Lemon brownies are soft, gooey and fudgy lemon bars with the same dense and buttery texture of classic brownies. These refreshingly decadent and easy to make lemon bar brownies are made with fresh lemon zest and lemon juice. They’re topped with a sweet and tangy lemon glaze.
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Why Should You Make This Recipe
Take a quick look around my blog and you’ll quickly notice how much I love adding a fun flavor twist to classic brownies. I adore my Avocado Brownies, Almond Flour Brownies, Banana Brownies, Peanut Butter Brownies and Dairy Free Brownies. This lemon brownie is brownie in texture, but full lemon bar in flavor and may just be my new favorite.
- Simple pantry ingredients. You only need a handful of basic ingredients to make a batch of quick, simple and simply decadent fudgy lemon brownies.
- You love rich, fudgy and chewy brownies with a twist. If being super quick and easy to make wasn’t reason enough, these lemony brownies boast the same decadent textures of regular homemade brownies with the bright and refreshing flavor of fresh lemons.
Ingredients
Before I show you how to simple it is to make this lemon white chocolate brownie recipe, make sure you have these ingredients ready to go.
- Dry Ingredients: Gather your all purpose flour and salt.
- Wet ingredients: Gather your unsalted butter, white chocolate, sugar, lemons, eggs, lemon juice and vanilla extract.
Substitutions
Making these brownies with lemon and white chocolate is super simple and you probably already have everything you need. But, in case you’re missing something, here are my recommended substitutions to make these brownies any time you want.
- Unsalted Butter: You can use the same amount of salted butter as written in the recipe, but omit the added salt.
- White Chocolate: Use a good quality white chocolate bar such as Ghirardelli.
- Granulated Sugar: This recipe hasn’t been tested with other types of sugars.
- Lemon Zest and Juice: Feel free to use other types of citrus such as lime or Meyer lemons.
- Eggs: This is an essential ingredient for these rich and fudgy lemon white chocolate brownies. This recipe hasn’t been tested without eggs.
- Vanilla or Lemon Extract: This is more for flavor. Use vanilla to enhance the buttery flavor or lemon extract to add another layer of lemon flavor.
- All Purpose Flour: This recipe hasn’t been tested with an alternative flour. However, if you want to make this recipe gluten free, use a good 1-1 flour and measure by weight (120 g) rather than cups.
Variations
- Lemon Brownies without White Chocolate: Follow my recipe for Lemon Lavender Cookie Bars, but omit the lavender.
- Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze: If you would like to top these lemony brownies with a cream cheese glaze, whisk 2 oz. (57 g) room temperature cream cheese with 1 cups (120 g) powdered sugar and 1 - 2 tablespoons (15 - 30 ml) lemon juice until smooth and well combined. Pour over the cooled lemon bar brownies and enjoy.
- Lemon Brownies with Cake Mix: Follow my recipe for Strawberry Brownies but use a lemon cake mix and top with a lemon glaze.
How To Make
Learn how to make lemon brownies in a few simple steps.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper along the bottom and two sides. In a large mixing bowl, add sugar and zest 3 large lemons directly into the sugar. Whisk the zest and sugar together to release the oils from the zest to create a wet sand like texture. Set aside for now.
- Add butter and chopped white chocolate to a microwave safe bowl. Heat the butter and white chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until the white chocolate and butter have fully melted and well combined. Add the lemon sugar directly to the white chocolate and butter mixture. Heat the lemon sugar, butter and white chocolate in the microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir the mixture together until well combined. If the mixture is very hot, allow the mixture to cool for 5 minutes before moving on to the next step. Once the mixture has cooled to warm, whisk in the eggs, egg yolk, lemon juice and vanilla extract until glossy. This takes about 1 minute of consistent stirring. Stir in the flour and salt until just combined.
- Evenly pour the lemon and white chocolate brownie batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 28 - 33 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Cool the brownies in the pan for 30 minutes. Lift the brownies from the pan to fully cool on a cooling rack.
- Whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice together in a mixing bowl until smooth and well combined. Pour the glaze on top of the fully cooled brownies. Allow the glaze to set, slice the brownies and enjoy.
How To Store, Freeze and Thaw
- Store: Once the lemony brownies have cooled completely to room temperature, place them in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Store the lemon filled brownies in the fridge for up to a week.
- Freeze: Make sure the fudgy lemon squares are completely cooled to room temperature. Cut them into your preferred amount of pieces. Individually wrap each chewy brownie bar in plastic wrap and place in a ziplock bag. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
- Thaw: The easiest and tastiest way to thaw the citrus brownies is to let it sit out at room temperature for at least two hours or overnight in the fridge.
M’s Expert Tips
- Use a good quality white chocolate bar. Do not use white chocolate chips as they are not designed to melt easily.
- Bring cold ingredients to room temperature: This allows the ingredients to mix together more evenly which requires less mixing, resulting in deliciously chewy brownies.
- Use an 8x8 pan metal pan. This recipe was created using an 8x8 aluminum pan. If you are using a glass baking dish, decrease the oven temperature to 325 F add keep an eye on the brownies for the baking time.
- Line the baking pan with parchment paper. This helps to release the brownies from the pan more easily. You can also lightly grease the pan if you prefer not to line it with parchment paper.
- Look for the signs the brownie is done. Use the baking time as a guide rather than a strict rule. Signs a brownie is finished baking are a set center with baked edges that have slightly pulled away from the edge of the pan.
- Fully cool the brownies. You may be very tempted to slice into these lemon juice brownies, but a little cooling time makes them even more amazing and gives them time to firm up.
- Use a plastic knife for perfectly sliced brownies. Fully cool the lemon filled brownies to room temperature. Then use a plastic knife to cut the brownies with clean and perfect lines.
FAQs
What do lemon brownies taste like?
These brownies with lemon and white chocolate taste regular fudgy brownies combined with fudgy lemon bars. If you love the flavor of buttery lemon squares and the fudgy texture of brownies, you will adore these lemon bar brownies.
Aren’t these lemon brownies just lemon blondies or lemon bars?
Classic brownies often use melted chocolate in the brownies batter. For that reason, these lemon brownies use white chocolate to achieve that fudgy brownie texture. Lemon blondies and lemon bars do not use chocolate and are more like a shortbread or cookie consistency.
Can I make these lemony brownies gluten free?
Yes, simply use a 1 - 1 gluten free flour in place of the all purpose flour.
Do citrus brownies need to be stored in the fridge?
These fudgy brownies can be stored at room temperature for about 3 days or in the fridge for up to one week.
Other Lemon Recipes to Try
- Lemon Lavender Cookies
- Lemon Sugar Cookies
- Lemon Drop Cookies
- Lemon Ricotta Cookies
- Lemon Lavender Cookie Bars
If you try this Lemon Brownies recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! - M
Lemon Brownies Recipe
Lemon brownies are soft, gooey and fudgy lemon bars with the same dense and buttery texture of classic brownies. These refreshingly decadent and easy to make lemon bar brownies are made with fresh lemon zest and lemon juice. They’re topped with a sweet and tangy lemon glaze.
Equipment
- 1 8x8 (20 cm) aluminum pan
- 1 sheet parchment paper
- 1 citrus zester and juicer (or reamer)
- 1 whisk and flexible spatula or spoon
Ingredients
Lemon Brownies
- 1¼ cup (250 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (175 g) unsalted butter, sliced
- 4 oz. (113 g) white chocolate bar, chopped
- 3 tablespoons lemon zest about 3 large lemons
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (120 g) all purpose flour
Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C). Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper along the bottom and two sides.
- In a large mixing bowl, add sugar and zest 3 large lemons directly into the sugar. Whisk the zest and sugar together to release the oils from the zest to create a wet sand like texture. Set aside for now.1¼ cup (250 g) granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons lemon zest
- Add butter and chopped white chocolate to a microwave safe bowl. Heat the butter and white chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until the white chocolate and butter have fully melted and well combined. Add the lemon sugar directly to the white chocolate and butter mixture.¾ cup (175 g) unsalted butter, sliced, 4 oz. (113 g) white chocolate bar, chopped
- Heat the lemon sugar, butter and white chocolate in the microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir the mixture together until well combined. If the mixture is very hot, allow the mixture to cool for 5 minutes before moving on to the next step.
- Once the mixture has cooled to warm, whisk in the eggs, egg yolk, lemon juice and vanilla extract until glossy. This takes about 1 minute of consistent stirring. Stir in the flour and salt until just combined.2 large eggs, room temperature, 1 large egg yolk, room temperature, 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract , ½ teaspoon salt , 1 cup (120 g) all purpose flour
- Evenly pour the lemon and white chocolate brownie batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 28 - 33 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Cool the brownies in the pan for 30 minutes. Lift the brownies from the pan to fully cool on a cooling rack.
- If you would like to top these lemon white chocolate brownies with a lemon glaze, whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice together in a mixing bowl until smooth and well combined. Pour the glaze on top of the fully cooled brownies. Allow the glaze to set, slice the brownies and enjoy.1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice
Notes
Store: These fudgy brownies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for about 1 day and then should be stored in the fridge for up to another 3 - 4 days. The high fat content keeps these brownies fudgy even when chilled.
See the Variations section of the blog post to make these lemon brownies without white chocolate, to top them with lemon cream cheese glaze or to make these brownies with lemon cake mix.
did you make this recipe?tag @olivesnthyme on Instagram
Robin says
I’m kind of new to baking, have never used lemons, and so I was happy about how easy it was to follow this recipe. And wow! These were AMAZING. I swear I could have eaten half the pan in one sitting, they were that good.
Megan says
Hi Robin, I am so happy to read how much you love these lemon brownies. I also love that you are new to baking and found the recipe easy to follow. Thank you for trying the recipe and for leaving such a kind review.