Easy Lemon Bars with Cake Mix

Easy lemon bars with cake mix recipe you’ll love! Nobody will know these weren’t homemade. A boxed cake mix recipe makes the sugar cookie crust + a jar of lemon curd for this tasty dessert treat.

Cake Mix Lemon Bars Recipe

Ok so y’ll know how obsessed I am with easy cake mix hacks. True that. This is just one of many where you can use a boxed mix to make something totally different from cake or cupcakes. I mean that is okay but kinda’ boring right?? Now THIS one gives you a ton of opportunities to swap things up with not just lemon but all the things…..

Use a “plain” boxed flavor or homemade yellow cake mix flavor for the crust below or give it a tweak by using strawberry or in this case lemon to intensify the flavors! There are other types of filling you can choose from too. So far I’ve found raspberry, lime and orange beyond this one. That means more duos you can create if you have a group coming over.

Ingredients

• 1 box dry cake mix – yellow, white or lemon cake mix is ideal, 15.25 oz
• Egg added at room temperature ideally
• Butter melted
• You can make lemon curd fresh or use 1 jar lemon flavor curd 13 oz
• 1/4 c powdered sugar is optional for the top to look pretty

Equipment

You’re going to need a 9×13″ baking dish so the thickness is just right and lining it with parchment paper makes it a lot easier to serve. If you just use non stick cooking spray your cake mix lemon squares won’t be as pretty.

Substitutions

If you wanted to make homemade curd for the filling instead of bottled you could do that for sure too, we are talking about easy this time though. For a dairy free option, use vegan plant based butter sticks instead.

Now the above is going to make your sugar cookie pie crust. You can use this as the base for ALL sorts of baked goods beyond this one like our pumpkin pie sheet cake and more. With butter and an egg it creates a dough you can spread and mold into whatever shape of pan you have. A bit of fresh lemon zest on top is great if you have fresh fruit with you.

How to Make Lemon Bars with Cake Mix

• Preheat your oven before you add anything at all.
• In a large bowl stir together ingredients until you get a thick batter mixture.
• Press the batter evenly into the bottom of a 9×12 pan. I like to line it with parchment paper so you can lift it out easily when done.
• Spread filling over the top, you can use the lemon curd or a can of lemon pie filling on top.
• Bake until the edges are slightly brown and firm to the touch. 
• Remove and let cool completely before you sprinkle some powdered sugar on top and serve with ice cream.

Baking Tips

If you made a homemade filling you would need to make that separately and make sure it was at room temperature before adding on top of the bottom layer.

Most of the time this lemon bar recipe does not last beyond the first sitting. I make it when others are visiting so 12 or so pieces works out quite well. If you cut them smaller you could certainly get 24 pieces out of it.

What else can be made from lemon cake mix?

This is a great one!! Creating a sort of shortbread pie crust and spreading pie filling or curd on the top to create a bar once cooled is a fun new recipe with boxed mix. If you have never done it yet you can actually make other treats with it too like our or lemon crinkle cookies which are fun!

How to save leftovers

If you do have leftovers you should keep them in a sealed container or wrapped in foil and in the fridge. Enjoy within 7 days but 1-2 days later is ideal as they will begin to dry out over time in the cold air.

Frequently Asked Questions