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Recipe Roundup

What to Bake with A Bag of Lemons

4 recipes that take full advantage of citrus season.

January 17, 2025

If you asked me for the one ingredient that I always have on deck, my answer is almost always lemons. Like many, I use them for every day cooking—in vinaigrettes, to squeeze over salmon, and to massage kale before adding to salads. But more importantly, I like to keep them around for when I’m baking. I'll often add a squeeze of lemon juice to milk rather than buying buttermilk, rub zest into sugar for extra flavor, or make a quick lemon curd if I can find some way to fit it into the recipe.

With that being said, when I decide I want to bake something heavy on lemon flavor, the first thing my mind jumps to is, you guessed it, lemon squares. After all, how often were they sold at bake sales or brought as post-game snacks growing up? Coming up with other ideas usually takes me some thought, so if you’re in the same boat, here are the recipes at the top of my list this citrus season:

1.Lemon Olive Oil Loaf Cake with Mascarpone Whipped Cream

I’m definitely biased, but this recipe, which I developed, is one I recommend making if you want an easy yet elevated dessert. It’s a citrusy loaf cake made with extra-virgin olive oil and mascarpone, then rolled in granulated white sugar as a fun coating (that isn’t a glaze), and dolloped with a mascarpone whipped cream. And if you just want a simple loaf, you can always stop after coating it in sugar.

2.Lemon Posset

It’s not a surprise that these Lemon Possets have 189 reviews. It’s a very low-risk-high-reward recipe, and by that I mean it’s extremely easy. It only has three ingredients, requires almost no active cooking time, all while being entirely irresistible. Essentially, it’s a fuss-free lemon custard that doesn’t require any egg-tempering or precise temperature controls. Ten out of ten, would recommend.

3.Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

This one also has raving reviews. It’s a simple recipe made with sour cream for extra tenderness, and the baked muffins get finished off with a simple lemon glaze. What’s not to love?

4.Crepes with Lemon Curd & Blueberry Compote

When someone makes you crepes in the morning, you know it’s going to be a good day. As long as you have a good skillet, enough butter, and in this case, lemon curd and blueberry compote, you can’t go wrong. With the spring holidays not being all too far out, it would be the perfect recipe for a festive brunch.


What are your favorite lemon recipes? Let me know in the comments!

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • anthony96
    anthony96
  • Bevi
    Bevi
  • Smaug
    Smaug
Nea Arentzen

Written by: Nea Arentzen

Test Kitchen Content Creator & Recipe Developer at Food52

3 Comments

anthony96 January 27, 2025
Good with Eureka lemons too!
 
Bevi January 20, 2025
https://food52.com/recipes/21381-meyer-lemon-vanilla-bean-and-ginger-karma-marmalade
Good with Eureka lemons too!

 
Smaug January 17, 2025
Here in lemon country we like LOTS of lemon (for example, I use a full cup of juice for a 9" lemon meringue pie). In the summer, lemonade disappears by the gallon. Make a simple syrup with 1c. sugar, cool and add to 1 1/2c. lemon juice, add water to make 2 qts. Here's one to try; for a pie, make a standard curd but reserve the egg whites. Whip whites and fold into curd (I usually don't use all the whites); pour while still warm into a still warm parbaked crust and bake at 325 for about 20 minutes- it will puff up quite a bit, then fall most of the way when it cools, but still a fairly puffy pie.
 

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