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These lemon bars begin with a melt in your mouth shortbread crust that’s layered with a sweetly tart lemon filling and a lemony glaze on top!
As much as I’ve always loved traditional lemon bars with powdered sugar dusted across the top and a crisp crust on the bottom, sometimes you just want something different. And these bars? They put classic lemon bars to shame.
Sunburst Lemon Bars are the most amazing lemon bars I’ve ever tasted and I’m so excited to share the recipe with you all.
A reader once told me that the bright flavor is reminiscent of stepping into a burst of sunlight. Dramatic? oh yeah, but these bars are worthy of it.
The Best Lemon Bars
Yes, I did just call these the BEST. This recipe starts with a buttery, flaky shortbread that is so good, I’ll happily eat it plain. To make the shortbread even better, we’re going to top it with a gooey lemon filling that is sweet and tangy and spoon-licking delicious.
Then, the literal icing on the cake is a lemon glaze to take it right over the top. Sunburst Lemon Bars are like no other lemon bar I’ve ever tasted.
The video for this recipe is one of my favorites. Seeing my little boy’s hands in the video and hearing his voice? This is truly one of my favorite things about the work that we do. Also, Nate says if you haven’t tried these bars yet, they really are “perfecto mundo.” With a review like that, how can you resist?
These bars are a gooey sweet twist on the classic, with just enough tang from the lemon juice and zest to balance the sweetness.
We’ve been making these bars for a few years now and every time I make them, I wonder why I waited so long to make them again. As a long-time fan of traditional lemon bars, I will admit now that I haven’t made a single batch of the classic lemon bars since I found this recipe.
I make lots of different dessert bars with fruit filling and while I enjoy them all, from Apple Pie Bars to Pineapple Coconut Bars, Strawberry and Peach Cobblers to Blackberry Coconut Crisps, Sunburst Lemon Bars are near the top of the list of my personal favorites.
I could eat one every day and probably not get sick of them (which is saying something since I don’t usually have much of a sweet tooth).
Gluten Free Lemon Bars
This lemon bar recipe can be made gluten-free and with regular all-purpose flour. My preferred gluten-free flour blend for this recipe is a combination of brown rice flour, potato starch and tapioca starch. I’ve made and loved them both the gluten-free way and the regular way many times.
Gluten-free lemon bars are a great dessert to bring to a party or gathering of any kind even if you can eat gluten. Especially because these bars taste better than any “regular” lemon bar AND the gluten-free folks at the party will want you to be their new best friend when you show up with an incredible dessert that they can enjoy too.
The recipe here has been adapted from and with thanks to So, How’s It Taste? and Pillsbury.
What makes these bars special?
The lemon filling in this recipe is what really makes these bars burst with flavor. I use a more than generous amount of fresh lemon juice and zest to pack each bar with the tart and tangy taste of lemon.
If you don’t like your lemon desserts quite so tart, feel free to reduce the amount of lemon zest and juice in the recipe. I, however, like them just as they are.
The glaze in this lemon bars recipe really sets them apart from the crowd. When the glaze sets, it creates a beautiful layer of pure sweet extra lemony goodness on top of the lemon filling.
If you have any lemon dessert lovers in your life, you MUST make them these lemon bars. With some lemon desserts, I find that the lemon flavor just isn’t strong enough for my liking. If I eat a lemon bar I want to taste the lemon first and foremost.
It just doesn’t get any more citrusy and lemony than Sunburst Lemon Bars, I promise you.
If you love lemon desserts, you’ll want to check out this Lemon Angel Pie, Lemon Crinkle Cookies, and this 5-Minute Lemon Curd. (I’m serious, FIVE minutes to perfect lemon curd. Make it now and you can thank me later!)
These Coconut Lemon Pudding Parfaits and this Blueberry Lemon Shortcake need to be on your list of desserts to try as well. You can check out all of the Gluten-Free Dessert Recipes here!
{originally posted 5/22/2013 – recipe notes and photos updated 2/17/22}
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