Two Ingredient Lemon Cake Bars are so easy, wonderfully sweet with just the right amount of tart. Moist, soft and so fluffy. Delicious!
Looking for a classic lemon bar recipe instead? Try these Lemon Bars.
What We Love
- So incredibly easy. No baking experience needed.
- They are a quick dessert so if you need something in a pinch, keep the ingredients on hand.
- Only two ingredients unless you decide to add some things.
- A fun recipe to start out with but then turn into something your own.
What you need for lemon cake bars
As I mentioned, only two ingredients are needed for these lemon cake bars. YES! Only two! Yes it works! There’s something incredibly cool about being able to literally make something incredible and delicious out of only two ingredients!
lemon pie filling – you can make your own if you want, but we just use a canned lemon pie filling.
angel food cake mix – yes this is a cake mix recipe, but it works and it’s incredible!
They come out pretty much like Lemon Angel Food Cake (Surprise, I know). haha But you could do so much with them.
Can I Add To These Lemon Cake Bars?
- Add lemon zest to the batter and/or on top at the end.
- Sprinkle Powdered Sugar on top.
- Use an extra can of lemon pie filling in the mix to make them more like traditional lemon bars
- Before baking, layer fresh lemon slices on top
What would you do to change these lemon cake bars up? Are you going to enjoy them as written or will you add your own spin?
Tell me about it in the comments below.
More Delicious 2 & 3 Ingredient Recipes
- Avocado Chocolate Mousse (two ingredients)
- Banana Peanut Butter Ice Cream (two ingredients)
- Italian Crockpot Chicken (two ingredients)
- DIY Dog Treats (two ingredients)
- Easy Strawberry Fudge (two ingredients)
- Ghirardelli Gluten-Free Flourless Chocolate Cake (three ingredients)
- Pineapple Coconut Ice Cream Bread (two ingredients)
- Jalapeno Poppers (three ingredients)
- Cookies and Cream Kiss Dip (three ingredients)
- Honey BBQ Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin (three ingredients)
- Pecan Honey Butter (three ingredients)
Recipe for Two Ingredient Lemon Bars
Lemon Cake Bars – Two Ingredient
Ingredients
- 22 ounces lemon pie filling
- 1 box angel food cake mix needs to be the just add water kind – but do NOT add water, eggs, oil or any other ingredient!
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray a 13×9 baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl or using your stand mixer, mix together the lemon pie filling and the angel food cake mix until smooth with no lumps.
- Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish. Smooth out the top with a spatula.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 28-35 minutes or until slightly golden.
- Top with powdered sugar if desired.
Oooooh this looks so moist, fluffy ‘n lemony, Nicole! I love how easy it is to whip together.
Thank you, I know I seem a little obsessed with these 3 ingredient or less recipes, but Brie and I were determined to try as many as we could! haha
Thanks for stopping by the 🙂 Those lemon bars look SO yummy!
yummy!gonna to try this
do you prepare the pudding and the cake first? Is there no liquid involved in the 2 item recipe? If not, this is crazy but sounds good!
There is actually no pudding in this recipe. It is pie filling in a can and already prepared and that’s the “liquid” for the recipe. It’s incredibly simple – just mix the two ingredients together and bake. Voila, simple and easy. Great for events that call for large batch items to share with everyone.
Why are people becoming so lazy?
Easier and faster seems to be our future!
I don’t know, but I definitely do not consider myself lazy and nobody that knows me would. Will I take a short cut to make something when I don’t have a lot of time. HEck yeah! And this recipe is definitely a winner!
Don’t be rude. You don’t have to make it you know.
?? I can’t believ people’s comments. They don’t have a clue if Simone is lazy or not Thank you for the recipes to help make our lives a little simpler and enjoy the variety they provide.
Oops Simone= someone
Thank you dear! I agree, recipes aren’t going to be for everyone and that is ok, but why they can’t just scroll on and have to stop and comment, I will never know.
Have a beautiful weekend!
I love to bake, and have spent an inordinate amount of time doing this, However, when I need to whip something up quickly because of various reasons I am more than grateful to have these recipes on hand, so Thank you!!
“Easier and faster” are what busy cooks need. I know for sure that I would not be searching for “tougher and more time-consuming” tasks. There’s no moral status connected to. Toiling for hours, as far as I can tell!
This made me giggle Zelia. Definitely not “searching for “tougher and more time-consuming” tasks”. I’ll take anything that makes life a little easier. Most of my recipes are made entirely from scratch but sometimes I like to play with the 2-3 ingredient recipes too, and this was one such time. Thanks for the comment. It truly made me smile.
@Cindy, I really agree with you. If you love cooking, easy or otherwise, no need to be rude. I love baking and many times make very detailed and time-consuming recipes, but, hey….this looks great and is quick to make. I am making it right now for an impromptu dinner with out of town guests.
Thanks for a great sounding recipe that a paralyzed person can whip up who has a sweet tooth AND is on a welfare pay scale-will try this now!
PS-I’m using key lime pie filling instead of lemon. It’s my favorite!
@Elaine, Ooo-that sounds just wonderful! I currently only have lemon, so will use that; will also be buying a key lime pie filling to try soon! How did it turn out?
Are they supposed to be gooey in the middle?
Yes, mine were. Not runny, just a little sticky and gooey.
@Nicole Cook, Thanks-that’s good info to have since I haven’t made mine yet!
I want to use a regular, Super Moist Lemon Cake Mix that already has pudding in it & a can of Lemon Creme. Will this work ??
I am not sure if that will work or not, I have not tried it that way. I have only tried it the way I wrote it. Will you let us know if you decide to try it your way, how it turns out?
Will this recipe work with a regular yellow cake mix or even better, a gluten free cake mix?
I can’t answer that actually, because I have not tried it that way. If you do decide to try it, please do check back and let us know how it turned out.
What a light and delicious lemon cake. It smelled heavenly while baking. I am tempted to add fresh blueberries to the batter. Has anyone tried
adding a fruit to this wonderful cake?
Thank you for your comments. Sue
Hi Sue, So glad that you loved the cake! We do too. We have added blueberries and strawberries before. We don’t mix them in, we place them on top after we pour the batter into the cake pan so they only sink a little. Main reason for that is just to keep additional liquid out of the batter, but I have a suspicion you probably could add fruit into the mix and then just gently stir it through.
Thank you for that comment. I was searching to see if I could add blueberries
How do you suggest storing them? I made these to take in the RV. My Mom and brother love anything lemon. I thought these would make a nice treat.
I’ve only stored one batch that I’ve made because normally they don’t really last that long. I placed them in an air tight container and left them at room temp for just 2-3 days. If it’s too warm, you might need to refrigerate them to make them last longer. I hope your mom and brother love them as much as we do!
Hi, I was thinking about adding 1 extra on the lemon pie filling.
You mentioned that it would be more like lemon bars, but you didn’t mention anything about the baking time and temp.? Would it be the same as your 2 ingredient lemon bars?
Thanks,
Wendy M.
Hi Wendy, good question. If I was making them, I’d use a preheated 350 degree oven and then probably begin watching them around the 20 minute mark and remove them between 20-25 minutes or so. Regular lemon bars are often gooey so they don’t need the entire baking period. Hope that helps, hope you enjoy!
These are great. They are so very easy and they come out tasting like a spongy lemon cake; love the texture. I did not put any powdered sugar on them, because I think they’re already sweet enough.
I love this recipe! However, it is very hard to find lemon pie filling here for whatever reason. I use to see it all the time but once I started looking for it for this recipe it has disappeared. Today I bought the strawberry pie filling. Have you tried it?
Yes! We have tried it with any pie filling we could find and have even chopped up fresh fruit matching the pie filling we chose to sprinkle in or on top. Let me know what you think about the strawberry!
Will this recipe work with a regular yellow cake mix or even better, a gluten free cake mix?
Don’t be rude. You don’t have to make it you know.
PS-I’m using key lime pie filling instead of lemon. It’s my favorite!
do you prepare the pudding and the cake first? Is there no liquid involved in the 2 item recipe? If not, this is crazy but sounds good!
?? I can’t believ people’s comments. They don’t have a clue if Simone is lazy or not Thank you for the recipes to help make our lives a little simpler and enjoy the variety they provide.
What a light and delicious lemon cake. It smelled heavenly while baking. I am tempted to add fresh blueberries to the batter. Has anyone tried
adding a fruit to this wonderful cake?
Thank you for your comments. Sue
How do you suggest storing them? I made these to take in the RV. My Mom and brother love anything lemon. I thought these would make a nice treat.
These are great. They are so very easy and they come out tasting like a spongy lemon cake; love the texture. I did not put any powdered sugar on them, because I think they’re already sweet enough.
I love this recipe! However, it is very hard to find lemon pie filling here for whatever reason. I use to see it all the time but once I started looking for it for this recipe it has disappeared. Today I bought the strawberry pie filling. Have you tried it?
“Easier and faster” are what busy cooks need. I know for sure that I would not be searching for “tougher and more time-consuming” tasks. There’s no moral status connected to. Toiling for hours, as far as I can tell!
Can one use a bunt pan instead?
For Lemon Cake Bars? I am not sure that would work. I feel that the whole thing would be too sticky to unmold correctly.
If you decide to try it, do let us know.
made it, easy, greased n floured, added 4 eggs per package directions. added 12 min to baking time, til golden, cooled to a thin cake, pulled away from nice from the pyrex, perfection….
Made this recipe years ago. Flavor was fantastic. The bars texture was light and spongy. We loved them. I hadn’t made them for many years. I made the same recipe again not long ago. I didn’t do anything different but they turned out very dense and rubbery. I tried again. Same thing. My daughter has tried also with no success. I’m wandering if the size of a box of cake mix has changed over the years. I don’t think that the piefilling has. Also My recipe uses a 10 X15 inch pan.rubbery
Some years ago, cake mixes were reduced by 3 oz. + Annoying. You have to buy a second box to keep adding 3 oz back in to old recipes.
I love this easy recipe have made numerous times for funeral lunches always a big hit.
I am looking forward to trying this recipe! I agree with others, if you think that scratch cooking is the “only” way…move on. There’s no need to criticize or belittle others. Until I retired, my schedule was beyond packed, 50-60 hr. work week, 2 hrs. a day travel, caregiver at home, active in my church, etc. Shortcuts were my life. To address adding fruit, I love blueberries, dust the fresh fruit with a little of the cake mix before mixing in the pie filling, or use dried blueberries. Strawberries would certainly add considerable moisture. May be serve the lemon bars with a strawberry topping, strawberry lemon shortcake!