These Meyer lemon crumb bars are the perfect treat to celebrate citrus season. This is a high altitude tested recipe for classic lemon bars, with a thick, buttery shortbread base, and sweet and tart lemon filling. A crumble topping adds crunch with a slightly salty notes to balance the sweetness. If you don’t have Meyer lemons, regular lemons work great in this recipe, too.
Looking for more high altitude lemon recipes? Don’t miss these lemon cupcakes, lemon loaf cake, and soft and chewy lemonies.
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What are Meyer Lemons?
Meyer lemons may look a lot like an ordinary lemon, but they are actually a hybrid fruit that is a cross between a lemon and a Mandarin. Their peel is smoother and thinner and they have a rounder shape. Their juice is also much sweeter and less acidic than regular lemons.
Florida citrus is actually at its best from November through February, with the fruit being at its sweetest and juiciest through the winter months. Here in Colorado, I love seeing those abundantly filled bins of lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruits to brighten up a cold day.
While I used the zest and juice from Meyer lemons in today’s lemon crumb bars, you can absolutely use regular lemons as well! There is plenty of sugar in the recipe to balance the tartness of the lemon juice.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Flour. All-purpose flour binds the crust together as it absorbs moisture from the butter.
- Sugar. Granulated sugar sweetens the crust, and contributes to browning.
- Salt. Coarse Kosher salt adds a great salty-sweet flavor.
- Butter. The butter contributes richness, flavor and moisture.
- Eggs. The eggs play an important role as they thicken the filling into a sort of baked lemon curd between the shortbread base and the crumbly streusel topping.
- Sugar. Balances the tartness of the lemon juice.
- Lemons. We’ll be using both the zest and the juice from our lemons for plenty of flavor and acidity.
These lemon crumb bars are incredibly easy to make, and the ingredients come together in minutes. The crumb mixture for the shortbread crust doubles as the crumb topping.
Instructions
Crust and Crumb Topping
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line an 8×8 inch baking dish with a piece of parchment paper, or lightly spray the pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Scatter the cold pieces of butter over the flour mixture, and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour until moistened, crumbly, and no visible pieces of butter remain.
- Measure out 1 cup of the crumb mixture, and set aside to reserve for the crumb topping.
- Press the remaining crumbs firmly against the bottom of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes, then set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
Whisk and Bake the Lemon Filling.
- Use a microplane zester to zest the lemons. In a bowl, use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar, then whisk in the flour.
- Juice the lemons, measuring 1/2 cup juice. Whisk the lemon juice and the eggs into the filling mixture until smooth.
- After the pre-baked crust has cooled for 5 minutes, whisk up the filling again, and carefully pour over the hot crust. Bake for 15 minutes.
Finish Baking with the Crumb Topping.
- Gently sprinkle the reserved 1 cup of crumbs over the filling, then continue baking for another 20 minutes, until the topping is a pale golden.
- Let cool at room temperature for at least 2 hours, before slicing. These bars can be served slightly warm, at room temperature, or cold from the refrigerator.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, of course. If you don’t want the topping, just press all of the crumble mixture into the pan for the crust before adding the filling. For a classic finish, dust the top with powdered sugar before serving.
You can use either Meyer lemons or regular lemons in this lemon bar recipe.
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Lemon Crumb Bars
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
Ingredients
Crust and Topping
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ¾ cup cold unsalted butter, diced
Filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- zest of 4 small lemons
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice
- 3 large eggs
Instructions
Crust and Topping
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Line an 8×8 inch baking dish with a piece of parchment paper, or lightly spray the pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Scatter the cold pieces of butter over the flour mixture, and use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour until moistened, crumbly, and no visible pieces of butter remain.
- Measure out 1 cup of the crumb mixture, and set aside to reserve for the crumb topping.
- Press the remaining crumbs firmly against the bottom of the pan. Bake for 15 minutes, then set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
Filling
- Use a microplane zester to zest the lemons. In a bowl, use your fingers to rub the lemon zest into the sugar, then whisk in the flour.
- Juice the lemons, measuring 1/2 cup juice. Whisk the lemon juice and the eggs into the filling mixture until smooth.
- After the pre-baked crust has cooled for 5 minutes, whisk up the filling again, and carefully pour over the hot crust. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Gently sprinkle the reserved 1 cup of crumbs over the filling, then continue baking for another 20 minutes, until the topping is a pale golden.
- Let cool at room temperature for at least 2 hours, before slicing. These bars can be served slightly warm, at room temperature, or cold from the refrigerator.
These are so enticing -they look like Spring and I can just about taste the sweet lemony burst! Your Dad loves these!
Sunshine on a plate:)You must be sunshine too.
It would be useful to know what size cup you are using as in the UK there is no such thing as a standard size, or preferably the weight either in grams or pounds and ounces. I am attempting to make these today but have had to guess at the size of the cup ( I used medium).
Jacqueline, please don’t guess. Google has a wealth of information on standard volume to weight ingredient conversions.
A standard US measuring cup holds 8 fluid ounces (237ml). 1 cup of all purpose flour will weigh approximately 4.6 ounces (130gm). 1 cup of granulated sugar will weigh approximately 7 ounces (200gm). 1 cup of butter weighs 8 ounces (227gm). I hope that helps!
These were a huge hit among everyone I shared them with, although I would’ve been happy locking myself in a room and downing the whole pan! I zested about half a lemon into the crumb before mixing as well, definitely recomend for a little extra lemony flavor. Might try doubling it soon since they’re such crowd pleasers!
Delicious lemon bars! Thank you for the recipe. I am at 5900 feet and this recipe worked with no modifications. I used the crumble topping. Only issue was some sticking to both the pan and the parchment paper. If I make again, I will either grease or spray the pan really well.
Can you use a sugar replacement like swerve versus white sugar?
That’s not something I’ve tried.
Hi, Heather! If I want to make these in a 9×13 pan (vs. 8×8), should I double the ingredients? And, if so, how long should I bake? (I’m at 6,700′) ~ Thanks!
I think I may have doubled this recipe years ago, but it wasn’t as successful as a smaller batch.
I love lemon desserts and shortbread but often find recipes way too sweet for my palate. Would using regular lemons instead of meyers up the tartness or how much could I lessen the sugar without adversely affecting the product?
You can definitely use regular lemons for more tartness. I haven’t experimented with lowering the sugar.
These are deeelicious!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe! Perfect!!!
Yummy lemon bars! I used regular lemons, not Meyers, and the ladies at Bible Study loved them. Thank you!
Hi! The cookie base is in the oven! Fingers crossed! Living at 8,200 ft in the Wet Mountains of Southern Colorado, I can really relate to your recipes. I read your bio and being a Fantasy/SciFi aficionado myself, I can also relate to your taste in books and movies. I’m always on the lookout for mountain friendly recipes, so I bookmarked your site to save for future reference. Happy High Altitude Baking!