. Unlike lemon curd, though, the filling in these bars is baked, not cooked. It will be firm enough to bite into once it’s set in the refrigerator.
Recipe ingredients
Lemons may be the first thing you think of when you think of these bars, but let's talk about another very important ingredient: the gluten free flour blend.
- Gluten free flour blend: I specify my gum-free gluten free flour blend for this recipe, which is made with a mix of mostly superfine white rice flour, plus potato starch and tapioca flour/starch. There is no xanthan gum in this recipe, since I’ve found that it makes for an almost chewy, gummy filling. It’s not nearly as important for the crust as it is for the filling.
- Sugar: we use both granulated and powdered sugar in the crust and filling to balance out the tartness of the lemon and ensure that the crust is sweet and tender, since sugar locks in moisture.
- Lemon juice: use fresh lemons for fresh, concentrated lemon flavor in your bars
- Lemon zest: adds lots of extra lemon flavor since it contains all of the essential lemon oils. Be sure not to grate down all the way to the bitter white pith.
- Butter: gives the buttery shortbread crust its richness and is a flavor delivery system!
- Eggs: provide the filling with its creamy structure
How to make gluten free lemon bars
To make these bars, you have to place the pan in the oven twice. The crust is a relatively sticky dough that’s made with our basic gum-free gluten free flour, confectioners’ sugar (to keep it light), lemon zest, salt, and melted butter. Just press it into the pan with an offset spatula (or a spoon or tamper) and bake it just until it’s set.
There’s no leavening in the crust, so it won’t rise very much at all. Baking it alone prevents it from getting soggy when you add the filling, and from having to overbake the filling just to get the crust firm enough to hold it.
As the crust is cooling, make the filling by whisking eggs, granulated sugar, baking powder and lemon juice. Pour the filling right on top of the blind-baked crust and pop it back in the oven to bake until the filling barely jiggles when it’s shaken from side to side.
As the filling is baking, if you peek in the oven (not advisable, but if you can’t help it) before the last 7 or 8 minutes, you’ll think that the bars will never actually set. It will seem almost like a liquid for most of the baking time. As long as you haven’t changed the recipe and your oven is at the proper temperature, it will set.
Expert tips
Fresh lemon juice is best
Conventional lemons are available year-round, but we do tend to get the best ones in the dead of winter. A little sunshine for an overall dreary season, I guess!
Meyer Lemons, which are thought to be a cross between oranges and lemons, aren't available year-round. They seem to be most plentiful in the middle winter through the very early spring (why do I always want to capitalize ‘spring' but leave winter as is?)
Like in our gluten free lemon pie, bottled lemon juice tends to taste bitter, and the heat of baking intensifies flavors. If the flavor isn't great at the start, it will be worse after baking
Line the pan with parchment
These gluten free lemon bars are not going to be super firm when you pull them from the oven. Even after you let them cool and refrigerate them, you'll still find the lemon filling to be on the soft side.
For this reason, it's imperative that you don't forget to use parchment paper when preparing your baking pan. Parchment paper will make clean up easier by creating a barrier between the lemon bars and the pan, but more importantly, the paper will give you the support you need to lift the squares from the pan in one piece.
Allow for setting time
The lemon filling of these bars is similar to lemon curd, but only if you allow it enough time to set in the refrigerator. If you try to bite into these before they've had time to chill, they won't have the right bite.
Ingredient substitutions
There are dairy, eggs, and two types of sugar in these decadent lemon bars. I don't regret any one of those ingredients, but if you can't have one of them, here are my best suggestions:
Dairy free
The only source of dairy in these bars is the butter in the crust. The crust should still turn out if you replace the butter with half Earth Balance buttery sticks and half Spectrum brand nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening.
You can also use block-style vegan butter like Melt or Miyoko's barnds. Watch the salt, though, since butter replacements tend to be quite salty (unlike shortening, which contains no salt).
Egg free?
There are 4 eggs in this recipe. I'm afraid I don't believe that you can replace all 4 of them with an egg substitute and achieve anything like the texture of these smooth, creamy custardy bars.
Lemon alternatives
Since you've already promised to use freshly squeezed citrus in this recipe, we don't have to revisit that point. If you'd prefer a lime-flavored bar, try my key lime pie bars. They're similar in texture, and simply amazing. If you're looking for a bar with a completely different texture, try our gluten free pumpkin bars, which have more of a cake-like texture, not a soft fruity filling.
Storage suggestions
If you plan to eat all your gluten free lemon squares on the same day, it's perfectly fine to leave them out at room temperature on your kitchen counter (after letting them chill for a couple of hours so they can set.)
But if you're planning to enjoy them for the rest of the week, you should definitely store them in the fridge in an air-tight container. This is because the soft lemon filling won't stand up to higher temps.
For longer storage, cut the cooled bars into squares, but don't top them with powdered sugar or any other topping. Then, freeze until firm (about an hour), and wrap each bar individually with cling wrap for up to 3 months. They won't freeze solid, so they'll defrost quickly even in the refrigerator. Before serving, add powdered sugar, whipped cream, or other toppings.
Gluten Free Lemon Bars Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cups (233 g) gum-free gluten free flour blend, divided (click through for simple recipe of superfine white rice flour + potato starch + tapioca starch/flour)
- ½ cup (58 g) confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Zest of 1 large lemon
- 9 tablespoons (126 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 4 (200 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅔ cup (5.33 fluid ounces) freshly squeezed lemon juice, juice of 4 to 5 lemons
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan, line with criss-crossed pieces of parchment paper that overhang the sides, and grease the parchment paper. Set the pan aside.
Make the crust
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine 1 cup (140 g) of the flour, confectioners’ sugar, salt and lemon zest and whisk to combine, breaking up any clumps of lemon zest.
- Add the butter and mix with a fork until well-combined. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish in an even layer.
- Place the baking dish in the center of the preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until firm.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool briefly.
Make the custard layer
- In a medium-sized bowl, place the eggs, granulated sugar, baking powder, lemon juice and remaining 2/3 cup (93 g) flour, whisking vigorously to combine after each addition. Pour the custard mixture into the baked crust.
Bake the bars
- Return the pan to the center of the oven. Bake until just set (about 25 minutes).
- The custard is set when it does not jiggle more than a tiny bit in the center when the pan is shaken gently back and forth.
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 20 minutes.
Chill the bars.
- Place in the refrigerator to chill until firm, about 2 hours and up to overnight.
- Remove the bars from the pan by running a butter knife or thin spatula around the perimeter of the baking dish, and then lifting the bars out of the pan by the overhung pieces of parchment paper.
- Dust lightly with confectioners sugar, and slice into 9 or 12 squares with a large knife. Serve chilled.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FAQs
One average-sized fresh lemon, when squeezed, will produce about 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. Our gluten free lemon bar recipe requires 2/3 cup of juice (or just over 10 tablespoons), so you'll need about 4 lemons to get enough juice.
I don't recommend using bottled lemon juice, as it tends to be bitter, and baking with it will only intensify its bitterness. There are some bottled lemon juice brands, like Best Select, that people swear taste like fresh-squeezed. If you have a brand of bottled lemon juice that has juice you love the taste of, then use it!
Yes, you can make these lemon squares with a graham cracker crust if you'd like. Just follow my gluten free graham cracker crust recipe, which uses my homemade graham crackers.
There are a few reasons why your gf lemon squares may be gooey:
You didn't use the right ratio of ingredients, you may have used too little gf flour or too few eggs; you may have also added too much lemon juice. Measuring carefully, and by weight wherever possible, avoids unbalanced ratios.
You didn't bake the bars long enough, return them to the oven and bake until the lemon custard barely jiggles when you shake the pan; the filling should move in a controlled way when you shake the pan.
You didn't let your bars set, letting your lemon squares set up in the fridge is an important step. If you skip it, the bars won't firm up.
Yes, the bars must be refrigerated for at least 2 hours to set completely. After they've set, you still want to chill them after they've been sitting at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours.
When exposed to warm temperatures, the lemon curd filling will “melt” slightly and won't taste nearly as good as when it's chilled.
More gluten free lemon dessert recipes
Have you got a big bag lemons sitting on the counter? Wondering what to do with the rest of them? Let me help! Here are a few more of my favorite gluten free lemon dessert recipes.
- Gluten Free Lemon Cookies – Buttery-rich and light, these delightful lemon cookies melt in your mouth — seriously! And they couldn't be easier to prepare, requiring only 15 minutes of prep time.
- Gluten Free Lemon Brownies – I love chocolate as much as the next person, but sometimes I crave something different. These lemon brownies offer the chewy consistency of a brownie with the bright flavor of citrus.
- Gluten Free Lemon Cake – If you've ever had the lemon cake at Olive Garden, you know it's the stuff that dreams are made of. Try my copycat recipe, and you can chow down on this cake whenever you want.
This is one of my favorite recipes of yours! Turns out delicious every time! My granddaughter loves them, and she doesn’t usually eat gluten-free. Thank you so much!
You’re so welcome, Aimée! Thank you for sharing that about your granddaughter. That’s the best!
Hi Nicole, do you have suggestions on how to transport a large amount of these bars? I’m thinking of stacking them in a container with layers of wax paper in between. Do you think they’ll hold up and not stick to each other too much, or do you have other recommendations for what to do? Thanks!
Custard bars are notoriously difficult to transport, K. You most definitely cannot stack them on top of one another for any length of time and have them remain completely undamaged. I would recommend baking and chilling them in the pan, without slicing them into bars, and transport them as unsliced. When you get where you’re going, chill them again, then slice and serve. If you’d like to transport more than a single batch, I’d recommend baking them each separately and transporting each batch chilled and unsliced.
this lemon bars are the bomb. I’ve made them several times for my daughter She can’t tolerate gluten and lemon bars are her favorite. I followed the recipe and got the different flours and brands recommended. Its been the best and I only use the blend for the lemons bars. recently we had a baby shower and I brought the lemon bars since lots of people are gluten free. I was or should I say the lemon bars were the star of the shower.
That’s so great to hear, Aminta! Thank you so much for sharing your experience. It’s so kind of you to make the bars to bring to the baby shower. I hope you didn’t outshine the mom-to-be! :)
These bars are excellent !! – Served a small slice of both lemon squares & Lime squares on the same plate with the dusting of powdered sugar looked very nice. The only small change I made was to add a extra yoke for stability of the filling. The first time making them filling was too soft, with the attempt using a additional egg it set up better.
I also found that it had to cook in the oven a additional 10 minutes, my guess is the oven temp was not correct on my stove. As long as I know that then I can adjust my bake times.
This recipe was simply okay. I have an accurate kitchen with scale, temperatures, sizes of pans, and followed the recipe to a T. This author blames poor reviews for the mistakes of people and not for potentially needing to alter instructions for clarity and will likely do the same with mine, but I’m well versed in cooking, baking, and what good food would taste like. They weren’t bad. They were simply okay. If you’re looking for “the best” as advertised, find a different recipe.
I hope you find what you’re looking for.
Thank you for the recipe. It didn’t work out for me. The curd was not soft and felt too floury. Perhaps I over cooked it. I cooked it for 15 minutes but made it in a larger pan. Perhaps, it dried more than what it should have. Perhaps it needed more lemon or less flour. No sure what happened but the curd is not good.
You can’t make this recipe, as is, in a larger pan. It will almost always overcook as significantly more of the mixture is exposed to the hot air of the oven. If you make the recipe as written, rather than deviating from it as you describe, it works.
This was a real miss for me. I followed the instructions, but the filling was super thin and soupy. It took ages to set up and was not fantastic when it did. I’ve had other great recipes from this site so I will try more from here, but this one was a miss.
Since you aren’t asking for help troubleshooting to figure out where you went wrong, I won’t provide any, which is a shame since the recipe will work when made as written.
Thank you for these very delicious bars! I found my crust did not firm up… it was still quite crumbly and buttery. Any ideas on what could have caused this so I have try better next time! Thanks so much!
Hi, Rachel, I’m afraid I really don’t know, but I’d always look first to any ingredient substitutions, and here the flour blend is particularly important as is measuring everything by weight. If you used the wrong flour blend and/or measured by volume, that would unbalance such a simple recipe. In addition, did you bake the crust enough before adding the custard and returning it to the oven? It may have simply been underbaked. I’d also recommend using an oven thermometer, as most ovens are out of calibration by as much as 20°F.
Can you freeze these lemon bars?
Please see the text of the post under the heading “Can you freeze lemon bars?”
Seems tasty, but really wish the ingredient mentioned that the flour was divided. Because of the scrolling back and forth I ended up putting all the flour into the base, then had to do some complicated math to try to salvage it. Would you consider mentioning that the flour is divided in the ingredient list or listing the ingredients for the base and the custard separately?
Mine have also taken substantially longer to cook- we were 10 min over for the crusts and we’re at 15 min over for the custard currently. (We separated into two pans because of the increased volumes from the error).
I understand your concern and that sounds frustrating that you measured improperly and the recipe didn’t turn out precisely for that reason, but the instructions are broken out by crust and custard, and state in the first instance to use 1 cup (140 g) of the flour.