Lemon Sheet Cake is fresh and light and perfect for warm weather! Soft Lemon Cake frosted with Cream Cheese Frosting with a hint of fresh lemon.

This recipe is easy peasy lemon squeezy and so yummy! Who doesn’t love some lemon cake with lemon frosting!?!

Piece of lemon sheet with cream cheese frosting topped with lemon slices for garnish

Making the Lemon Sheet Cake

Lemon sheet cake made with fresh lemon is easy peasy lemon squeezy!! I love that it uses fresh squeezed lemon juice for the cake and frosting!

You will mix your dry ingredients in one bowl. Then, mix your wet ingredients in another bowl. Slowly add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and stir until combined.

lemon sheet cake batter mixed up and a large spoon scooping the batter to show consistency

The dry ingredients you need are flour, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

For the wet ingredients for this lemon cake with lemon frosting, you will need butter, eggs, fresh squeezed lemon juice and sour cream. If you have made my Super Soft Sugar Cookies, you know that sour cream used in baking makes everything so soft!

Pour your batter into a greased half sheet pan.

Note: A jelly roll pan is a bit smaller than a half sheet pan so leave out some of the cake batter if using a smaller jelly roll pan or you may end up with a mess in your oven.

Lemon Sheet Cake batter in half sheet pan waiting to bake

Baking the Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Sheet Cake

You will bake your sheet cake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center of the cake, and edges start to brown. Let the sheet cake cool completely before frosting.

Lemon Sheet Cake freshly baked in the sheet pan

a closeup shot of the corner of the baked lemon sheet cake showing how the cake should look once baked and the cake will pull away from the pan

The Frosting

Every sheet cake needs a sweet and creamy frosting. Lemon cake with lemon frosting is a must!

This recipe has the best frosting ever. I use my popular Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe. The frosting calls for vanilla extract but I add in some fresh squeezed lemon juice.

It is subtle in the frosting but is the perfect addition to go along with the soft and moist lemon cake! You can add the lemon juice to taste. If you want a strong tart lemon flavor add more, add less if you want it more subtle, or skip the lemon because the cream cheese frosting on its own is perfect!

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting for Lemon Sheet Cake

Let the cake cool and then frost it with the lemon cream cheese frosting.

a closeup shot of the frosted lemon sheet cake showing the corner of the pan

an above view of the lemon sheet cake frosted with lemon cream cheese frosting

Slice your cake and enjoy!

a shot showing the sheet of cake with a piece cut from the cake sitting on a plate next to the pan and lemons by the plate and pan

a bite of the lemon sheet cake on a fork showing the yellow crumble of the cake

If you liked this recipe please take the time to leave a comment and a star rating below! Also, don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram!

For some other delicious sweet treats, try my Banana Bars, Sheet Pan Carrot Cake Bars, my Peanut Butter Fingers, Mom’s Pumpkin Bars, or my Super Soft Sugar Cookies, Sheet Pan Brownies with Cream Cheese Frosting, Texas Sheet Cake or Banana Cookies!

Here are some products I used to make this recipe!

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Lemon Sheet Cake

This Lemon Sheet Cake is Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy! Soft lemon cake with a cream cheese lemon frosting makes this treat perfect for warm weather, picnics, BBQs, or any get together! It feeds a crowd and is loved by all!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 25

Servings: servings (approx.)

Equipment

half sheet pan See notes below

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sour cream *do not use light or low fat
2 eggs
1 cup lemon juice *fresh squeezed *6-7 medium lemons, about 9 smaller lemons
1 1/3 cups white sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

LEMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese *not light or fat free
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 tbsp lemon juice – fresh squeezed *more or less to taste
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375° Grease your sheet pan.
*See the post above to see the half sheet pans I use.
** Se notes below if you are using a jelly roll pan (it is a bit smaller).
In a bowl add the dry ingredients together : flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix the butter, eggs, sour cream, and lemon juice together.
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Mix well.
Pour the cake batter into the greased sheet pan.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until the cake starts to pull away from the pan and a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center of the cake.
NOTE: The top of this cake will not turn super golden brown like some white cakes will do when baking.
Let the cake cool before frosting.

LEMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Using a mixer, hand mixer or by hand mix all of the frosting ingredients together. You can add more or less fresh squeezed lemon juice to taste.
***I love a lot of frosting on my cake. If you are frosting it and it just seems like too much for you, don't worry about using it all! Use only what you like!

Notes

If you are using a jelly roll pan, the pan is a bit smaller than a half sheet pan. You will need to leave out some of the cake batter so the case doesn’t rise and bake over the sides of the pan. To be on the safe side, fill your jelly roll pan only half way up the sides.

There is a link above for the half sheet pans I use.

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an approximation.

Check out these yummy photos!

a piece of lemon sheet made with fresh swueezed lemons frosted with cream cheese frosting that is also made with fresh lemons and a lemon slice on top of the cake for garnish

above shot of the lemon sheet cake with cream cheese frosting

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