3-Ingredient Lemon Bars
These Easy Lemon Crumble Bars only have 3 ingredients! This summertime dessert recipe only needs cake mix, butter and lemon pie filling!
Easy Lemon Crumble Bars
These Easy Lemon Crumble Bars are a perfect, fast, lemony dessert! Now, I will say, if you are expecting these to be like a traditional lemon bar – they are not. These are softer and don’t have a hard solid base like a traditional lemon bar since these are just made with a cake mix. They will give you that lemon bar flavor though!
Saw this recipe on Pinterest and knew I had to try it. Thanks so much – they were so easy and tasty and my little girl was able to help make them! Loved the texture of these too!
– Jessica
Ingredients Needed: (See Recipe Card Below For The Full Recipe)
- yellow cake mix – try to get the larger boxes of cake mix like Pillsbury or Duncan Hines. As of writing this, they are still 15.25 ounce and Betty Crock has now gone to 13.25 ounces (you can see in my ingredient image below, they used to be 15.25 ounces. When I first started this website, boxed cake mixes used to be over 18 ounces!
- salted butter – you can use unsalted. I like how the salt cuts a little of the overall sweetness.
- lemon pie filling – just grab your favorite brand. This could also be made with a lime pie filling.
How To Make 3-Ingredients Lemon Bars
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. If you’ve followed my blog for a while, y’all know I’m a big fan of Baker’s Joy nonstick spray. It has flour in it. It is so awesome for baking. In a bowl, combine softened butter with dry cake mix.
Mix until crumbly. Now at this point, you might think to yourself, this stuff is so crumbly, how is it going to pack into the baking dish and make a crust? Well, I thought the same thing. But it all pushes together nicely and bakes up so well. Just make sure you are using real butter for this, I’m not so sure margarine would hold up in this recipe. But if anyone tries it, let me know. Before you go any further, you’ll need to set aside 1/2 cup of this crumbly mixture.
Take the rest of the crust mixture and press it into a 9×13 baking dish. Spread it out evenly and then just go around and pack it down in there with your hands. Spoon lemon pie filling onto crust. Do your best to spread it out as evenly as possible.
Then take the 1/2 cup of crust mixture that you set aside earlier and sprinkle all over lemon pie filling. This is going to give you a nice little crumble topping.
Bake at 350F for about 20-25 minutes. The crumble topping will not get brown. Allow to cool then slice up and serve. Allowing these to cool lets the crust to continue setting up. I actually like to eat these cold from the fridge. Perfect for those hot summer months!
Craving More Recipes?
- Lemon Brownies
- Starbucks Lemon Loaf
- Cherry Crumble Bars
- Apple Crumble Bars
- Lemon Bars with Nilla Wafer Crust
- Lemon Magic Cake
- Lemon Delight
- Classic Lemon Bars
- Lime Bars
3-Ingredient Lemon Bars
Ingredients
- 1 (15.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix (see notes below)
- 1 stick salted butter (1/2 cup), softened (NOT MELTED)
- 22 ounce can lemon pie filling
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a bowl, combine 1 stick salted butter (1/2 cup), softened with 1 (15.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix (you're just using the dry cake mix itself, nothing else added). Mix until crumbly.
- Set aside 1/2 cup of this crumbly mixture for the topping.
- Take the rest of the crust mixture and press it into baking dish.
- Spread it out evenly and then just go around and pack it down in there with your hands.
- Spoon 22 ounce can lemon pie filling evenly onto crust layer.
- Then take the 1/2 cup of crust mixture that you set aside earlier and sprinkle all over lemon pie filling.
- Bake at 350F for about 20-25 minutes until crust is done. NOTE: Oven times can vary so go by doneness, not just by time. Keep in mind, lemon pie filling is already prepared so it’s not “cooking” or setting up. It’s about the crust being done as everything comes together. Also, the crumble topping will not turn brown so don’t look for it to get dark.
- Allow to cool then slice up and serve. Do not skip this step. As it cools, the lemon pie filling thickens up a bit and sets up better making it easier to cut. We actually like to enjoy these cold. Perfect treat for the hot summer months!
Video
Notes
- NOTE: As I stated above in the post, these are NOT like traditional lemon bars. If you want traditional lemon bars, please go with a truly homemade recipe. This is simply a shortcut recipe so you shouldn’t expect the same as homemade. If you’re expecting a super solid thick crust, you’ll be disappointed. These are thinner and do not have a thick solid crust but they do have the lemon bar taste. I have an included video as well in this recipe card for you to watch if you need a better visual.
- This should be covered and stored in the fridge. I found if I just covered it and left it out that the crust would soften up a bit so put in the refrigerator if not eating it all the same day it’s made.
- Try to get one of the larger 15.25 ounce boxes of cake mix (currently still made by Pillsbury and Duncan Hines) instead of the 13.25 ounce cake mixes (like Betty Crocker or some store brands.)
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Originally published: February 2013
Updated photos & Republished: June 2019
We enjoyed this and I liked how easy it was to make. I do not enjoy baking (I am a better cook, ha!) so I love simple recipes like this. Very good and great taste!
We loved it and liked that it was a little soft! So yummy! I have made it a few times. It is good with pie filling and I’ve also made it with lemon curd. Both were very good!
This is a very nice, quick easy recipe. I recommend using an offset icing tool to spread the lemon pie filling.