A moist, lemon cake with lemon Oreo cookie dough filling, and a lemon cream cheese frosting. This Lemon Cake with Lemon Oreo Filling is a lemon lover’s dream!

Lemon Cake
I mentioned previously that for Mother’s Day this year, I made a Lemon Strawberry Cake. I loved that lemon cake so much, I wanted to have it again in my life. And truth be told, when I was making that cake for Mother’s Day, I made it several times. So, I had a few layers stored in my freezer.
I’ve been thinking about those luscious, lemony layers for the last few weeks. It’s been like money burning a hole in my pocket. I needed to make them into a delicious cake I could eat. I wanted to use them for something all lemon. Not overly powerful lemon, but deliciously, perfect lemon.

Lemon Cookies
In my office building, there is a vending machine that has super tasty lemon cookies. They are my go to rough day, good day, or really any day afternoon snack. I thought about using them for a lemon cookie dough filling, but they’re a Maryland cookie, and I knew if I posted a recipe using them, all my non-Maryland readers might not be able to find them.
I was going back and forth about the cookie to use for the filling when a beautiful thing happened … I was walking through the grocery store and saw lemon Oreo cookies. I bought them, ate them, and knew they were the answer to my lemon cake filling predicament.

Lemon Oreo Cake
My next predicament was deciding when to serve said lemon cake. I just couldn’t find the right occasion …. until last weekend. I have a friend named Whitney. She loves to bake and cook like me. We both love Pinterest and keeping up with the latest in the food website world. We also have preschool aged boys. So, last weekend we decided to have a ‘Whitney and Christine bake while our boys play’ day. It was perfect. Our boys played bumper cars in the kitchen while Whitney and I made delicious food. And since Whitney likes lemon, this cake finally had it’s time to shine!
Lemon Cake Tips
This Lemon Oreo Cake is perfect for summer! The cream cheese and Cool Whip frosting have a cool, light taste. It’s rich, delicious, and all around amazing. Here are a few tips for when you make it:
- This is a moist cake that rises well, so do not open the oven before the baking time is finished, it could cause your cake to fall.
- For the filling, I use almond flour since there can be concern over eating raw all-purpose flour. Many flours can be substituted for the filling, but make sure you follow appropriate guidelines for heating raw all-purpose flour.
- Do not over beat the frosting after the Cool Whip is added. I have made this mistake and it leads to a runny frosting that will not stay on your cake.


Lemon Cake with Lemon Oreo Filling
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice from about 1.5 large lemons
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest from about 1 large lemon
- 2/3 cup sour cream
Filling
- 15 lemon Oreo thins chopped (about 3/4 cup)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 3-4 tbsp milk
- 1 cup almond flour
Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 lemon zest of lemon
- 8 ounces Cool Whip thawed
- pinch salt
Instructions
Cake Directions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line three, 8″ round pans with parchment paper. Flour and butter sides of pan (I use baking PAM to do this).
- In large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
- In base of a stand mixer, whisk together sugar and lemon zest. Add softened butter and beat on medium-high speed until lightened and fluffy, about 1.5 minutes. Then, beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down sides as needed.
- Stir together oil and lemon juice in a small bowl. Then, alternate mixing in flour mixture and oil mixture in about 3 additions each. After each addition, start on low speed and gradually increase to medium-high for a few seconds. Once all flour and oil has been added, beat on medium-high until well combined. Finally, stir in sour cream until just combined.
- Divide batter among the three prepared pans and bake for 27-30 minutes, or until tops are golden and toothpick in center of cake comes out with just a few crumbs. Do not open oven during baking time.
- Let cakes cool in pans for at least 10 minutes before removing. Cool completely before frosting.
Filling Directions
- Place Oreos in food processor and pulse until the consistency of bread crumbs.
- Use a mixer to beat together butter and powdered sugar and light and fluffy. Scrape down sides as needed. Add almond extract and beat until well combined.
- Mix in lemon Oreos until well combined.
- Beat in almond flour until well combined.
- Slowly mix in milk until desired consistency is reached, I used 4 tbsp.
Frosting
- Use a mixer to beat together cream cheese, sugar, powdered sugar, lemon zest, and salt until smooth, about 2 minutes.
- Stir in Cool Whip. You may do this by hand or using mixer on lower speed. Mix until just combined. Over mixing will result in a runny frosting.
Assembly
- Level cakes. Place half of filling on one layer. Place next cake layer on top of filling. Use rest of filling on next layer. Place final layer on top.
- Use frosting to cover outside and top of cake. Decorate as desired. As it is a soft frosting it does not hold detail well, so round tips, like a Wilton 2A, work best.
- Decorate with lemon slices and lemon Oreos as desired.
Disclaimer: All nutritional information provided on this website is an estimate only and is not guaranteed.
If you enjoyed this Lemon Cake with Lemon Oreo Filling, you might also enjoy these other SugarSpicesLife recipes:
Lemon Strawberry Cake
Churro Cake
Lemon Zucchini Bread
Blackberry Raspberry Cobbler
Peach Cobbler
Links to items used to make this recipe:
- Chicago Metallic Professional Non-Stick Round Cake Pan, 8-inch I use these for all my 8″ cakes as I believe they bake well
- Wilton 8-Inch Carboard Cake Circle
- Parchment Paper Liners for Round Cake Pans 8-inch These cut out a lot of time in my cake making process
- Kitchen Aid Mixer
- Wilton Buttercream Tip Set These make buttercream frosting look beautiful. For this, since the frosting doesn’t hold shape well, I recommend a round tip.
- Wilton Pastry Bags I use the 12″ bags for almost all frosting … I use them so much that I buy them in bulk
- Wilton Cake Leveler See about me to understand why I love this thing.

Looks fantastic!
Thank you so much!