Cinnamon Apples

These sweet, spiced cinnamon apples are just as good for breakfast as they are for dessert. Serve them over oatmeal, pancakes, or ice cream!

Sweet, soft, and nicely spiced, these easy cinnamon apples taste like the inside of a warm apple pie. But unlike a pie, which requires hours of chilling and baking and cooling, this cinnamon apples recipe is ready in under 30 minutes. I love its simplicity. Its lack of crust, batter, or crumble topping allows it to be just as at home at breakfast as it is at dessert. It also means that this recipe is 100% about the apples. If you have a craving for cozy, apple-y fall flavor, there’s no easier or more satisfying way to indulge it than…

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Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

This peanut butter banana smoothie is thick, creamy, and packed with sweet and nutty flavor. Make it for an easy, delicious breakfast or snack!

This peanut butter banana smoothie is the kind of breakfast that makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning. It calls for 4 simple ingredients, it takes minutes to make, and it tastes so good that it could almost pass as dessert. The peanut butter, banana, and whole rolled oats make it thick and creamy, and they infuse it with the BEST sweet and nutty flavor. They also happen to add fiber, protein, potassium, and vitamin C, meaning that this delicious breakfast is a healthy one too. I think you’ll love it! Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie Recipe…

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Zucchini Brownies

You won't taste the zucchini in this easy zucchini brownies recipe. It melts into the rich chocolate batter, making them amazingly gooey and moist.

As soon as I finish writing this post, I’m heading to the kitchen and making more of these zucchini brownies. It’s impossible for me to sit here, looking at photos of their glossy tops and gooey, chocolatey middles and NOT start to crave them. Tell me they’re tempting you too? The really fun thing about this zucchini brownies recipe is that even though is has 2 WHOLE CUPS of zucchini inside it, the zucchini is almost undetectable. It melts into the rich chocolate batter, giving the brownies an amazing moist and gooey texture. I’ll admit that they’re slightly cakier than…

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Blueberry Cobbler

This easy blueberry cobbler recipe is a delicious showcase for summer fruit. A layer of juicy, jammy berries bubbles beneath a golden biscuit topping.

When life gives you blueberries, make blueberry cobbler! With a golden biscuit topping and jammy fruit filling, it’s just as delicious as blueberry pie, but it’s much simpler to make. I love this blueberry cobbler recipe because it puts the fresh fruit front and center. I only sweeten it lightly, letting the berries’ natural sweetness shine, and I skew heavy on the ratio of fruit to topping. This blueberry cobbler recipe features a thin layer of golden, buttery biscuits with lots of juicy blueberries bubbling underneath. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and it’s absolute heaven. Blueberry Cobbler Recipe…

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Ice Cream Cake

Celebrate summer with this homemade ice cream cake! It features a chocolate cake base topped with three colorful layers of ice cream.

It’s the start of a long summer weekend – what better way to celebrate than with a homemade ice cream cake?! Until I started making this ice cream cake recipe, every slice of ice cream cake I’d ever eaten was the same. I’m sure you know the kind. It has layers of chocolate and vanilla ice cream, cookie crumbles, and hot fudge, with swooshes of whipped cream frosting decorating the outside. I’ll admit that the combination is delicious, but when I started working on this ice cream cake recipe, I wanted to do something different. I loved the idea of…

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Blueberry Compote

This easy blueberry compote is sweet, jammy, and bursting with bright berry flavor. It's a perfect topping for pancakes, waffles, yogurt, and more.

I have a super simple recipe for you today: a 5-ingredient, 20-minute blueberry compote. It’s one of my favorite recipes to make when I have a surplus of fresh berries (or a big bag of frozen berries) on hand. It tastes so good that you could eat it with a spoon, but it’s really meant to be used as a topping. Drizzle it over pancakes, oatmeal, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a delicious pop of bright berry flavor. Blueberry Compote Recipe Ingredients Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy blueberry compote recipe: Blueberries, of course! Fresh…

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Lemon Yogurt Cake

This lemon yogurt cake is my ideal dessert. It's a breeze to make, and it's moist, tender, and full of zesty flavor. A simple glaze takes it over the top.

Here’s a little something to brighten up your week: an easy, zesty lemon yogurt cake recipe! This style of yogurt cake has its roots in France, and the beauty of it is its simplicity. The ingredient list is short and sweet, and you don’t need any special equipment to make it – a couple bowls, a loaf pan, a whisk. You’ll also need measuring cups to make this recipe, but – fun fact! – in France, home bakers might measure the cake ingredients in a yogurt container, making it even simpler still. Because I love anything lemony (anyone surprised?), I…

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Easy Lemon Glaze

You only need 2 ingredients to make this easy lemon glaze! It's the perfect zesty topping for baked goods like cakes, cookies, and scones.

This lemon glaze recipe is my favorite way to make everyday baked goods feel a little bit more special. With just 2 ingredients, it’s amazingly easy to make (just add them to a bowl and stir!), and the minimal effort is always worth it. It looks so pretty on top of a loaf cake, cookies, or scones, and it gives them an extra pop of sweet, zesty flavor. I’m sharing some of my favorite recipes to pair with it in the post below. But really, anytime you want to elevate a simple treat, this lemon glaze will do the trick.…

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Healthy Carrot Cake

Our favorite healthy carrot cake recipe! Moist, warmly spiced, and topped with cream cheese frosting, it's easy to make and perfect for celebrations.

It’s carrot cake season! I don’t know about you, but when the weather warms up, my dessert cravings shift away from chocolate towards lighter, brighter treats. This change works out well for me, because carrot cake is Jack’s all-time favorite dessert, and we make it every year for his April birthday. You’ll find our go-to healthy carrot cake recipe below. It’s based on my mom’s, and it uses her secret ingredient: applesauce. It steps in for some of the oil and sugar that you’d find in a traditional carrot cake recipe without compromising on taste. This healthy carrot cake is…

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Craving something sweet? Soft, chewy, and packed with gooey chocolate, these chocolate chip cookie bars are an easy, delicious treat.

These chocolate chip cookie bars are the kind of super simple, super delicious treat that we could all use more of in our lives. They have perfect puffy tops, lightly crisp edges, and soft, chewy middles that are packed with chocolate chips. They’re sweet, but not too sweet, and brown sugar and vanilla fill them with rich, warm depth of flavor. Though they’re not necessarily faster than regular cookies (make sure to give them time to cool before you slice them!), they are definitely easier. Instead of scooping the dough or rolling it into balls, all you have to do…

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Date Balls

These date balls are the BEST healthy snack! Made with Medjool dates, oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips, these high-fiber treats taste like cookie dough.

These date balls are one of my favorite healthy snacks. Sticky, sweet, and studded with chocolate chips, they taste like little balls of cookie dough, but they’re made with 8 simple, wholesome ingredients. Medjool dates bind them together, oats add fiber, and walnuts and almond butter pack them with protein and healthy fats. They’re quick and easy to make in the food processor, and they keep for weeks in the freezer or fridge. At least they do in theory. If you love this date balls recipe as much as we do, there’s no way they’ll stick around that long. Between…

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A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Welcome to Love & Lemons!

I'm Jeanine Donofrio, a New York Times bestselling cookbook author and recipe developer. I share fresh, delicious vegetarian recipes that celebrate seasonal ingredients and flavors.

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