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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12 Healthy Muffin Recipes

These healthy muffin recipes include blueberry muffins, banana muffins & more! Made with wholesome ingredients, they're moist, fluffy, and delicious.

The next time you’re in the mood for an easy baking project, roll up your sleeves and try one of these healthy muffin recipes! They include a recipe for every classic muffin you can think of—blueberry, banana, zucchini, chocolate chip, and more—but they’re all made with wholesome ingredients like whole wheat flour, almond flour, Greek yogurt, and maple syrup. Still, they deliver everything you want in a muffin, healthy or otherwise. They’re moist, tender, puffy, and lightly sweet. Two (or three) for me, please! Before you get to baking, here’s a tip: all these healthy muffin recipes freeze perfectly. I…

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Roasted Pecans

Nutty and rich, these roasted pecans are an addictive appetizer or snack. My recipe has two variations - one savory and one sweet. Both are delicious!

A few weeks ago, I made a double batch of these roasted pecans. I felt ridiculous when they all came out of the oven. We had jar after jar of roasted pecans sitting on our counter. I thought we’d be eating them for weeks! But, as it turns out, these roasted pecans are such a tasty snack that as soon as Jack or I polished off one handful, we’d inevitably circle back for more. Two days later, there wasn’t a pecan in sight. If you’re looking for an easy, festive treat to bring to a party or get-together this week,…

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14 Best Vegan Cookie Recipes

These delicious vegan cookie recipes include peanut butter cookies, sugar cookies, chocolate chip, and more. You won't miss the butter or eggs one bit!

You don’t need eggs or butter to make delicious cookies, and these vegan cookie recipes are here to prove it. They include all the classics – peanut butter cookies, sugar cookies, gingerbread, and chocolate chip – as well as fun, out-of-the-box vegan cookie recipes for anyone looking to try something new. Whether you’re gearing up for holiday baking or just in the mood for an easy sweet treat, I hope you find some vegan cookie recipes you love! Vegan Spice Cookies These vegan cookie recipes are especially perfect for the holidays, but if you’re tempted to make them at another…

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Mexican Wedding Cookies

These Mexican wedding cookies are tender, delicate, and full of rich, buttery pecan flavor. Dusted in powdered sugar, they're a perfect holiday treat.

Mexican wedding cookies are one of my favorite holiday treats. They have a rich, nutty flavor and a texture so delicate that they practically melt in your mouth. This recipe makes a decent batch – about 40 cookies – but I still wouldn’t expect it to last long. The last time I made these Mexican wedding cookies, they all vanished in two days flat! Mexican Wedding Cookies Recipe Ingredients Mexican wedding cookies go by many different names: snowballs, Russian tea cakes, Mexican wedding cakes, polvorones, and more. I did some digging on their history while I was working on this…

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How to Make A Cheese Board

Learn how to make a perfect cheese board for entertaining! Filled with a fun variety of cheeses, fruits, and spreads, it offers something for everyone.

Whether I’m hosting a dinner party, a happy hour, or a holiday get-together, a cheese board is always my go-to appetizer. It’s my #1 choice for so many reasons – it offers a little something for everyone, it looks so pretty and festive, and it’s easy to put together (no cooking required!). Now, if you’ve never made a cheese board before, it might not seem so easy. What cheeses do you pick? What do you pair with them? I promise that the process really is simple, and to get you started, I’m sharing my favorite way to assemble a cheese…

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Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

Say hello to the best vegan peanut butter cookies out there! These easy cookies have chewy middles, crumbly edges, and a fantastic nutty flavor.

As soon as I tried these vegan peanut butter cookies, I exclaimed, “They taste like Nutter Butters!” I meant it in the best way. They have a delicious crumbly texture with slightly chewy middles, and they’re bursting with sweet peanut butter flavor. For me, they’re the perfect peanut butter cookies. If you need a second opinion, talk to Jack. I’ve made over six batches of these vegan peanut butter cookies in the last two weeks, and they’ve all disappeared. Suffice it to say, we’re hooked. Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies Ingredients Here’s what you’ll need to make these vegan peanut butter…

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Applesauce Cake

On a fall day, this applesauce cake really hits this spot. It's moist, tender, and warmly spiced. Add cream cheese frosting to take it over the top!

Want to know how much I love this applesauce cake recipe? I made it four, that’s right, four times in two weeks. That’s a lot of applesauce cake! Well, it’s a lot of applesauce cake in theory, but in practice, it seems like a whole lot less. You snag a slice for breakfast, circle back later for an afternoon snack, and maybe reach for one or two more for dessert. By the end of the day, that first cake is almost gone, and by the end of the next, it’s completely vanished. What can I say? At this time of year,…

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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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