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This Frozen Lemon Dessert is a nice light, very refreshing dessert and comes together quickly and easily.
My love affair with lemon has pretty much been a life long one. At least as far back as I can remember.
This recipe may just be the reason for my life long lemon love affair. It is the first lemon dessert I remember eating. The recipe came from my Grandma Zola and has been in my recipe collection for decades. Each time I enjoy this dessert it reminds me of my Grandmother.
The Best Way to Crush Cookies
This dessert is made with a base of crushed Vanilla Wafers. You could also use graham crackers if you prefer.
You can crush the cookies several different ways.
Blender Method. Place them in a blender and pulse until fine crumbs form. You can also do this in a food processor.
By Hand Method. If you don’t have a blender or food processor, place the cookies in a zippered gallon food storage bag, zip close and then uses a rolling pin to crush the cookies. You won’t get as fine a crumb this way but it still works.
How to Make Frozen Lemon Dessert
- Mix together yolks, sugar and lemon juice in a pan and stir over low heat until thick. Approx. 4-5 minutes
- Remove from heat and cool.
- Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into cooled, cooked mixture.
- Whip cream and fold into above mixture
- Spread 2/3 of the vanilla wafer crumbs over bottom of an ungreased 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 pan.
- Pour in lemon mixture
- Sprinkle with remaining crumbs.
- Freeze for 3-4 hours or until ready to serve.
It is the perfect dessert for a warm spring or summer day and would be a lovely dessert to serve for Easter dinner or brunch.
Can I Double This Recipe?
The only downside to this recipe is that it only makes an 8 x 8 pan full but you can easily double it and use a 9 x 13 if you need to feed more people.
How Long Will it Last In The Freezer?
Stored in an airtight container this dessert will last for several weeks, just make sure it doesn’t get freezer burn.
For other lemon goodness check out these recipes:
- Lemon Ice Cream
- Lemon Meringue Pie
- Delicious Lemon Angel Pie
- Lemon Oatmeal Cookies
- Perfect Lemon Cupcakes
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Frozen Lemon Bars Recipe
Frozen Lemon Dessert
Ingredients
- 3 eggs separate yolks and whites
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup vanilla wafers crushed
Instructions
- Mix together yolks, sugar and lemon juice in a pan and stir over low heat until thick. Approx. 4-5 minutes
- Remove from heat and cool.
- Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into cooked mixture.
- Whip cream and fold into above mixture
- Spread 2/3 of the vanilla wafer crumbs over bottom of an ungreased 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 pan.
- Pour in lemon mixture
- Sprinkle with remaining crumbs.
- Freeze
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Nutrition Facts:
Sadie says
Excellent! This is a delicious, make-ahead dessert, and perfect after a heavy meal. I followed the recipe for the most part, but used 1/4 cup lemon juice and added lemon zest to the custard. Another change was to gradually add 1/4 cup sugar when whipping the egg whites. Instead of vanilla crumbs I made a gingersnap crust in an 8-inch springform pan. The filling came up to the top of the pan. The finishing touch was a mixed berry coulis drizzled over the slices when plating. The filling softens quickly so there’s no need to take the dessert out of the freezer until ready to serve.
Iris Othrow says
My mother made this and I have been making it since 1957 when I got it from her. The only difference is her recipe called for 1/4 cup lemon juice and I believe a couple of teaspoons of grated lemon zest. Always delicious and a light dessert for after an Easter dinner.
JLo says
I am going dairy, sugar and gluten free these days but my mom makes this dessert at least once a year at get-togethers and it’s my favorite!
I’m wondering if you or anyone has any ideas for how to substitute something dairy free for the whipping cream? Something healthier like monk fruit or coconut/maple sugar for the sugar? and, a gluten free item similar to the vanilla wafers?
Any ideas are much appreciated. I’m very new to this stuff.
Elena says
I do keto so I switch out ingredients to make it fit my diet. So I’m sugar free, and I don’t use flour. I’ve made my own nilla wafers using this recipe, I got from someone else’s website for a banana pudding that was keto friendly for me. This is the wafer/cookie recipe post.
For the cookie layer: sometimes I double this.. As needed
2 tbsp Butter softened
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 egg
1/2 cup Super Fine Almond Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 cup Confectioners Erythritol
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silicone baking mat.
In a large bowl, combine the butter, vanilla, and egg with an electric mixer. Next, add in the Erythritol, Almond flour and baking powder and mix well.
Once this mixture is well combined, spread it into an even layer approximately 8″ x 16″ on the prepared baking sheet. (Don’t spend a ton of time making this perfect, once it is done baking it will be cut apart anyway. (Once removed from oven I cut into squares with pizza cutter, when still soft, will crisp up after cooled.)
Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Use squares as is or crumble squares to make crumbs.
Rosie says
Kinnikinnick makes GFvanilla wafers. I can’t use heavy whipping cream either, I’ll substitute Lite cool whip for that part.
Donna says
Just found your recipe and I would like to use it in my Skills for Independent Living II class.
It’s perfect to use during the Egg unit. The recipe includes several of my learning objectives like-
separating eggs, eggs as a thickener, cooking eggs on low heat, and beating egg whites. Can’t wait to see how they do. Thanks!
Leigh Anne says
Glad you found the recipe and it sounds like it is perfect for your class.
CamiCakes says
Do you think this would work as a pie? I was trying to find a recipe to use as a pie or ice cream cake with lemons. Hubby loves lemon and his birthday is soon. Also, we try to go gluten free as much as possible because we feel better that way. So I planned to use gluten free ginger snaps for the crust. Any input is appreciated! Many thanks!
Leigh Anne says
I think it would totally work as a pie! Enjoy.