Luscious Lemon Desserts For When Life Gives You Lemons

August 27, 2019
Forget lemonade! When life gives you lemons, make dessert! These lovely lemony recipes are sure to brighten up anyone's day—including Lemon Icebox Pie with a Coconut Graham Cracker Crust and our beloved Blueberry-Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake.
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Lemon Icebox Pie with Coconut-Graham Cracker Crust

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Light and delicious, this easy old-fashioned lemon icebox pie takes dessert up a notch thanks to coconut in the crust, which boosts both flavor and texture. For the brightest hit of citrus use fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Look for graham crackers made with 100% whole-wheat flour to get the most fiber. Seeing graham flour on the label? Good news--that's coarsely ground whole-wheat.

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Cornmeal-Yogurt-Lemon Cake

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Topped with fresh raspberries and lemon zest, this cake is a beautiful dessert you'll be proud to serve at special meals.

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Lemony Tea Cake

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This light, lemon-poppy seed cake is filled and topped with a lemony blend of Greek yogurt and whipped topping and sprinkled with crisp pomegranate seeds.

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Blueberry-Lemon Crumb Muffins

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Blueberries and lemon are a natural pairing in these light and airy muffins with a delicate brown sugar crumble. If you like an extra blast of lemon flavor, use lemon extract rather than vanilla. These muffins are best with fresh blueberries, but you can substitute with frozen. Don't thaw them before you stir them into the batter.

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Lemon Thumbprint Cookies

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Enjoy these lemony cookies with a warm cup of tea.

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Lemon Tart with Ginger-Oat Crust

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You need two lemons to get enough finely shredded peel and juice for this sure-to-please dessert.

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Lemon Thins

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These lemon cookies are made healthier with whole-wheat pastry flour and they get their zippy flavor from fresh lemon zest and juice rather than lemon extract. This lemon cookie recipe would be the perfect accompaniment to afternoon tea.

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Easy Lemon Soufflés

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A pinch of cream of tartar will help your egg whites stabilize in this refreshingly lemon-y soufflé recipe.

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Fresh-Squeezed Pink Lemonade Ice Pops

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These pink lemonade popsicles will keep you cool all summer long.

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Blueberry Lemon Curd Ice Cream Cake

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For a sweet and easy diabetes-friendly dessert, enjoy this lemony ice cream cake with blueberries.

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Lemon Meringue Sandwich Cookies

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These pretty and lemony gluten-free sandwich cookies make tasty light treats.

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Blueberry-Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake

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This healthy pound cake recipe isn't just delicious--it also only requires one bowl to make. For the best cake texture, be sure to beat the sugar and butter together long enough in Step 2 to look creamy--the time it takes to get there varies according to the type of electric mixer you have. Serve with brunch or alongside a cup of coffee in the afternoon.

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Lemon Poppy Seed Chiffon Cake

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Beating the egg whites separately and then folding them into the batter gives this chiffon cake recipe great height, while the egg yolks make this healthy cake recipe rich and tender. Be sure to use a completely clean bowl and whisk when beating the whites-if the whites come in contact with any fat they won't whip up airy and light.

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Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

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Strawberries and lemons make for a sweet and citrusy treat in this lightened-up cupcake recipe topped with a cream cheese frosting.

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Mini Blueberry-Lemon Cheesecakes

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This muffin-tin mini cheesecake recipe is an adorable, healthy dessert that's the perfect cute size. If making 2 dozen seems like overkill, the recipe can easily be cut in half. If you avoid gluten, use gluten-free graham crackers to make the crust.

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Lemon Squares

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Lemon squares are so delicious, but classic lemon square recipes tip the scales with their calories and saturated fat. Our healthy lemon squares recipe shaves almost 200 calories and more than 5 grams of saturated fat per lemon square. For a variation, use lime juice in place of the lemon juice.

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Lemon Pound Cake

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This wonderful rich, sweet lemon pound cake is downright zingy and the candied lemon slices are a beautiful bittersweet topping that's better than frosting. The best part, though: when you taste it you won't miss all the butter we cut out compared with a traditional pound cake recipe.

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Lemon-Poppy Seed Angel Cake

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A sweet lemon glaze is all that's needed on top of this delicious lemon-poppy seed cake.

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Berry Tart with Lemon Cookie Crust

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The classic, summery flavors of berries and lemon combine in this pretty tart.

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