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3-INGREDIENT LEMON CRUMBLE BARS

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5 from 7 votes

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

You never know where a recipe will take you. I love the story of how this particular recipe plopped into my lap. While hanging out on facebook, answering some questions, I got a question from a reader named Toni (hi Toni!). She had a couple of cans of lemon pie filling in her pantry and she wanted some ideas on how to use them up. I suggested a recipe I had on the site here called LEMON DREAM CAKE. But I also decided to ask folks on facebook if they had any recipe suggestions. Well, someone did! Sandi G. (Hi Sandi!), shared a crazy-easy recipe to use up a can of lemon pie filling. Easy 3-Ingredient Lemon Crumble Bars, sliced, on parchment paper

CAKE MIX MAKES IT EASY

And it’s yellow. I love yellow. Yellow makes me happy. It is sunshine wrapped up in a color. Maybe that’s why I love lemon flavors so much. It makes me happy before I even put it in my mouth. And I’ve been writing recipes long enough to know that low-ingredient recipes can be deceiving. At first you think, “How can that be good with just that little bit in there?” But you go on and make it, hoping it will prove you wrong. And then it does. And it turns out amazing (usually.)

LEMON PIE FILLING

Well folks, that is what this recipe will do. It will surprise you in it’s simplicity and flavor. Don’t try to make it more complicated. It really is only just 3 ingredients. So thank you Toni for asking that question and thank you to Sandi for sharing her recipe with the rest of us. Here it is…don’t blink, you might miss it.3-Ingredient Lemon Crumble Bars recipe from The Country Cook

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
yellow cake mix
salted butter
lemon pie filling
yellow cake mix, stick butter, lemon pie filling

HOW TO MAKE 3-INGREDIENT LEMON CRUMBLE BARS:

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Spray 9×13 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.
softened butter and yellow cake mix combined in a bowl with an electric mixer
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.
crumble topping
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.
spreading lemon pie filling over cake mix/butter mixture pressed into a 9x13 baking dish
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.
sprinkle crumble topping over lemon pie filling
Bake at 350F for about 20-25 minutes. The crumble on top will just start to turn a very light golden brown. Then slice up and serve. This crust slices up very nicely. I like to eat it while it is still a little warm but it was really good nice and cold from being stored in the refrigerator. I bet that would be delicious during the hot summer months.Easy Lemon Crumble Bars, cake mix, butter, lemon pie filling

Enjoy!

Originally published: February 2013
Updated & Republished: June 2019

Easy 3-Ingredient Lemon Crumble Bars

3-INGREDIENT LEMON CRUMBLE BARS

These Easy Lemon Crumble Bars only have 3 ingredients! No one will guess how easy this dessert recipe is to make. Cake mix, butter and lemon pie filling!
5 from 7 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Easy Lemon Crumble Bars
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 12
Calories: 158kcal
Author: Brandie @ The Country Cook

Ingredients

  • 1 box yellow cake mix
  • 1 stick salted butter (1/2 cup) softened to room temperature
  • 1 (22 oz) can lemon pie filling

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
  • Spray 9 x 13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  • In a bowl, combine softened butter with dry cake mix.
  • 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 a 9 x 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.
  • 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.
  • The crumble on top will just start to turn a very light golden brown.
  • Slice up and serve.

Video

Notes

This crust slices up very nicely. I like to eat it while it is still a little warm but it was really good nice and cold from being stored in the refrigerator. 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.

Nutrition

Calories: 158kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 313mg | Potassium: 20mg | Sugar: 18g | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 0.9mg
Did you make this recipe?Share it on Instagram @thecountrycook and mention us #thecountrycook!

WANT MORE TASTY RECIPES LIKE THIS ONE? GIVE THESE A TRY!
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LEMON DREAM CAKE
LEMON DROP CAKE
LEMON COOKIE SALAD
WARM LEMON PUDDING POKE
THE BEST CAKE MIX RECIPES

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Unknown says

    Hi Brandie! I LOVE your blog! I have made several recipes from it and get rave reviews everywhere I take one of your dishes (especially the Crock-pot Buffalo Chicken Pasta & the Coconut Cream Poke Cake!) and this was no exception! I first made it with lemon and it was fabulous! Then my husband asked if I could do the same thing with apple; it was just as good! Now I've made these with just about every kind of pie filling I can find an they always turn out perfect!
    The only thing I do different is I make it in an 8×8 pan so it is thicker.

    Reply

    • Bobbi Priddy says

      Unknown, thank you for the great suggestion about using various pie fillings.
      I always have assorted canned pie fillings on hand !

      Reply

  2. Anonymous says

    Brandi! These are the only lemon bars I have gotten to turn out so nicely, thank you for the recipe. My hubby loves lemon bars and I felt like a failure before I found your recipe lol. All of your recipes are my "secret" recipes…I hope no one that I know finds them HAHA! love you!

    Reply

  3. Anonymous says

    This recipe turned out great. It came together in a snap & clean up was minimal. Greatest of all…….it tastes great:)

    Reply

  5. Terri says

    No canned lemon pie filling here. Could I use the lemon pudding mix in the box….cook it and let it cool before using in this recipe?

    Reply

  6. Haley W. says

    I have some leftover lemon pie filling that I made for lemon meringue, I’m gonna use this recipe for the leftovers. Thanks! 🙂

    Reply

  7. Maria Harden says


    Not sure if it is because I live in Canada, or what, but I cannot find cans of lemon pie filling anywhere. I can, however, find the packages of lemon pie filling that you cook. Would this work just as well, do you think?

    Reply

    • Cathy says

      I live in Canada also and cannot find canned so I tried the Shirriff pie filling that you cook first and turned out fine. I baked the cake mix first for about 15 min. while doing the lemon and I let the lemon cool for about 10 min. before pouring over cake mix then back in the oven for about 15- 20 min.

      Reply

  8. Rita Zepper says

    You could use lemon cake mix….also, any canned pie filling works….I’ve made several of these and they turn out yummy.

    Reply

  10. Jess says


    Never seen nonstick spray with flour in it. Might just be that I haven’t bought nonstick spray in years or could just be that it is not a Canadian thing? Sounds good though.

    Reply

  11. Cathy says

    Love this recipe. It’s in the oven right now. I am also avid calorie counter. I noticed you had calculated 500 calories for 1/12th of recipe. How come my calorie count is 275? Were you calculating in the nonstick baking spray? I used 0 calorie Pam for greasing. If it comes out, I’ve cut the calories, right? Let me know if you can, if your calculation was just a courtesy estimate or if I missed something.. (For my calculations, I used the figures on the ingredients themselves.) Thanks again for the inspiration!

    Reply

    • Brandie @ The Country Cook says

      Hey Cathy! The recipe card system I used put that in as a default. Weird. I definitely encourage anyone who counts calories and nutrition facts to use their own trusted calculators (which you did) 🙂 Thanks for letting me know!

      Reply

  14. Angela Rusch says


    Easy and delicious was a nice summertime desert ,and something new to try. Thanks for the recipe you never disappoint!!

    Reply

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