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This easy one-bowl Lemon Snack Cake is moist, sweet, and loaded with delicious lemony flavor!
When the craving for something sweet and lemony strikes – this one-bowl Lemon Snack Cake takes just minutes to make!
(And that may or may not be a good thing…you could find yourself making this super easy recipe ALL the time! 😉 )
This sweet and simple recipe is adapted from Jenny Can Cook – who called these one-bowl lemon brownies. But the texture comes out more like a soft lemon cake with a light lemon glaze. And, it really is a perfect little lemony snack cake that can be made anytime the craving strikes, with a few simple ingredients you probably have on hand.
How do you make Lemon Snack Cake?
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt and baking soda. Stir in eggs, sour cream (or Greek yogurt), vegetable oil, and both lemon zest and lemon juice.
Bake in a parchment-lined, square pan – then top with a simple lemon glaze.
This Lemon Snack Cake will make your taste buds pucker (in a good way!) with its intense, sweet lemon flavor. Perfect with a cup of tea for a mid-afternoon treat, or a light dessert after any meal.
You may like these other lemon desserts:
- Super Moist Lemon Lime Cake
- Lemon Bars
- Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Lemon Curd Filling
- Lemon Sugar Cookies
- Lemon Blueberry Cream Pie
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Lemon Snack Cake
Ingredients
Cake
1 cup all-purpose flour, measured by spooning the flour into a dry measuring cup
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Zest of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Glaze
1 cup confectioner’s sugar, measured by spooning the sugar into a dry measuring cup
Zest of 1 lemon
2 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line an 8×8-inch square pan with two strips of parchment paper: Cut each strip 8-inches wide and leave the length long enough that you will have handles to lift the cake out of the pan. Place one strip in the bottom of the pan, turn the pan a quarter turn and place the second strip in the bottom – you should have paper handles on each side of the square pan.
In a large mixing bowl, add flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Whisk to combine.
Add eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, lemon zest and lemon juice to the bowl with the dry ingredients. With a rubber spatula, stir to combine into a smooth batter.
Spread the cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the edges are just slightly golden and the middle is set.
Remove the pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
While the cake cools, mix up the glaze by combining the confectioner’s sugar, lemon zest and two tablespoons fresh lemon juice. Add more lemon juice as needed to make a spreadable glaze.
After the 10 minutes, use the paper handles to lift the cake out of the pan and place on a cutting board. Spread the glaze over the warm cake.
Allow the glaze to set for another 5 minutes, then cut into 16 squares (4 x 4 rows).
Refrigerate leftovers in an air-tight container.
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Delightful fresh tasting snack cake for a perfect summer dessert! Easy to make and quick!
Thanks Gloria!
Hi Martha,
I made this recipe & it came out so scrumptious! 🍋 Can you freeze this? I also like the fact you include the nutritional info. Thanks, Anna Marie
Sure Anna Marie – The frosting might get a little messed up, but overall the cake should freeze well as long as you tightly wrap it.
I’m planning to make this today, but I’m out of vegetable oil. Can canola oil be used instead or do I need to make a run to the store? Also I have light sour cream, will that work? Thanks in advance for your response, Anna Marie
Hi Ann – Canola oil is fine. Light sour cream will also work although the full fat version will make the cake a little moister.
Thank you for listing the sodium amount because I have to watch it. Your recipes are the greatest, thanks again.
Thank you so much. We are actually in the process of going back through our old recipes and computing the nutritional information on each one. No small task since we have almost 1,700 recipes.
Martha,
I’m making the Lemon Cake for my lemon loving husband this week. The man loves lemon flavored sweets.
Thank you!!!!
Linda
You’re welcome Linda – hope he loves it! 🙂