The Best Lemon Bars Made with Fresh Flour

Michelle — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 16:32:42 +0000

Lemon desserts are always a hit in my house, but these delicious Lemon Bars, made with fresh milled einkorn flour and fresh squeezed lemons are on the top of the list.

And I love using a deeply delicious all-natural sugar in these bars to give the lemon flavor a perfect tartness.

Lemon Bars With Fresh Flour

INGREDIENTS

2 ½ cups (350 g) einkorn flour, divided

1 cup butter, cubed

2 ½ cups sugar, divided (I use this sugar; see notes)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon salt

6 eggs

1 cup lemon juice

Confectioner’s sugar (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 and line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper.
Add butter, ½ cup of the sugar, vanilla extract, and salt to mixing bowl and combine. Remove 6 TB of flour and set aside. Add the rest of the flour to your mixing bowl and mix again.
Press the dough into your prepared pan. No need for it to be “pretty” (the dough will be thick and hard to spread out), but try to get it spread out evenly.
Bake until the edges are brown, about 20 minutes.
While the crust is baking, mix your filling ingredients: Mix the remaining 2 cups of sugar and 6 TB of flour. Whisk in eggs and lemon juice.
After removing crust from the oven, pour the lemon filling over the crust and place your pan back in the oven for another 20 minutes, or until the center is set.
Let cool to room temperature before serving (I know, it’s hard. I like most desserts nice and warm, but this one has to sit and cool). I like to dust with confectioners sugar before serving.

Notes about baking Lemon Bars with fresh einkorn flour

Because I use coconut sugar for all the sugar in this recipe, it doesn’t turn out as “pretty” as if I used lighter-colored cane sugar. If I did, you would notice a color difference in the crust and the filling and the filling would be a much brighter yellow color. But I love the flavor of the earthier coconut sugar in this recipe. (By the way, coconut sugar is made from nectar from the coconut tree blooms… it’s delicious and tastes nothing like coconut.) It really gives the lemon a perfect tartness.
Don’t be tempted to scrimp on the sugar in this recipe. The sugar works in tandem with the eggs to make the filling set well. If you scrimp on your sugar, your filling will be watery. (But using coconut sugar reduces the sweetness and makes your bars slightly more tart tasting.)
Feel free to use store-bought lemon juice for this recipe, but if you can get your hands on fresh lemons, the flavor is amazing… you’ll definitely be glad you did. My lemon tree was in full production mode this month, so these lemon bars were made with just-picked fresh-squeezed lemon juice on the coldest day in January in New England. Needless to say, they were extra delicious.

Lemon Bars with Fresh Flour

Ingredients

2 ½ cups 250 g einkorn flour, divided
1 cup butter cubed
2 ½ cups sugar divided
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
6 large eggs
1 cup lemon juice about 4 lemons
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 and line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper.
Add butter, ½ cup of the sugar, vanilla extract, and salt to mixing bowl and combine. Remove 6 TB of flour and set aside. Add the rest of the flour to your mixing bowl and mix again.
Press the dough into your prepared pan. No need for it to be “pretty” (the dough will be thick and hard to spread out), but try to get it spread out evenly.
Bake until the edges are brown, about 20 minutes.
While the crust is baking, mix your filling ingredients: Mix the remaining 2 cups of sugar and 6 TB of flour. Whisk in eggs and lemon juice.
After removing crust from the oven, pour the lemon filling over the crust and place your pan back in the oven for another 20 minutes, or until the center is set.
Let cool to room temperature before serving (I know, it’s hard. I like most desserts nice and warm, but this one has to sit and cool). I like to dust with confectioners sugar before serving.

Notes

Because I use coconut sugar for all the sugar in this recipe, it doesn’t turn out as “pretty” as if I used lighter-colored cane sugar. If I did, you would notice a color difference in the crust and the filling and the filling would be a much brighter yellow color. But I love the flavor of the earthier coconut sugar in this recipe. It really gives the lemon a perfect tartness.
Don’t be tempted to scrimp on the sugar in this recipe. The sugar works in tandem with the eggs to make the filling set well. If you scrimp on your sugar, your filling will be watery. (But using coconut sugar reduces the sweetness and makes your bars slightly more tart tasting.)
Feel free to use store-bought lemon juice for this recipe, but if you can get your hands on fresh lemons, the flavor is amazing… you’ll definitely be glad you did.