Celebrate the holiday season with these delicious and easy-to-make Lemon Dream Bars. With a creamy filling, buttery shortbread crust, and lemon frosting, these bars are the perfect treat for any festive occasion or as a sweet treat for yourself!
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Growing up, I remember my mom putting together Holiday goodie trays to share each year. Some new additions were thrown in there, but we could always count on our favorites. One of those favorites were these Christmas Lemon Bars. With the coconut, nuts, and lemon combination, they were a nice change from the other classic recipes like Buckeye Balls, Fantasy Fudge, and Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies.
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Ingredients needed for these Lemon Dream Bars:
Below is a brief overview of each ingredient needed. To see printable recipe card with exact amounts, scroll to the bottom of this post.
- Butter– unsalted butter is my go to for this recipe since salt is being added as well.
- Flour– you’ll want to use all purpose flour for this dream bar recipe.
- Sugar– this adds the perfect amount of sweetness throughout each and every bite.
- Eggs– you’ll need 2 large eggs, letting them get to room temperature is best as this allows them to combine into the mixture easier.
- Brown Sugar– light is best, packed.
- Coconut– look for the shredded coconut bags found at your local grocery store.
- Nuts– I use chopped pecans, however, chopped walnuts work great too.
- Salt– this combines with the baking powder to give the bars their texture and rise.
- Baking Powder– ensure freshness by changing your baking powder out every 6 months.
- Vanilla Extract– opt for pure vanilla extract versus imitation.
- Lemon Rind– grate the rind off fresh lemons. You’ll only need one lemon.
- Lemon Juice– fresh is best, however, bottled lemon juice works too.
- Powdered Sugar– this will be used to sweeten the lemon frosting for the topping. Confectioners sugar is the perfect addition.
How to prepare:
- Cut butter into the flour and sugar using a pastry blender or two knives. Continue until fine.
- Press mixture firmly into the bottom of an ungreased 8 x 8 baking pan.
- Place in a preheated oven, 350 degrees, for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the eggs, brown sugar, coconut, nuts, salt, baking powder, and vanilla extract.
- Spread mixture onto the partially baked crust evenly.
- Place pan back into oven (350) for 25-30 minutes.
- While bars are cooking, whisk the lemon zest, lemon juice, and powdered sugar together in a small bowl.
- Once bars are done, remove from oven and let bars cool for about five minutes. Frost with the lemon glaze.
- Allow to cool completely prior to cutting. Enjoy!
Tips for Success
- The bars will slice best when cut with a warm knife. Run under hot water in between cuts and wipe it with a paper towel for clean slices.
- Recipe can be doubled and made in a 9×13 baking dish. Just adjust bake times as necessary.
- Although chopped pecans are my favorite in this dream bars recipe, you can also use chopped walnuts.
Whether you make these for the Holidays, make these for a party, or just to enjoy as a delicious sweet treat any time of the year; these flavor packed bars are definitely a must try!
Storing Lemon Dream Bars
- Allow the bars to cool completely before placing in an airtight container. These bars are good at room temperature for about 4 days.
- If placed in the fridge, they will be good for about 1-2 weeks.
- To freeze, cut bars into desired size and place parchment paper in between layers to prevent sticking together. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.
More Christmas Recipes You’ll Love
- Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark
- Old Fashioned Peanut Brittle
- Peppermint Kiss Sugar Cookies
- Christmas Cornflake Brittle
- Kitchen Sink Christmas Cookies
- Holiday Puppy Chow
- Pecan Caramel Clusters
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Holiday Lemon Dream Bars
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup butter
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup coconut *shredded
- ½ cup nuts *chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoon lemon rind *grated
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Cut butter into the flour and sugar using a pastry blender or two knives. Continue until fine.
- Press mixture firmly into the bottom of an ungreased 8 x 8 baking pan.
- Bake in a preheated oven, 350 degrees, for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the eggs, brown sugar, coconut, nuts, salt, baking powder, and vanilla.
- Spread mixture onto the baked crust evenly.
- Place pan back into oven (350) and bake for 25-30 minutes.
- While bars are baking, combine the lemon rind, lemon juice, and powdered sugar together in a small bowl.
- Once bars are done, remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Frost and cool completely before cutting and serving!
Beth says
In the directions, do you mean cut the butter into the “flour” and sugar?
Kristin says
OOPS!!! Thanks for catching that, I am correcting now!!