Lemon Bars with Graham Cracker Crust

These 7 ingredient Lemon Bars with Graham Cracker Crust are a truly impressive dessert that take very little effort to make.

If you like this recipe, check out my Deviled Strawberries next!

Tart and zesty classic lemon squares were a staple at my family gatherings growing up. You know the ones –  shortbread crust, very bright and tangy lemon filling and sprinkled with plenty of powder sugar. But when it comes to citrus desserts, my personal favorite is key lime pie. So I decided to essentially combine the two. Classic lemon bars plus key lime pie bars. My easy lemon bars have a buttery graham cracker crust topped with a soft and creamy lemon filling. They are as beautiful to look at as they are delicious to eat. The perfect dessert!

More easy desserts

• French Strawberry Cake
• Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
• Bourbon Peach Crisp

Ingredients for my lemon bar recipe

• Graham Crackers – I really like the convenience of buying a box of graham cracker crumbs because it ensures uniform, fine crumbs. But about 11 full sheets of graham crackers will yield 1 1/4 cups of crumbs if you prefer to crush your own.
• Salted Butter – I prefer using salted butter to offset the sweet and buttery graham cracker crust. But you can certainly use unsalted butter instead.
• Lemon Juice – You can use bottled lemon juice but fresh lemon juice is so much better! Depending on the size of your lemons, you need 3-4 fresh lemons for 1/2 cup of juice. Feel free to add a little lemon zest to the filling if you want.
• Egg Yolks – Four large egg yolks help to stabilize and set up the lemon layer.
• Granulated Sugar – Helps to sweeten both the crust and lemon cheesecake filling. Don’t worry lemon lovers, these bars are still the perfect balance of tart lemon flavor.
• Sweetened Condensed Milk – One 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk gives this lemon bar filling a luscious creamy texture.
• Cream Cheese – Just 4 ounces of cream cheese makes these bars even more creamy and decadent.

Instructions for lemon bars with graham cracker crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9×9 inch square baking pan with parchment. Whisk the graham cracker crumbs and sugar together until well combined. Stir in the melted butter. Lightly press the graham crust mixture (using the back of a spoon) into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

While crust is baking, with a hand or stand electric mixer in a large mixing bowl, beat together the softened cream cheese, lemon juice, egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and tablespoon of sugar until smooth. Pour the lemon filling over the hot graham cracker crust, spreading evenly to the edges of the pan. This will help the two layers to adhere together. Lift the pan and gently tap it on the counter to remove any air bubbles.

Bake the lemon bars for about 20 minutes, until the center is still just slightly jiggly. Allow the bars to cool on the counter for 30 minutes, resting on a wire rack. Then refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Lift the bars out of the pan using the parchment paper and transfer them onto a cutting board. I like cutting these into 9 larger squares. Or you could cut them into 16 smaller squares.

Pro tips

Change up the crust! Instead of plain graham cracker crumbs, you could use cinnamon grahams, ginger snaps or shortbread cookies. Just make sure the crumbs measure 1 1/4 cups.

Chill overnight. If you are taking these to a party like a baby shower, picnic or holiday gathering, make these bars the night before so they have plenty of chilling time. These would be great for bake sales too.

Cut neat squares! Make sure to chill these bars for a full three hours. Use a sharp knife and wipe the knife clean between each cut.

Storage directions

Keep leftover lemon bars in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Put the bars in a freezer-safe container and they will keep in the freezer for up to one month.

Kitchen tools

• 9×9 square baking pan similar to what I used for testing this recipe
• Parchment paper for lining the baking pan
• My favorite citrus juicer – making squeezing fresh juice a breeze
• Microplane zester if you want to add some zest to your lemon bars

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