These lemon brownies are sweet and tangy with a soft, moist texture topped with a delicious glaze. This lemon blondie is the best with lemon zest and juice in every bite!
If you love lemon desserts try this lemon meringue pie recipe, these lemon bars and this lemon sugar cookies recipe, too!
Table of Contents
Favorite Lemon Dessert
These lemon brownies may be one of my favorite desserts ever! I love fudgy chocolate caramel brownies or rich brown butter blondies, but there’s something about a lemon brownie that’s light and fresh.
They are moist and buttery, like a soft sugar cookies recipe, with just a hint of light lemon taste like my lemon crinkle cookies. The powdered sugar glaze on top is tart and sweet and makes a perfect compliment to the brownies without being overpowering.
Lemon Brownie Recipe Ingredients
These easy lemon brownies are simple to make with flavors that are light and sweet with a gooey texture. Perfect for lemon lovers!
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Salted butter: Butter adds richness and a savory taste to brownies.
- Sugar: Sweetness is needed to balance the lemon flavors.
- Lemon: Both lemon zest and fresh lemon juice will be used in these brownies for that fresh lemon flavor.
- Eggs: This will help combine the lemon brownie batter and give it the color and flavoring.
- All-purpose flour: Thickens the batter and gives it a nice thickness when baking.
- Baking powder: Helps raise the brownies and thickens them while baking in the oven.
Substitutions and Variations
Mix it up with these lemon brownie variations!
- Other citrus. Try orange zest with orange juice or lemon zest with lime juice.
- White chocolate. If you missing the chocolate normally in brownies, add some white chocolate chips.
- Extract. Add up to a teaspoon of vanilla extract or 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract or coconut extract for a little flavor.
- Topping. Try a cream cheese glaze or even just a dusting of powdered sugar. Add a drizzle of white chocolate or top with coconut like these lemon coconut bars.
- Gluten-free. A few followers have had success substituting gluten-free flour cup-for-cup for all-purpose flour to make gluten-free.
How to Make Lemon Brownies
Lemon brownies are easy to make! Simply, mix ingredients together, bake, then make a glaze to frost the brownies.
- Mix. Using an electric mixer, beat together the butter, sugar, and zest with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. One at a time, mix in the eggs. Then add in the lemon juice. Mix in the flour and baking powder until just combined.
- Prepare. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8″ baking pan with parchment or foil and spray with nonstick spray. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth it out evenly.
- Combine. Whisk together the ingredients in a medium bowl. Pour on top of the brownies and spread evenly to coat.
- Bake. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for about 10-15 minutes.
Lemon Glaze
The glaze is sweet with a tart lemon flavor and takes these brownies over the top! Add a little more (or less) juice or zest depending on how much citrus flavor you’d like.
- Powdered sugar: This is a sweet and powdery texture sugar that helps build up frostings and glazes.
- Fresh lemon juice: Squeeze the sliced lemon right into the glaze.
- Zest from half a lemon: The zest will add a tart but sweet texture to the glaze. This is an added touch to the top of the homemade lemon brownies.
Tips for the Best Lemon Brownies
Follow these easy tips and modifications to make the best lemon brownies.
- Prepare. Line your pan with parchment or foil for easy cleanup.
- Fresh lemon. If you’re a big lemon lover like me, you can add more zest and juice to the batter and glaze. Learn how to zest a lemon the easy way.
- Double it! Feel free to double the recipe and bake in a 9×13″ pan.
- Cool brownies. Make sure the brownies have cooled completely before slicing them.
Do you love brownie recipes? Try copycat cosmic brownies, marshmallow brownies, or cheesecake brownies next time you are baking!
More Lemon Desserts
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Lemon Brownie Recipe
Video
Ingredients
For the brownies:
- ½ cup salted butter , softened (1 stick)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 lemon , zested
- 2 large eggs
- 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
For the glaze:
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- zest of 1/2 lemon
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare an 8×8" pan by spraying with cooking spray or lining with parchment paper, and set aside.
- Make batter. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together 1/2 cup salted butter, 3/4 cup sugar, and zest of one lemon until light and fluffy. Add 2 eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Then add 1 Tablespoon lemon juice. Add 3/4 cup flour and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and mix until just combined.
- Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth into an even layer. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the brownies comes out clean. Let cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Glaze. For the glaze, whisk together 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1 1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice and 1/2 lemon zest, then pour over the brownies, spreading evenly to coat.
- Cool and slice. Let cool completely before slicing. Then slice into 16 squares.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Recipe FAQs
Here are the difference between the three and how these came to be lemon brownies (lemonies). For these to be true blondies, they would need brown sugar!
Lemon bars are made with a shortbread crust and a filling that consists of mainly of eggs, sugar and lemon juice. While usually brownies are fudgy from chocolate and butter, they can be different flavors, just like these with lemon or my strawberry brownies!
Simply cover the room temperature lemon brownies pan in an airtight container or using plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for four to five days depending on how long they still stay moist and chewy.
Yes! You can easily freeze if desired. Just wrap it in plastic wrap and then again with foil. To thaw, set out at room temperature.
Categorized as: American, Bars, Brownies, Desserts, Fruit Desserts
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
I tweaked this recipe. I doubled the amount of zest and used all the juice from one lemon. Still a tiny bit on the sweet side but definitely a tartness also. Delish!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! :)
So delicious! All family members love it 🥰 Btw, can I use plain greek yogurt instead of butter?
I’m so glad to hear your family loves it! I haven’t tried subbing greek yogurt for butter before so I’m not sure. Let us know how it goes if you give it a try!
I tried using plain greek yogurt, half the amount of butter. It makes the texture of the brownie became a bit chalky. My boys love the butter version of course 😊 but if you prefer less calorie/fat then you can sub with greek yogurt, didn’t change the overall taste. I also use less sugar, 1/2 cup for the brownie, and 1/2 cup powdered sugar for the glazing.
The flavor is so good. I added more lemon zest and juice as noted, otherwise followed the recipe exactly.
Mine came up somewhere between a cake and a brownie – a bit fluffy. I would prefer denser I believe, perhaps my eggs were too large. Trust me on this, that pan is not going to last.
This review is being written in the time of quarantine, these are bringing the spring indoors!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for your comment. :)
These are wonderful, especially when warm. I’ll be making this many more times.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I baked 23 min maybe my oven runs hot. Delicious and very lemony. Thank you
So glad you enjoyed them! :)
Do these hold together like chocolate brownies? Thinking of trying to make truffles with them
Hi Lea! The are kind of a mix between a brownie and a cake texture, so I think truffles would work well with these! Please let us know how it goes if you give it a try.
Re: Lemon Brownies Question—I am trying to use whole wheat flour as much as possible. Would that work in this recipe? Thank you very much.
Hi! I haven’t tried it in this recipe, but I think that should be fine! :)
I’m going to serving these all spring and summer this year. The flavor is outstanding and the texture is perfection!
I’m making this for the weekend, I bet everyone is going to devour it!
P.S. I make my lemon blondies gluten-free. And everyone loves them. I used Pillsbury’s Gluten-Free all purpose flour blend this time. I have also used Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 baking flour with good results. So this recipe is a double blessing to be so delicious and so easily made gluten-free with the same results.
Thank you so much for your comment. It will be so helpful for those that are gluten free!
These are so delicious! A crowd favorite at my church. Not just for summer either, a bright, delightful pick-me-up after cold, snowy days in New England. Your recipes are always so YUMMY! Thanks for another go-to recipe.
I’m so glad it has been a favorite! Thank you for your comment and review! :)
Love this recipe! I use a lot more lemon zest in the batter. It’s a favorite with every lemon lover!
I’m so glad to hear you love this recipe! Thanks for sharing your tips!
Love this recipe! So tasty and delicious! I used swerve sugar substitutes to make them sugar free and added extra lemon to preference.
Has anyone tried using almond flour? To make it Keto?
I’m glad you enjoyed them! I haven’t tried using almond flour with these, so I’m not sure how it would work.
Hamazing!!!!!
I made them gluten-free by using gf flour and some xanthan gum! I had a bunch of people as me for the recipe and they are completely gone!
I’m so glad to hear they turned out well with gluten free flour. Thanks so much for sharing!
Excellent recipe. It’s sure to be a hit in my group. The recipe time (and my oven) didn’t work well so I’m looking forward to another go a little longer.
This was easy and quite delicious… thank you for sharing your recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for leaving a comment and review Kim!
I love this recipe. But I doubled the lemon & cut back the sugar a bit
I’m so happy to hear that you love it! Thanks for sharing your substitutions. :)
Great flavor. Glaze did not look like picture. It was a glaze not icing. Texture more like cake than brownie. Still good !