Lightened-up creamy lemon goodness on a graham cracker crust! If you love tart and tangy lemon flavor and creamy, dreamy desserts, you will love these Greek yogurt lemon bars. With only 8 ingredients, these bars are perfectly balanced—not too sweet—allowing the bright, bold lemon flavor to take center stage.
I originally published this recipe in 2016. I have since updated it with new photos, and adjusted the recipe to make a slightly thicker, sturdier crust.
Today I’m sharing an updated version of my recipe for tart and tangy Greek yogurt lemon bars. This recipe makes 12 servings, each packed with 4.7g of protein. This is a fabulous choice if you’re craving real, fresh flavor and prefer a lighter dessert option.
One reader, Mary, commented: “I can’t keep these on the tray!!! I’ll set them out, and the room usually gets quiet because everyone immediately shoves these in their faces. Even before I reveal that they’re low fat, low sugar, low calorie, and low carb! And there’s always someone who wants the recipe. Good thing I have it bookmarked! ★★★★★”
And another reader, Turi, commented: “Wow!! I was totally hankering for lemony goodness—and in making these bars, it’s exactly what I got! Yummy, complete success, everyone loved them, I especially loved the natural lemon flavor and lower sugar… Most lemon stuff, to me, is overpoweringly sweet, and this was PERFECTO!! ★★★★★“
Here’s Why You’ll Love Them, Too:
- A lightened-up dessert with only 158 calories per serving, plus 4.7g of protein
- Perfect for lemon lovers who like their treats tart and not overly sweet
- Made with just 8 simple ingredients
- Extra creamy from the Greek yogurt
- Uses fresh lemon for flavor, nothing artificial. Swap the lemon for lime if you’d prefer!
- Great make-ahead dessert: the bars have to chill after baking, so this is a great recipe to make the day before you plan to serve it
Recipe Snapshot
Flavor: The first thing to know is that these Greek yogurt lemon bars are not super sweet. I reduced the sugar from my traditional lemon bar recipe to just 1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon for the entire pan. What you’ll really taste is that tart lemon flavor and tangy Greek yogurt.
Texture: The texture of the lemon cream portion of these bars is creamier than typical lemon cheesecake bars. The cream cheese in the recipe serves to help the bars set up, but it’s not as sturdy or solid as cheesecake. We’re using less cream cheese and more yogurt and egg here, so the result is a light and creamy lemon filling that falls, on the dessert density scale, somewhere between lemon pudding or yogurt and no-bake cheesecake.
Start With an Easy 3-Ingredient Crust
Like a classic graham cracker crust, but with less butter and sugar. As a result, the crust is a tiny bit crumblier, but you can still easily hold and bite the bars!
I’ve made this crust with melted coconut oil and it’s still perfection. You want to use a fat that is solid at room temperature because it helps keep the crust intact. So butter or coconut oil, your choice. Melt and mix with the graham cracker crumbs and a Tablespoon of sugar.
Some helpful crust tips:
- Use a food processor or blender to grind 8 full-sheet graham crackers into crumbs.
- Press into your lined pan just until it’s no longer crumbly. Do not pack down too hard.
- Here’s how I like to line square baking pans. So easy!
- Pre-bake the crust for 8 minutes to give it a head start before topping with the filling.
Make the Creamy Lemon Filling
Let’s talk about that lusciously creamy lemon filling. It’s a total breeze, made from only 6 simple ingredients:
- Reduced-Fat Cream Cheese: The filling won’t appropriately set without brick-style cream cheese—the kind that comes in a block, not the spreadable kind in a tub. I use reduced-fat cream cheese in these bars.
- Nonfat Greek Yogurt: Make sure you are using plain Greek yogurt. You need thick yogurt for today’s lemon bars, or, again, the filling won’t set. I always use nonfat Greek yogurt for these bars, and it’s plenty creamy, but you can use 2% Greek yogurt if you wish.
- Eggs + Extra Yolk: These provide the bars with necessary structure, as well as some richness.
- Lemons: Zest the lemon before juicing it—much easier than the other way around!
- Sugar: Just a scant 1/3 cup of granulated sugar is needed to take this tart lemon filling from mouth-puckering to mouth-watering. I do not recommend honey, maple syrup, or other sugar alternatives. I haven’t had great results with coconut sugar, either. Feel free to test some things out but, again, regular sugar is the best choice for these.
- Vanilla: The other flavor the filling needs to carry it into cheesecake/dessert territory.
A handheld or stand mixer makes quick work of bringing the filling together.
Expect a thin filling batter—more liquid-y than a typical cheesecake batter—since we’re using less cream cheese and more yogurt and egg. Make sure you pour it over the crust while the crust is still warm. This will help the filling adhere to the crust a little better.
You’ll likely see some air bubbles on the surface. The batter is very thin, so that’s normal.
Bake until the middle is no longer super wobbly. A little jiggle is ok, because the Greek yogurt lemon bars will continue to set up as they chill in the refrigerator. So you don’t need to bake them until the center is completely solid! In fact, over-baking can cause the surface to crack.
How to Cut Neat Squares
Like cheesecake, today’s bars need to be refrigerated before slicing. If you cut the bars into squares too early, they’ll completely fall apart. If I’m serving these at a party or event, I prepare them the night before just so I know they’ll cool and chill long enough to yield neat squares.
Lift the bars out of the pan by holding the edges of the parchment paper, and transfer the whole thing to a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to slice the bars, and wipe the knife clean with a paper towel between each cut.
Serve plain or with some lemon slices and/or fresh berries. They’d also be delicious topped with a drizzle of raspberry sauce!
And if you like these bars, you’ll love this Greek yogurt fruit tart, too.
Greek Yogurt Lemon Bars
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours, 55 minutes
Yield: 12 bars
Category: Dessert
Method: Baking
Cuisine: American
Description
If you love tart and tangy lemon flavor and creamy, dreamy desserts, you will love these lightened-up Greek yogurt lemon bars. With only 8 ingredients, these bars are perfectly balanced—not too sweet—allowing the bright, bold lemon flavor to take center stage.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F (149°C). Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on 2 sides to easily lift the bars out of the pan before cutting. Set aside.
- Make the crust: In a medium bowl, whisk the graham cracker crumbs and sugar together. Add the melted butter and stir until combined. Press evenly into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
- Make the filling: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until completely smooth, about 1 minute. Add yogurt and beat on medium-high speed until completely combined. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula and beat again as needed to combine. Beat in the eggs and egg yolk. Once combined, add the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract and beat until everything is combined and no lumps remain. Filling is thin. Pour filling into the crust—it’s ok if the crust is still slightly warm.
- Bake for 34–38 minutes or until the middle is no longer wobbly. A little jiggle is ok—the bars will continue to set up as they chill in the refrigerator, so you don’t need to bake them until the center is perfectly solidified. Don’t over-bake these bars, or the surface may crack.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool for 1 hour, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 3–4 hours or even overnight.
- Once chilled, lift the bars out of the pan using the parchment overhang on the sides and cut into bars. For neat bars, I use a very sharp knife and wipe it clean with a paper towel after each cut.
- Cover and store leftover bars in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare the bars 1-3 days in advance and store covered tightly in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Bars can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 8-inch Square Pan | Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowl | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack | Citrus Juicer | Citrus Zester
- Eggs: You will need 2 large eggs plus an additional egg yolk.
- Lime Bars: Instead of lemon juice and lemon zest, try lime juice and lime zest for a tangy lime bar instead.
- Room-Temperature Ingredients: Room-temperature dairy and eggs mix easily and more evenly. I always recommend room temperature, especially cream cheese, when making these types of bars.
- Update in 2025: To ensure the crust is substantial enough AND holds together, I slightly increased the graham cracker crumbs from 3/4 cup to 1 cup, and added 1 Tablespoon of sugar.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bar
- Calories: 158
- Sugar: 10.7 g
- Sodium: 136.1 mg
- Fat: 8.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 16.8 g
- Protein: 4.7 g
- Cholesterol: 64 mg
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