Lemon fans, unite! Here are 27 Lemon Dessert Recipes you have to have in your repertoire. Lemon is a delicious tart flavor that balances the sweetness of desserts with the perfect amount of tartness and zest. Lemon desserts are bright, refreshing, and versatile as you can use the juice and the peel to flavor a dessert. They are absolutely perfect for spring, Easter, bridal showers, sunny weekend brunches, and hot summer nights. Let’s not discount the lemon’s power in the middle of winter though. It has the ability to warm up the coldest day. It’s good all year round, for any occasion.
These lemon dessert recipes range from easy to fancy, sweet to tart, cakes to cookies, and more. You’ll brighten up your day, and the days of your friends and family by making these lemon desserts for them. Grab your apron, the best lemons you can find, and let’s get to it!
1. Lemon Dessert Lush Cake
This lush cake is just that – lush! It’s basically a no-bake lemon dessert. The only thing that has to cook is the crust, and that’s the easy part. The crust is reminiscent of shortbread but with nuts added for extra flavor and texture. The lemon filling balances the shortcrust with its sweetness and creaminess.
2. Heavenly Lemon Oreo Dessert
You may be a classic Oreo fanatic, but don’t sleep on golden Oreos! If you’ve tried them, and don’t like them, use the rest of the package to whip up this lemon dessert. The base or “crust” is made with golden orders. The filling is instant lemon pudding, so you can make this recipe in just a few minutes. Top the whole thing with Cool Whip or whipped heavy cream.
3. Quick and Easy No-Bake Lemon Cream Pie
Lemon cream pie can be a beast to make, but this version is quick, easy, and takes no actual baking at all. It’s decadent, light, creamy, and of course, lemony. You can make the whipped topping right at home with heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar, which makes this whole pie feel made from scratch.
4. The Best Lemon Squares
Lemon bars are just one of those desserts that are divine. You can never have too many – they go fast! Fresh lemons are the best for these bars, so be sure to use them. These gooey lemon bars have a shortbread crust that keeps the dessert from being too sweet or too tart.
5. Lemon Cream Cheese Pudding Dessert
Lemon cream cheese pudding dessert uses boxed pudding and no baking is involved, making it ideal for potlucks, backyard get-togethers, or any holiday you need to bring something to. Just seven ingredients are needed for this dessert, and you can have it prepped within 20 minutes. After leaving it to sit for four hours, you have a show-stopping dessert.
6. Lemon Cheesecake Mousse
If you’re looking for a springtime dessert, lemon cheesecake mousse is hard to top! It’s bright, luscious, rich, and decadent. Lemon cheesecake mousse is amazing for Mother’s Day as well as Easter. It’s easy and can be made in individual servings if you’re feeding a crowd. With a few garnishes, it looks beautifully presented – as if you spent all afternoon making it.
7. Mini Lemon Cheesecakes
Instead of the mousse version, go ahead and make the lemon cheesecakes! These mini lemon desserts are so cute and are always a hit at potlucks or dinner parties. They keep tight and trim, so there is no sloppy mess while trying to cut. Each mini cheesecake is topped with a bit of lemon curd.
8. Lemon Dessert Cobbler
Lemon cobber puts peach cobbler to shame honestly. It does take 55 minutes to cook, but if you can be patient for that long, it is well worth the wait. You will end up with a buttery, sugary crust that melds together with the creamy, lemony tart filling. Fun tip: You can even make this cobbler in a slow cooker and have it waiting on you when you get home!
9. Easy Lemon Blondies
The opposite of a chocolate brownie, these blondies are lemon flavored, but still absolutely delicious. They have the texture of a brownie, so this is not a lemon square with a shortbread crust. The flavor is similar to lemon bars and lemon cookies but in brownie form. You don’t need any unique ingredients. You probably already have them all stocked in the pantry.
10. Lemon Drop Cakes
With the way these lemon drop cakes melt in your mouth, it’s going to be hard to not eat them all in one sitting. The cake is a basic lemon cake recipe but cooked in mini form. And the mini cakes are glazed with a delicate lemon drizzle. It keeps the cakes moist and gives them a bit of a sugary crunch.
11. Lemon Dessert Gooey Bars
You can never have too many lemon dessert bar recipes. These lemon bars are a mixture of lemon cake, lemon zest, and lemon curd. All the lemon! As they bake, the outside gets crispy and golden, but the inside stays gooey. So when you bite into it, you get lemon all the way through of course, but with different textures.
12. Lemon Custard Cake
This melt-in-your-mouth, soft, custard cake is perfect if you like light and creamy desserts. It’s a marriage between custard and cake. The lemon cake is firm enough to stand on its own, but you can also slice it with a spoon. Absolutely decadent and perfect for an afternoon tea.
13. Glazed Lemon Cookies
Another sweet treat perfect for afternoon tea is these glazed lemon cookies. The glaze helps the cookies stay fresh and moist, and give them a beautiful shine. They are buttery and a lemon lover’s dream. No chilling is needed! You can mix up the dough and bake immediately. Glazed Lemon Cookies can be done in under 30 minutes.
14. Pretzel Lemon Dessert
Pretzels add a salty and crunchy element to this lemon dessert, which is sometimes needed so that it’s not overly sweet. If you dip your fries in your frosty, and you’re a fan of sweet and salty, then you’re going to love this dessert. It’s got the creamy element from the lemon pudding and the whipped topping, and the salty, crunchy element from the pretzel crust.
15. Easy Lemon Tarts
Want an easy lemon dessert? And I mean easy, like three ingredients easy! By placing store-bought sugar cookie dough in mini muffin tins and baking, you can create mini tart shells. Fill them with store-bought lemon curd and top with a bit of whipped cream or fresh fruit, and you’ve got a beautiful array of mini lemon tarts.
16. Starbucks Lemon Loaf
Starbucks has one of the best lemon loaves out there, so why not try and recreate it at home and save some money? This copycat recipe is easy to make and tastes just like the real thing. It’s fluffy, soft, and tangy, and goes so well with a cup of tea. Whether you eat it as an afternoon snack, or as a breakfast treat, you’ll love brightening up the day with this lemon loaf.
17. The Best Lemon Cake Balls
Lemon cake balls are bite-size delights that will please all the adults and the kids around. These are densely packed with lemon flavor, so you don’t need much to get your fill. Lemon cake is mixed with luscious cream cheese to create a soft, moist inside. The bite is then dipped in a vanilla candy coating so you’ve got a bit of crunch when biting into it.
18. Homemade Lemon Curd
You’ve got to have a homemade lemon curd recipe on hand! Whether you need it for those mini tarts, or in place of store-bought pudding mix, you can use homemade lemon curd in a variety of ways. The best part about this lemon curd is that it lasts in the fridge for up to a month. So you’ve got plenty of time to use it while working your way through all of these recipes.
19. Lemon Dessert Fluff
Lemon Fluff requires just a few ingredients, one specific one being crushed pineapple. The citrusy mix works really well against the sweetness of the pudding, the whipped topping, and cream cheese. It has a light and airy texture (as fluff should) and the flavor is very refreshing.
20. Lemon Icebox Cake
Lemon desserts scream summer, and this lemon icebox cake fits the bill perfectly. It is simple to make and always a crowd pleaser. A fantastic thing about icebox cakes is you can store them in the freezer until ready to use. So make a few, and just pull one out for each summer gathering. No one will complain about having to eat it a few times!
21. Lemon Poke Cake
There are dozens of variations of poke cakes, but this lemon version is one of the best. The lemons help cut the sweetness that poke cakes often have. It’s dense and pudding like, but still true to its cake texture. Lemon drizzle creates a crisp top layer and the entire cake is just bursting with flavor.
22. The Best Homemade Lemon Tart
A traditional homemade lemon tart is much more work than the mini lemon tarts above, but it is absolutely worth the extra effort. Once finished, it’s a beautiful pastry that will liven up any dinner party. Following the recipe step by step allows you to develop this dessert without the risk of failure.
23. Limoncello Tiramisu
A lemon twist on the classic chocolate coffee dessert, this limoncello tiramisu is to die for. It’s got lemon laced throughout the whole dish with limoncello and lemon juice in both the cream filling and the syrup. This is another show-stopper dessert perfect for a Summer Eve dinner party.
24. Lemon Bar Cookies
Similar to thumbprint cookies, these buttery shortbread cookies are filled with tart lemon curd. A dusting of powdered sugar adds a bit of sweetness to the buttery, citrusy flavors and rounds out the whole cookie. These are very easy to keep popping in your mouth, so make a large batch!
25. Lemon Dessert Lush Trifle
Trifles are amazing desserts because they are so pretty even if they are “messy.” The layers of lemon curd pudding, graham crackers, and whipped cream cheese meld together to make a bowl of sunshine. It’s a no-bake dessert that comes together quickly. Whip this up for a weekend brunch, and impress your guests without them knowing how easy it was to make.
26. Lemon Dump Cake with Cream Cheese
None of these recipes have been super difficult, but lemon dump cake is easy peasy. Dump cakes normally are. Just dump and bake, which we love! Lemon is a perfect flavor for a dump cake because some dump cakes can be extremely sweet and heavy. The lemon keeps it bright and airy – perfect for a spring or summer dessert.
27. Lemon Dessert Sorbet
Speaking of summer desserts, sorbet is a fantastic option. It’s slightly sweet, cool, and refreshing, and best of all, easy to flavor with lemon. Whether you need a palate cleanser between courses or need a quick fix for a sweet tooth, lemon sorbet has got you! This recipe is vegan which is always a bonus.
Brighten up your dessert menu with these lemon dessert recipes. They will leave your spring or summer guests feeling absolutely refreshed and full of sweet citrusy satisfaction.
And if you are looking for something a bit lighter, be sure to check out my Lemon Bars!
27 Lovely Lemon Dessert Recipes
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 1 120 g. cup oat flour
- ¼ 24 g. cup stevia
- ¼ 60 g. cup coconut cream
For the Filling
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice
- Zest from 2 lemons
- ½ 48 g. cup stevia
- 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
- 3 eggs
Optional
- Powdered sugar or stevia for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line an 8×8-inch (20×20 cm) baking pan with parchment paper or use a silicone baking mat.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the oat flour, stevia, and coconut cream. Press this mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan. Bake the crust for about 10 minutes or until it turns lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool while you prepare the filling.
- In another bowl, whisk together the fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, stevia, tapioca starch, and eggs until well combined. Pour this mixture over the baked crust.
- Bake the bars for about 20-25 minutes or until the edges are set, and the center is slightly jiggly.
- Let the Lemon Bars cool completely in the pan, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Once fully chilled, you can dust the bars with powdered sugar or stevia if desired. Slice into squares and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
