Lavender Lemon Bars.
These lavender lemon bars are a delish twist on the classic! Traditional lemon bars made with lavender sugar for a perfect floral, sweet hint.
Lavender lemon bars are here for your perfect weekend treat!
And I CANNOT get enough of them. If you love lemon and love that perfect hint of lavender, these are for you!
When I was growing up, my grandma made lemon bars all the time. They were probably one of her signature desserts (that and texas sheet cake!) – and they were the only lemon dessert I would touch. At least, most of the time. Sometimes I would only reach for the chocolate.
I had no interest in anything lemon until I was older; in fact I’m pretty sure that when I was a kid, I was convinced lemon was an “old person” flavor. You know? Let’s just say I’m very glad to be said old person now.
Side note: my kids love lemon things and it makes me so happy!
I missed out on so many delicious lemon options as a kid. Ha.
Anyway – her lemon bars were so good. My mom loved them too. When I found this recipe and started making it a few years ago, I knew it had to be similar. I’ve made them for a few years now and they are always such a hit.
Since I adore the lavender lemon combo, I figured it would work perfectly with these bars. My lavender lemonade is one of my favorite drinks ever! It’s a classic yet unique combination that always just works.
The shortbread crust is lovely. The filling is SO good – this amazing lemon curd that gets crispy and crunchy on top but stays a little saucy in the center. The bars are good at room temperature (but softer) and also right from the fridge (just firmer). They are about as rich and decadent as a lemon bar can get.
I rarely think of lemon desserts being rich and decadent, but these are! You only need a small square to be satisfied. While making them in a 9×13 pan will give you 16 to 20 actual “bar-sized” squares, you could definitely get more smaller squares out of it for serving!
To get the full lavender flavor here, I love to use both dried culinary lavender and just a drop of lavender extract. You guys always ask me where I get the dried lavender. I tend to buy these bags because it gives me so much and it’s culinary grade. It’s perfect and lasts a nice long while.
I also like to add a bunch of fresh lemon zest to my lemon bars. The recipe doesn’t call for this but I find that’s where all the best flavor is. That classic, sweet lemon flavor that is just so, so good. Oh and vanilla extract! I can’t do desserts without it.
Don’t they just look dreamy?!
Lavender Lemon Bars
Lavender Lemon Bars
Ingredients
crust
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
filling
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried culinary lavender
- 4 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon lavender extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter, flour, powdered sugar and vanilla extract until combined. It will be crumbly. Press it into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Bake it for 20 minutes, until slightly set.
- While the crust is baking, whisk together the sugar and dried lavender. You can even do this a few days ahead of time to really flavor the sugar!
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat together the 4 eggs and lemon juice. Beat in the lavender sugar, flour, lemon zest, vanilla and lavender extracts. Beat in the salt until combined. Pour the filling over the crust.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is slightly cracked and set. The inside filling will still be somewhat soft and curd-like! Sprinkle the lemon bars with powdered sugar. Let cool completely before slicing.
- I like to store these in the fridge because they are delicious cold! You can always keep them at room temperature and slice too - they will be softer! Still delish.
- Note: if you don't want to use the dried flowers, you can up the lavender extract to 1/2 teaspoon. If you don't want to use the extract, you can increase the dried flowers by an extra 1/2 teaspoon and also let the lavender sugar sit for a day or two!
Notes
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Mouth watering.
14 Comments on “Lavender Lemon Bars.”
Will be making this soon can i use vegan butter as am dairy free i never had lavender lemon cakes before perfect for my office snacks will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
Your main photo of the lemon lavender bars, has a very calming effect.
I will make these today….Thank you
As soon as I saw the title, I died! Can’t wait to try them soon!
Do you think if I left the sugar/lav sit for a few days, that I could skip the lav extract? I hate to buy the extract, figuring I will hardly ever use it.
yes absolutely!!
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I have Montin lavender syrup that I use to make lavender lattes at home. Do you think I could use that to get the lavender flavor? How much would I use?
i think you could!! i would probably only use 1 tablespoon – only because i’m not sure how the texture would be affected?!
Can’t wait to make these
These taste great but they are very thin. As I was putting the crust down I felt like I needed to double it because I make gooey butter bars like this but decided to go with the recipe. I would either put it in a smaller dish, like 8×8 or double the recipe for a 9×13. Both the lemon layer and the crust where to thin. I used fresh lavender from my garden with no extract and it worked well.
This are delicious! Can someone give me pointers on the best way to remove them from my glass baking dish- it was a struggle. After baking And cooling, I placed the baking dish in the refrigerator overnight. Still really hard to remove. Thanks!
I would use a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The lemon curd is thick enough to not worry about it purely spilling off.
These are delicious but they really stuck to the baking dish. Did anyone else experience the same problem? Could I have used parchment paper?
These turned out SO beautiful and delicious, and I am not a baker! I am very impressed. Thank you so much for sharing this easy, fabulous recipe.
Gonna to make these for my Easter dessert! How many days in advance can they be made?