Delicious Baked Lemonade Bars

These baked lemonade bars are absolutely delicious. They’re similar to lemon squares, but different. Some links in this article are affiliate links that may earn me a commission if you purchase through them.

Mister Man and my husband went camping with the Boy Scouts this weekend, so Little Miss and I were left to our own devices. We had plenty of fun, but Little Miss wanted to spend part of our time alone baking something special for the two missing pieces of our family.

Apparently, I’ve already imparted my gift to her that food is a way to show love.

We decided to make lemon bars, but we changed them up. And after tasting them, Little Miss announced that they weren’t lemon bars at all but instead baked lemonade.

I loved that description, so I’m keeping the name for this version of lemon bars. She was proud to help, so she definitely deserves some credit in the naming.

How to Make Baked Lemonade Bars

For the Crust:

Bake the crust first. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Grease the sides only of a 9×13 baking dish. You do not need to grease the bottom; the bars will release without it.

Combine the flour, salt, and 1/2 cup powdered sugar in a bowl. Once it is well mixed, add the butter, cut into chunks.

Make sure the butter is cold, as you want to form dry lumps like streusel, not have it melt and turn into a true dough. Beat on low until you have pea-sized chunks.

If you cut butter into chunks, you can use a mixer to get to this point. Traditionally, you use a pastry cutter to cut in the butter, and that works just as well or better.

But sometimes I like to be lazy, and this recipe works – so long as you cut the butter into chunks before you start.

Pour the mixture into your baking dish. Spread it out into an even layer with your fingers, then gently press the crust to form a smooth surface.

This works with either a glass or a metal baking dish. I prefer the metal ones, but you can use either.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the crust is lightly golden.

Note that if you choose to make this dairy-free and use coconut oil, it doesn’t change color quite the same way it will if you use butter. Don’t go by color in that instance.

Let your crust cool fully to room temperature while you make the filling. Just leave it on a trivet to cool.

For the Filling:

Bring your oven to 325 degrees for the second bake.

Add your eggs to the bowl, and begin to beat them. Once they are incorporated, slowly begin to add the sugar so that it is absorbed as it’s being added.

This will help create a lighter filling. If you add the sugar too fast, it will be denser than what you want.

Once it’s smooth, go ahead and stir in the lemon juice, again adding it slowly while you mix on a lower speed. Add the last 3/4 cup of flour and use a spatula to stir until it is just incorporated.

Pour the filling atop your fully cooled crust.

Personally, when I have a liquid filling like this, I prefer to have my baking dish sitting on the rack in my oven with the rack pulled out and pour it into the crust there, so I don’t have to carry it and potentially spill it.

Bake for 40 minutes until the filling has just started to set at the edges. Check this by gently shaking the pan as it sits in the oven. If it jiggles, but there’s no liquid visible, it’s starting to set.

If it’s fairly solid, it’s completely set and take it out of the oven now. Skip this next step.

If it’s appropriately jiggly, turn your oven off and leave it in for another 20 minutes. Let the residual heat finish the baking.

Remove the baked lemonade from the oven once the filling has fully set. Let it cool to room temperature, then place it in the fridge for 2-3 hours before cutting.

Once it’s chilled, dust it with powdered sugar.

This will store in the fridge for 3-5 days. Be sure to keep it covered so that it doesn’t dry out.

Save this baked lemonade recipe to make again!

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