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You’re not surprised I made another gooey bar, are you? No? Good. Because this lemon version is my favorite gooey bar EVER. Lemon Gooey Bars – this EASY cake mix recipe uses lemon cake mix to form the bar that’s filled with a gooey white chocolate filling! EVERYONE loves these!
Hi, my name is Dorothy and I have a gooey bar addiction.
I have about 3,453 versions on this site. Chocolate, Funfetti, Peanut Butter, Pumpkin, and the list goes on. Okay, so not quite 3,453…but if you could see inside my head, you’d know I wasn’t exaggerating…much. (Check out all my gooey bar recipes here!)
They are my favorite bar for so many reasons:
1. They’re so easy to make. Cake mix, butter, egg, and sweetened condensed milk. DONE.
2. They’re infallible. Pretty much you can’t mess these up, I promise.
3. They taste amazing. Like cake…but gooey and bar-like.
4. There are so many different flavor combos it’s mind boggling.
Maybe I should change my name to Crazy for Gooey Bars.
Right now? I’m crazy for lemon gooey bars.
I first made these last June for my sister-in-law’s birthday. She looooooves lemon. I always make her some sort of lemon dessert for holidays and celebrations.
I broke the food blogger cardinal rule last June when I made them: I didn’t photograph them. It was a last minute bake and there was no time to cut and take pictures.
(There is only one hard and fast rule about gooey bars: they need to chill and set before you cut them. I KNOW. It’s hard, but if you want pretty bars, you gotta do it. Or, just attack the warm pan with a fork. Whatevs.)
I finally re-made them at Christmas. I made a lot of things at Christmas and when asked what her favorite was, my SIL said “THOSE LEMON BARS!”
I figured it was time to share!
Okay, so let’s rundown the gooey bar in case you’ve never made them.
- Cake mix + egg + butter forms a thick dough. Don’t use the box directions. Just use the cake mix powder and follow my directions.
- Press about 2/3 of the batter into a pan. You don’t have to use foil, but I highly recommend it for this recipe. Sweetened condensed milk is sticky. Spray it well with cooking spray.
- Add whatever mix-ins you like. White chocolate + lemon is amazing, but coconut would also be fab in these.
- You break up the remaining chunks of dough and place it on top of the bars. I like to break off about 1/2-1 tablespoon size pieces and drop them over the top, then lightly press with my hands. Some of the SCM will show through.
Once they’re baked, cool and chill to set, then cut into bars. These freeze well, as long as they are in a single layer. They’ll stick to each other and whatever you put in between the layers.
But if you have any left to freeze I kind of don’t understand you. How is that even possible? Are you related to my husband?
These are my favorite gooey bars yet. Lemon goodness, people!
If you love gooey bars, be sure to check out all my favorites here, especially my funfetti gooey bars and chocolate chip cookie gooey bars. Or check out key lime gooey bars, Strawberry Gooey Butter Cake Bars, or Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Toffee Gooey Bars.
Lemon Gooey Bars
Ingredients
- 1 box lemon cake mix
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick, softened
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x9 baking pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
- Mix butter with a mixer (hand or stand) until smooth. Mix in cake mix and egg; beat until combined. Note: if you use a hand mixer it will take a long time to come together. Just keep on mixing until you get a thick cookie dough.
- Press 2/3 of the cake mixture in the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle white chocolate chips over the top and drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over the top of the chocolate. Break up the remaining dough and crumble it over the top of the bars. Press lightly to seal.
- Bake for 28-33 minutes, until slightly browned. Cool completely before cutting.
- Note: you can do this in a 9x13 pan by using the whole can (14 oz) of sweetened condensed milk and 2 cups of white chocolate chips, but the bars will be thinner. Baking time will also need to be adjusted.
Click here to see the complete list of Lemon Recipes!
Sweets from friends:
Chocolate Chip Gooey Bars by Pillsbury
Peppermint Patty Gooey Cake Bars by Inside BruCrew Life
Better than Anything Caramel Stuffed Brownies by Something Swanky
Lemon White Chocolate Gooey Bars by Life, Love, and Sugar
Last Updated on May 13, 2020
I have a friend who is an art teacher, and her favorite flavor is lemon. I have made several lemon recipes, but I will be trying this lemon bar recipe tomorrow. Thanks!
I told myself I wasn’t going to make any other gooey bars, but this recipe was a must. And my god. So. Good. I used two cake mixes so each layer was a complete layer (I did this with your peanut butter gooey bars too, but not on the funfetti – the funfetti didn’t turn out right).
I’m so glad you like them! I’ve got quite a few more up my sleeve… 🙂
Sabrina,Â
Would you explain the way you did these? Thank you!
Do you think an 8*8 would work? I don’t want to go the 9*13/sacrifice top crust route….
Thanks!
Yes, they’ll just be thicker. The baking time might be longer!
I accidently bought lemon bar mix not lemon cake. Do you think i can mix crust and filling together and sub it for the yellow cake?Â
I’m not sure…I haven’t ever tried that. Theoretically…yes. I haven’t ever made those bars before (is it the Krusteaz mix?) so I’m not familar with how they work. I say go for it and see what happens!
Just discovered your website today and soooo glad I did! I came across your recipe for Gooey Lemon Bars and decided to make them right away. I didn’t have any white chocolate chips so I went with your suggestion to use a 1/2 cup of coconut. OMG these are so delicious!!! moist, gooey and oh so yummy. Thank you for posting such an easy and great recipe. This is a keeper!!! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
I am making these for teacher appreciation.  They are having a dessert day.  I may need to sneak one out of the batch to try them…strictly for quality control of course.  🙂
Enjoy! And good luck just sneaking one! haha 🙂
Could I use frozen or fresh blueberries as my mix- in?
I don’t see why not Nikki! I bet that would be fabulous. Just make sure that if you’re using frozen berries, that there are no clumps of ice. I know that happens sometimes – they’re in the freezer awhile – so just make sure to rinse off any chunks and pat them dry. You don’t want too much extra water in the bars! Enjoy!
So I made these for a super bowl party and put coconut and pecan in the middle no white chocolate. Â Omg came out so delicious. Â Trying a chocolate one next with pecan and dulce de leche.Â
I have the lemon gooey bars in the oven. I did use 9×13, and only increased the condensed milk and chips by about 1.5… but even though I reserved a third of the dough, and crumbled very carefully and sparingly, the top layer is not even close to covering the chips/milk, which glisten all around. I am hoping this is to be expected, and that when it all bakes together it settles out. If this is the case, a note to that effect would be helpful. If, with the 9×13 pan, you need to reserve more dough for the top layer, please make a note of it above. :/. I’ll let you know how it turns out… Even if it’s not so pretty as yours and a good deal more messy, I am still confident that it will be scrumptious. Honestly? Appearance aside, how could the flavor go wrong?!
I’ve never made them in a 9×13 pan, but it will cover less on top in that size pan. Same amount of dough and more pan area! I hope they turn out, let me know how they are!
I have these in the oven right now…I used dried pineapple pieces just a few cut small) and a few mini marshmallows for my add ins..and used the whole can of cond milk….the marshmallow seemed to float up tho and are browning a bit to fast..maybe next time omit themÂ
Marshmallows can be tricky in the oven. I’ve had friends make magic bars (7-layer) with marshmallows and it works if you bury them under other things. Let me know how it works with the whole can of SCM, they’ll be super gooey! 🙂
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