Lemon Glazed Lemon Bars From a Cake Mix
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Lemon Glazed Lemon Bars from a cake mix are an easy dessert that will have your taste buds singing! These soft, tangy lemon bars are drenched in a 2 ingredient lemon glaze and sprinkled with fresh lemon zest for a big pop of citrus flavor!
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I am back again with another cake mix dessert and I am not mad about it! I love to keep a few cake mixes in my pantry for all sorts of easy dessert recipes:
- Poke Cakes – lemon, lime, raspberry, chocolate …
- Cookie Bars – don’t miss the frosting hack!
- Cookies – chocolate, pumpkin and triple strawberry!
- Cookie Cups – red velvet, pink lemonade and key lime
- Dessert Dips – Carrot Cake, Birthday Cake & German Chocolate to name a few
- Dump Cakes – apple, lemon lime, classic cherry & pineapple and more!
Ingredients
- lemon cake mix
- eggs
- butter
- powdered sugar
- fresh lemon juice and zest
Since I normally have eggs and oil or butter in my kitchen, I can pull off a dessert in no time! These lemon bars are the newest addition to my cake mix dessert repertoire (and promise of no-fuss food) and they are a simple stunner for sure!
Instructions
- Mix the lemon cake mix, eggs and butter in a large bowl, then press the cake mixture dough into a 9×13 baking dish lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with cooking spray.
- While it bakes up in the oven, zest and juice a lemon. Add the juice to the powdered sugar and mix up the 2 ingredient lemon glaze.
- Once the lemon bars are baked and cooled, cut them into squares, pour the lemon glaze over the top and add a sprinkle of lemon zest for a pop of fresh lemon flavor.
Quick Presentation Tip: Since the shape of dough from a cake mix is usually a little uneven around the edges of the pan (the dough is not liquid like a batter so unless you are meticulous, the edges of these cookie bars aren’t normally straight), I use a sharp knife to cut off just the very edge of the crust before cutting them into squares. Those little bits are perfect for dipping in any leftover glaze.
Helpful equipment
Here are a few tools and products that I used for these Lemon Glazed Lemon Bars from a Cake mix (affiliate links help support this blog without any additional cost to you!)
- Microplane/zester – this is great for zesting citrus, shaving chocolate or grating nutmeg
- Parchment sheets – these are truly one of my favorite products in the kitchen! Perfect for baking, roasting veggies and fish and to place under treats that are dipped or drizzled with chocolate
- A sturdy whisk – this is perfect for whisking the lemon glaze to break up the powdered sugar and get a smooth, luscious glaze
If you try this recipe, please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!
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Lemon Glazed Lemon Bars from a Cake Mix
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 20 1x
Description
Lemon Glazed Lemon Bars from a Cake Mix are a simple lemon dessert that will have your taste buds singing! These soft, tangy lemon bars are drenched in a 2 ingredient lemon glaze and sprinkled with fresh lemon zest for a big pop of citrus flavor!
Ingredients
- 1 15.25 oz lemon cake mix
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup softened butter (1 stick)
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1–2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- zest from 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Line a 9×13 baking/cake pan with foil (allow the edge of the foil to extend past the ends of the pan to create ‘handles’ that make removal of the cookie bars easy) and spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix, eggs and softened butter until thoroughly combined. The batter will be thick and a bit sticky.
- Use a spatula to spread/press the batter evenly in the lined 9×13 pan.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the lemon bars are baked through and lightly browned.
- Allow the baked lemon dough to cool and then use the foil ‘handles’ to gently lift the bars onto a flat surface like a large cutting board or baking sheet.
- Cut into 15 -20 squares depending on the size of bars you prefer.
- While the bars are cooling, zest the lemon then squeeze 1/2 the lemon for the fresh lemon juice for the glaze.
- Prepare the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Add additional powdered sugar or lemon juice as needed until the glaze is thin enough to drizzle over the bars.
- Drizzle lemon bars with lemon glaze and sprinkle with lemon zest.
Notes
Store in an air tight container up to 3 days at room temperature.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: dessert
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 126
- Sugar: 1.7 g
- Sodium: 191.1 mg
- Fat: 5.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 18.5 g
- Protein: 1.6 g
- Cholesterol: 19 mg
Deee-licious/!!
so glad you liked them Becky!
This was quick, simple and really delicious! Great last minute dessert. Came out perfect and the glaze was amazing. Everyone had seconds!!
Quick and easy dessert. I nut in extra zest in the batter and it came out perfect. Will definitely make again!
So easy! This is a new favorite!
This was a fave years ago and then I lost my recipe. I am so happy to have found your site so I can include this in my “book of favorite recipes.” Results: easy prep + lemony = delicliousness!
So glad you liked it Soni and happy it is a favorite of yours!
Do you have to line pan with foil? Can I just spray pan with Pam?
you can use Pam if you want
Hi. Do you think I can use parchment paper instead of foil?
Yum! Kids love it. I liked it too but definitely adding some zest to the batter next time too! My glaze was much uglier than your lovely photo so I need to work on my technique for sure:). Extra powdered sugar hid it well, though. Definitely nothing like a classic lemon bar but sort of like a lemony cake bar. YUM.
Unsalted or salted butter?
Could I add frozen blueberries to this? Would that change any measurements?
I made these and took them to a party. They did not taste very good to me, and I was embarrassed to bring them. I’m sorry I cannot recommend this recipe.