Lemon Cake Mix Bars

lemon bar with poppy seed cream cheese frosting on a white countertop.

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This easy Cake Mix Lemon Bar recipe with Poppy Seed Frosting is the perfect quick dessert for Easter and spring. The lemon cookie bars are soft, moist, and fudgy, and the delicious almond poppy seed cream cheese frosting is tinted light blue for a pretty speckled robin's egg effect.

Prep Time10

Cook Time12

Total Time22

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Calories: 217kcal

Author: Cara Lanz

Ingredients

Lemon Cake Mix Cookie Bars

1 box lemon cake mix
½ cup oil
1 egg
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Poppy Seed Cream Cheese Frosting

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
blue food coloring, optional see notes

Instructions

Lemon Cake Mix Bars

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray, and, if desired, line it with parchment paper with an overhang for easy removal.
In a large bowl, mix the lemon cake mix, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract on medium to medium-high speed until combined into a thick dough.
Spoon the dough into the pan and gently press it into an even layer. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the top is barely light golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake. For gooey bars, the internal temperature should be around 185. Cool the bars in the pan.

Poppyseed Cream Cheese Frosting

In a large bowl, cream the butter, cream cheese, almond extract, and salt at medium to medium-high speed until smooth and creamy.
Mix in the powdered sugar until combined, 1-2 minutes. Mix in the poppy seeds and food coloring, if using, until incorporated (see notes). Be careful not to overmix or the frosting may get runny.
Frost the cooled bars and chill until ready to serve.
Gently lift the slab of bars out of the pan using the parchment overhang -- careful, they're soft -- place them on a cutting board, and slide the parchment out from underneath. Cut the bars into squares with a sharp knife, wiping the blade between cuts. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 5 days.

Notes

For moist, fudgy bars, err on the side of under-baking. Overbaking will make them dry.
To reduce yellow tones in the cream cheese frosting, mix in a tiny amount of purple food coloring before tinting your desired color.
If you prefer thicker or sweeter frosting, mix in more powdered sugar, up to 1-2 more cups.
This frosting recipe yields about 2 cups of frosting.

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