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.
These are tasty, unfortunately they tasted more like lemon cake than a brownie.
So delicious and easy to make! I don’t measure my lemon zest!! And I try to put more lemon juice in the glaze!! Yummy, delicious and will be the hit of dessert ♥️ thanks for sharing!!
So glad you loved them!!
I never ever comment on recipes, but I just made these, and I can’t even express how INCREDIBLE they are!! So light and airy and fluffy, and the perfect, tart glaze! I will 100% be making this again. Thank you for the recipe!
Ah, thank you so much for the glowing review!
Perfect and easy
Incredible recipe! Just the appearance and the light fluffiness, was able perfectly to balance out the lemoniness! I wouldn’t say mine came out like a stodgy brownie, but it was somewhere in between ( that and a low cake). I added about 90 g melted white chocolate to mine, and did the lemon zest and sugar rub ( to bring out the oils), then I browned the butter and sugar ( with a little less sugar). This dessert was a dream!
These are simply awesome! I especially loved that they didn’t have a ton of sugar. I also loved the glaze – very tart and paired perfectly with the brownies! I actually gave most of the batch away to a friend as a gift, but the 4 pieces I saved for me I kept in the refrigerator and ate cold. YUMMY! Thank you for the recipe!
This recipe is so easy and it tastes amazing 👏
I do not have 8×8 so I used 13×9, I should have doubled the recipe. It still turned out decent enough. Definitely taste lemony. My kid devoured it nonetheless.
Listen. I wish I could post a picture of mine. They came out perfectly! I used gluten free flower and butter with olive oil, and I made glaze with lime zest and juice. The lime flavor gave the blondies an extra kick of flavor. Be sure to only mix the flower until combined; do not over mix the flower. Gratitude to the creative for this wonderful recipe!!!
Yay! That is so great to hear! I am so glad that you loved these lemon brownies. Thanks for sharing and for the great review!
This is WICKED!!! It came out amazing, the texture is next level, this recipe is perfection, and so easy to make, I actually doubled it… SO GLAD I DID. Thank you x – a definite go-to recipe for me from now on
Awe! Thanks so much for such a great review! I am so glad that these lemon brownies were such a hit!
Absolutely delish, but this came out like a delightfully light and fluffy cake, not at all the chewy crunchy texture I would expect with a brownie, or even a Blondie. Also portion is super small to get to that 124 cal.
Second time making these in the last week, needless to say, these Lemonies are amazing! They melt in your mouth with a beautiful lemon flavour. Definitely adding this to my baking repertoire for sure!
Thank you for sharing!
Ps: I definitely recommend doubling the lemon zest and juice for that extra kick 🥰
You are making me want to go and make these now! Thanks for sharing! I am so glad that you loved these lemon brownies!
After it cools for 10-15 mins after coming out of the oven. Do you glaze it and let them completely cool before removing them from the pan? Can’t wait to make these tomorrow!
Yes, that is correct! Enjoy making these lemon brownies!
I wanted to make these for Mothers Day and was thinking about adding a blueberry sauce. Would this be something you suggest or would there be too much liquid?
You can always use this blueberry sauce over top of the brownies. That would give it a great flavor combination!
I love this recipe. I’ve made it a few times and it’s always been amazing. Like seriously amazing. I made a batch yesterday and today lol. I also make a chocolate version which is really good too!
It was super moist and utterly delicious 😋
Absolutely too awesome.
Wow! These are sooooo good!!