These bright and tangy Lemon Crumb Bars offer a punch of citrusy lemon flavor and are topped with cake crumble. Grab a fork because these babies are thick, saucy, and will remind you of an old-fashioned lemon meringue pie sitting on a chewy delicious cookie.
Lately, the lemon desserts have been calling my name. When I was making the filling for my lemon meringue pie I knew I had to find another way to use it. I love being able to make a recipe once but also find other ways to totally repurpose it. Like when I make lemon curd, we spread it on breakfast crepes but I usually make an extra batch to fill cupcakes too.
So technically I used this filling for my pie but then changed up a few things so I could make lemon bars too.
We’ve done similar recipes for turning your favorite pie into dessert bars – try our cherry pie bars, strawberry bars, and blueberry pie bars!
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Why You’ll Love These Lemon Pie Bars
- Easy delicious dessert to make. The ingredients are simple and they are ready in just under 1 hour.
- Feeds a crowd. One batch of lemon pie bars can feed 24 people!
- Perfect for warmer weather. Lemons are so refreshing, so even though they are thicker, they are still light compared to other baking recipes.
🍋 Ingredients:
- Cake Mix – 2 boxes of your favorite brand
- Eggs + egg yolks – this is for the cake mix and the creamy lemon filling
- Milk – whole milk or cream
- Salted butter – unsalted butter is OK to use too just be sure to ad in ½ tsp. of salt
- Sugar – granulated sugar and powdered sugar
- Cornstarch – helps thicken the creamy filling
- Vegetable oil – this is for the delicious cake mix
- Lemon – fresh lemon zest and fresh lemon juice
For a full list of ingredients and their measurements, 📋 please view my printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Substitutions and Variations
- Instead of vanilla cake mix, you could use white, yellow, or lemon cake mix.
- You can use bottled lemon juice if you don’t have any fresh lemons.
- To make a lemon glaze for these creamy lemon bars: use lemon juice instead of the milk. If you want to keep the milk for the glaze, you can add 1-2 drops of lemon oil for an extra punch of flavor.
🔪 Instructions:
PREP: Grease bottom of a pan, 9×13, with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Step 1: Beat together the cake mixes, eggs, and oil in a medium bowl by hand or with an (electric) stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
Step 2: Set aside half of the mixture for later and press half of the mixture into the prepped baking dish.
Step 3: Bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown.
Step 4: Stir together the sugar, water, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the large egg yolks.
Step 5: Bring the lemon curd filling to a simmer over low heat whisking constantly. Cook until it’s thick and boils on low for at least 1 minute.
Step 6: Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter.
Step 7: Pour the filling over the crust of the bars.
Step 8: Sprinkle the reserved crumble mixture from earlier in clumps over the filling, this is your crumb topping.
Step 9: Place the lemon squares bake in the oven to bake for 15 to 20 minutes or just until the tops begin to brown. Allow for the bars to cool completely to room temperature.
Step 10: In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and powdered sugar to make a glaze.
Step 11: Pour over top of the lemon filling. Cut into squares with a sharp knife and serve.
GARNISH/SLICE/SERVE: Serve solo or with a small bowl of fresh fruit or ice cream!
- For a thinner filling and sturdier creamy lemon crumb bars: use half of the lemon pie filling.
- For a more tart lemon filling: use Eureka lemons
- To make a sweeter, mellow filling: use Meyer lemons
- If you want to use up the leftover egg whites, make my lemon meringue pie!
Fun Fact
Egyptians once believed that eating lemons offered protection from several forms of poison.
Recipe FAQs
You could use a graham cracker crust for the lemon bars, except there wouldn’t be a crumble topping. If you choose to try this route, I’d suggest to also sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on top. For this, you could reduce the cooking time and dust with powdered sugar. For more traditional lemon bars you may also want to try a shortbread crust.
How do you cut creamy lemon crumble bars cleanly?
You can store on the counter in an airtight container or with plastic wrap for 2-3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.
More Recipes for LEMON LOVERS
If you tried this Lemon Crumb Bar Recipe or any other new recipes on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below.
Lemon Crumb Bars
Ingredients
- 2 packages vanilla cake mix
- 2 large eggs
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 1 ½ cups water
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons whole milk or cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat together the cake mixes, eggs, and vegetable oil. Beat with a hand (or stand) mixer until combined. The mixture will be thick and crumbly.
- Remove half of the mixture and set aside. Press the remaining dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven.
- Meanwhile, prepare the lemon pie filling. In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar, cornstarch, and water. Add egg yolks and whisk in until mixture is combined.
- Turn on the stovetop and bring the mixture to a simmer, cooking over low to medium low heat and whisking constantly.
- Cook until mixture has thickened and comes to a low boil for at least 1 minute.
- Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in lemon zest, lemon juice, and the butter. Whisk until combined.
- Pour the lemon pie filling over the pre-baked bar base.
- Sprinkle the reserved dough in clumps over the top of the lemon pie filling.
- Return the baking dish to the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes longer, until the top of the bars is just beginning to brown.
- Cool bars completely.
- Whisk together powdered sugar and enough milk to make a sugar glaze. You can use lemon juice instead of the milk to add some additional lemon flavor. Drizzle over the top of the cooled lemon pie bars.
- Cut into bars and serve with plates and forks.
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Notes
- For a thinner filling and sturdier cookie bar: use half of the lemon pie filling.
- Instead of vanilla cake mix, you could use white, yellow, or lemon cake mix.
- To make a lemon glaze: use lemon juice instead of the milk. If you want to keep the milk for the glaze, you can add 1-2 drops of lemon oil for an extra punch of flavor.
- For a more tart lemon pie filling: use Eureka lemons
- To make a sweeter, mellow filling: use Meyer lemons
- If you want to use up the leftover egg whites, make my lemon meringue pie!
- Store on the counter for 2-3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.
Nutrition
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