Sourdough Lemon Bars

These lemon bars are sweet and tangy with a soft and buttery sourdough shortbread crust. They are quick and easy to make and are a perfect spring or summer dessert!

Lemon desserts are so yummy! They are light, refreshing, and perfect for spring and summer. These lemon bars are one of our family favorites, and are always loved by everyone. They are great for family gatherings, barbeques, bridal showers, and baby showers.

These lemon bars come together by first making a simple shortbread crust that is then topped with a rich yellow lemon custard filling and garnished with a sprinkling of powdered sugar. These bars are a beautiful dessert to serve and so easy to make!

This recipe uses sourdough starter, either active or discard, in both the crust and the filling. It adds depth of flavor and pairs wonderfully with lemon! Plus, it’s a great way to use your sourdough discard! Even if you are a beginner to sourdough you can totally make these bars. They are simple and easy and taste so good!

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

Easy – this recipe is super easy! The steps are very simple yet it looks beautiful and is so tasty!

Fresh and Perfectly Sweet – using fresh lemon juice in these bars really makes them so refreshing! There is just the right amount of sweet to balance out the tart in the lemons.

Simple Ingredients – this recipe uses very basic ingredients that you most likely already have in your pantry.

Ingredients

Flour – organic all purpose flour. You may substitute whole wheat or freshly milled flour.

Sourdough starter – active starter or discard

Butter – for the soft shortbread crust.

Sugar – I use organic cane sugar

Eggs – this recipe uses a lot of eggs in the filling. They are what gives the bars a custard like texture.

Lemons – Between 7-9 lemons depending on how big and juicy they are. You will use the freshly squeezed lemon juice and the zest from one of them.

Vanilla extract – pure vanilla extract or homemade!

Salt – just a tad in the crust. I use pink himalayan salt.

Step-by-step instructions (with pictures!) can be found below, followed by a recipe card with exact measurements.

How to Make Sourdough Lemon Bars

How to make the sourdough shortbread crust:

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325°. Line a 9×13 glass pan with parchment paper making sure that it overhangs on the sides. This will make it able to be lifted out of the pan for easier cutting. Set the pan aside.

Step 2: Melt the butter (3/4 cup) in a small saucepan over low/medium heat. While the butter is melting, whisk together the all-purpose flour (2 cups), cane sugar (1/2 cup), and salt (1/2 tsp) in a medium sized bowl.

Step 3: Add the melted butter, sourdough starter (1/2 cup), and vanilla extract (2 tsp). Stir with a fork until the mixture is completely combined.

Step 4: Press the shortbread dough into the parchment paper lined baking dish, spreading it out to the edges. Bake at 325° for 20- 25 minutes until it is just lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven. Set aside while you make the filling.

How to make the lemon custard filling:

Step 5: Zest one of the lemons till you have 2 tsp. of fresh lemon zest. Set the lemon zest aside.

Step 6: Juice the zested lemon and as many other lemons you need to until you have 1 cup worth of lemon juice. Set the lemon juice aside.

Step 7: In a large bowl whisk together the cane sugar (1 1/2 cups) and flour (1/4 cup). Add the fresh lemon juice (1 cup), lemon zest (2 tsp), sourdough starter (1/4 cup), and eggs (6). Whisk until completely combined.

Step 8: Prick the shortbread all over with a fork not poking all the way through but just enough to help the filling to stick to the crust. Pour the lemon filling into the crust.

Step 9: Return the pan to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the middle no longer jiggles when you shake the pan. Remove the pan from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Once the bars have cooled to room temperature transfer them to the fridge to cool completely. Chill well before serving, at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

How to Serve

Make sure the bars are completely cooled before serving. Dust the top of the bars with powdered sugar if desired. Using a sharp knife slice the bars into 24 equally sized squares. For a super clean and smooth cut, wipe the knife clean between each cut. Garnish each bar with a fresh lemon slice if desired.

How to Store

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. If frozen thaw completely at room temperature or in the fridge before serving.

Recipe FAQs

More Delicious Recipes from Our Kitchen

• Sourdough Discard Strawberry Shortcake Cake
• Sourdough Molasses Cookies
• Orange Cream Cold Foam

If you’ve made these sourdough lemon bars I would love if you left a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below 🙂 Thank you for visiting!