When Andrea Kaufman, The Kitchn’s social media manager, penned an entire love letter to Joanna Gaines’ lemon bar recipe I tucked it away, knowing I’d eventually come back to it. As a full-time food writer, I do this with a lot of recipes — I have an ever-growing list of things I want to test in the kitchen.
It’s been a while since I’ve thought about these beloved lemon bars, but the recipe recently resurfaced on my radar when my editor asked me to give it a try and see if it’s actually as delicious as it looks.
I happened to be hosting my mom around this time (she adores lemon bars), so finally trying Gaines’ recipe felt serendipitous. I did a quick scan of the recipe. With Gaines’ recipe, I noticed the crust was a bit simple, relying mainly on flour, sugar, and butter. I’ll be honest: I had some hesitations about whether the shortbread would be flavorful enough. Still, I figured they were worth testing. Read on to see how they stacked up in the end.
How to Make Joanna Gaines’ Favorite Lemon Bars
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Coat a 9×13-inch glass baking dish with nonstick spray or grease it with butter.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, melted salted butter, powdered sugar, and salt. Gently stir the mixture with a fork until it comes together, then use your fingers to press it evenly into the prepared pan.
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the edges of the crust are very lightly browned. While the crust bakes, whisk together granulated sugar, eggs, and lemon juice in a medium bowl.
When the crust is finished baking, pour the lemon mixture over the hot crust and return the dish to the oven. Bake for another 30 minutes. About halfway through, loosely place a piece of foil over the top to prevent the bars from browning too much.
Once the lemon bars are done, remove them from the oven, let them cool, and then dust the top with powdered sugar. When it’s time to serve, cut them into 15 rectangles or 30 squares.
Baker’s tip: The bars are much easier to cut when they’re fully cooled.
My Honest Review of Joanna Gaines’ Favorite Lemon Bars
When I first reviewed the ingredients in Gaines’ recipe, my main hesitation was that the shortbread might be underwhelming in terms of flavor, but I was definitely wrong. The crust turned out buttery, with a balanced sweetness from the powdered sugar that wasn’t overbearing — especially because the curd is so rich. I couldn’t get over how crumbly it was. It’s delicate, but not so much that it falls apart when you lift each bar.
My mom loved the edge pieces most; she noted how the crust developed a beautiful caramelization that added another layer of texture to the dessert. I personally adored the curd. It was zesty without being too sour, and incredibly creamy. I ate the bars warm (because I was too impatient to wait!) and chilled, and they were delicious either way. They’re easier to cut when cold, so I’d definitely recommend chilling them before slicing.
Compared to other lemon bar recipes I’ve tried, I appreciated the simplicity of Gaines’ version. It took just a few minutes to mix the shortbread dough, and even less time to whisk together the lemon curd batter. The only part that requires patience is letting them chill. If you make them ahead of time, though, you can bake them in about an hour and pop them in the fridge overnight. They’ll be ready to go the next day.
Tips for Making Joanna Gaines’ Favorite Lemon Bars
- Spruce up the crust. The recipe starts with a simple shortbread base, but you can upgrade the flavor by mixing in a dash of vanilla bean, a bit of grated cardamom, or some dried lavender.
- Experiment with other citrusy fruits. Swap the lemon in the curd mixture for another zesty fruit like lime, grapefruit, or blood orange, to explore new flavor riffs.
- Dust with powdered sugar. As the curd bakes, it may develop a thin film on top. To cover it up, use a sifter to dust powdered sugar over the surface for that snow-like finish.