How to Make Lemon Lush

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Are you a fan of lemon? Do you like simple desserts that are perfect for the summer, social gatherings, etc.? Then you are in luck, you need to give this lemon lush recipe a try! Lemon Lush is a layered dessert consisting of 4 layers: a cookie or shortbread base, cream cheese frosting layer, lemon pudding layer, and a top whipped topping layer. They are so good! Let’s get started!

Ingredients

To make lemon lush at home, you need the following 7 simple ingredients:

• Flour – Use plain all-purpose flour.
• Butter – Salted or unsalted butter is fine. Make sure it is soft, so if you remember, set it out at room temperature about an hour or two before you want to use it.
• Cream cheese – This needs to be soft as well, so put it out when you take the butter out.
• Sugar – Use white granulated sugar or powdered sugar.
• Lemon Pudding – Use the Instant lemon pudding or cook-and-serve, or make lemon pudding completely from scratch.
• Milk – This will be used to make the pudding.
• Whipped topping – You can use store-bought whipped topping or make your own sweetened whipped cream and use that.

Equipment/Tools

• Bowls
• Pastry blender, fork, or food processor
• Spatula
• Offset cake spatula and pastry roller work great
• 13×9-inch baking pan
• Hand or stand mixer

How to Make Lemon Lush at Home

Begin by preheating the oven to 350F or 176C.

Time to make the first layer, which is the cookie or shortbread layer. Typically, the crust is simple, using just flour and butter, but you can modify it and use any cookie dough recipe that you want, or even something like a graham cracker crust from cheesecake or something like that.

In this case, in a large bowl, combine the flour and the soft butter with a pastry blender, food processor, or stand mixer with paddle attachment.

Once the dough is made, spread it evenly on the bottom of a 13×9-inch pan. I usually butter or spray the pan with cooking spray first. Use your fingers to spread it out, or something like an offset cake spatula or pastry roller.

Bake the crust in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until lightly golden brown. The edges will probably pull away from the pan a little bit, too. Allow the crust to cool for 20 to 30 minutes.

Lemon Lush Layer 2: Cream Cheese Frosting

Next, make the cream cheese frosting layer. Combine soft cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl using a mixer.

NOTE: Remember to remove the cream cheese frosting from the fridge along with the butter to soften.

Next, spread it evenly across the top of the cookie/shortbread crust layer using a spatula like an offset cake spatula.

Layer 3: Lemon Pudding Layer

Next up is the lemon pudding layer. You can make your own lemon pudding from scratch or make the cook-and-serve kind. OR it is very common to just use the instant lemon pudding mix, which is what I am showing in this lemon lush recipe.

Mix the pudding packets and the cold milk together in a large bowl for 2 to 3 minutes until it starts to get thick.

Then pour it onto the cream cheese layer and spread it out evenly with a spatula.

Put the Lemon Lush dessert in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to set. You can keep it in there for several hours before you want to serve it.

Finish that Lemon Lush

Finally, all you need to do is spread whipped topping or homemade sweetened whipped cream on top of the lemon pudding layer to finish the lemon lush. You can do this right before you want to serve it, or do it a few hours before serving.

Now cut it up into squares; you should be able to get 15 to 20 servings from it, depending on how large you make the squares.

Enjoy!

How long does homemade Lemon Lush last?

Keep any leftovers in the pan, cover it, and place it in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. You can also freeze it for 3 to 4 months. Just make sure the container or pan that it is in is freezer safe.

Craving other lemon desserts? Check out these recipes:

Lemon Cake Recipe

Easy Lemon Curd

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Lemon Bars