I’ve seen a lot of names for this dessert floating around. Lemon brownies, lemon blondies, “lemonies” and so on. It’s hard to say what fits the best. It’s not a lemon bar, since it doesn’t have that division between a lemon curd and a shortbread base. It’s not quite a blondie, since it doesn’t go for the caramel flavors of a normal blondie. Maybe “lemonie” is about the best? Let me know what you would call them.
Whatever name you want to use, what you get is something with the texture of a fudgey brownie, but the bright tang of lemon and the sweetness of sugar and icing. The end result is something rich yet bright, perfect for those summer cookouts or potluck gatherings.
There’s not really much to say about the recipe. It’s fairly simple to mix everything together, pour it in a baking dish, and bake it. The only odd ingredient is a bit of lemon extract, and that’s even optional if you don’t want to buy some (Amazon link). I like to keep a bunch of extracts on hand, but other than vanilla, it’s almost never required.
My one “pro tip” is just to use parchment paper beneath the batter. It helps a ton with getting the lemonies out of the pan when they’re cool so you can cut and serve them more easily.
Lemon Blondies (or Brownies)
Equipment
- Mixing Bowls
- Rubber Spatula
- Parchment Paper
- 8×8" Baking Dish
Ingredients
For the Lemonie
- ½ Cup Melted Butter
- 1½ Cup White Sugar
- 1 Lemon Zested and Juiced
- 1 Egg
- 2 Egg Yolks On top of the one whole egg.
- 1 Tsp Lemon Extract
- 1½ Cups Flour
- ¾ Tsp Baking Powder
For the Icing
- 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
- 1 Lemon Zested
- 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice From one of the lemons.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Prepare your pan by greasing it and lining it with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang to grab later.
- Stir the flour and baking powder together and set aside.
- Mix the melted butter, sugar, and lemon zest, beating until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mostly mixing each before adding the next. Finally, add in the lemon juice and extract (if you're using it) and fully mix it all.
- Add in the flour mixture and fold it all to combine it, but don't over-work it.
- Spread the batter evenly in the pan. It will be thick so you may need to nudge it with your spatula.
- Bake for 27 or so minutes. The edges will turn golden and a toothpick should be clean after inserting it in the middle.
- Mix together your icing by just mixing up the ingredients. Once the lemonies are mostly cool, spread the icing over the top and let the last residual heat coat it all. Then let it finish cooling, remove from the pan, cut, and serve.