I recently needed a couple of desserts to send to work with my husband. I wanted something that was not chocolate, because I was already sending a chocolate cake for one of the desserts. I decided to make Gooey Lemon Cake, which is also known as gooey lemon bars.
I know Paula Deen has made gooey bars/cake popular, but they have been around for years. I have been making my chocolate version for a long time and I have seen the same basic recipe in several church cookbooks that are twenty to thirty years old.
So, I have no clue where the original idea of gooey bars and cakes came from, but I do know that they are very good. I have yet to try a version of a gooey cake that I did not like.
Today’s version which is lemon is no exception. My husband’s staff loved these and several of them requested the recipe. I think these might have even been more popular than the chocolate cake I sent at the same time.
Gooey Lemon Cake
Gooey lemon bars are a lemon take on a classic gooey bars.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 yellow cake mix
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 egg
Filling
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 eggs
- 8 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 3 3/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- For the crust, mix together the dry cake mix, butter, and 1 egg. Mix well. This will be a thick dough like texture. Press into a greased 9x13 pan and set aside
- For the filling, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add the lemon juice, eggs, and melted butter. Mix together well and add powdered sugar.
- Spread filling over crust and bake for 38-42 minutes or until just down. You want the edges to be lightly brown and the center to be slightly jiggle.
- Cool and cut into squares.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
18Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 345Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 71mgSodium: 346mgCarbohydrates: 48gFiber: 0gSugar: 36gProtein: 3g
Nutritional values are approximate and aren't always accurate.
Love, love, love lemon desserts. Thanks for the recipe!
looks awesome!
OMG!! These bars look and sound amazing!! I always make Paula Deen’s pumpkin gooey bars for Thanksgivings so I must try this lemon version…NOW!!… I can’t WAIT!! yum!!!!! 😛
This looks super amazing and I’d love to try it, but have a question about possible substitutions. First of all, I always use I can’t believe it’s not Butter in place of butter and never had a problem (thus far) with a recipe not turning out. Also, I prefer the Less Fat variety of Cream Cheese, it’s that Neufa…. no idea how to spell it! cheese. Used it in bean dips and such like, never had a problem. Think I would be safe to try it in this recipe? I LOVE experimenting with recipes and changing them up (usually to reduce calories.) If it doesn’t turn out, I assume it’s my subsitution, not the original recipe. So far I’ve been fortunate in my substitutions.
@Casey, I have never cooked much with either of those things. I have used some of the low fat cream cheeses, but not usually in baking. I say give it a try and see if it works. I would love to hear how they turn out if you try it.
This sounds really good. I’ve been looking for more desert recipes without chocolate. I’m gonna try this with substituting a GF cake mix. It should work. I borrowed “The Gluten Free Cake Doctor” cookbook from a friend and have yet to try some recipes, but am looking forward to it.
@Karin Goodman, I have that cookbook and my girls have made a few things from it. So far we have liked what we tried. I think this would work well with a gluten free mix. I have not tried it yet, but I hope to soon.
This was fantastic!
I did tweak the recipe just a bit. I used a lemon cake mix, then for the cream cheese filling, I omitted the lemon juice and used a bit of vanilla extract. (These changes were just to fit what I had on hand for ingredients). It is awesome, thanks so much for this recipe.
@Ali, That sounds like a great version. I am glad it worked for you! Thanks for sharing what you did.