Lemon Lemonies — Like lemon brownies, but made with lemon and white chocolate! Dense, chewy, not cakey and packed with big, bold lemon flavor!
Best Ever Lemon Brownie Recipe
If you like lemon, you’re going to love these bars. They’re packed with bold lemon flavor and are not for the faint of heart.
I’ve seen recipes on Pinterest for similar bars that are called lemon blondies, lemon brownies, or lemon lemonies. My fast, easy, no-mixer version is heavy on the lemon zing and lemonies seems the most fitting.
If you’re looking for traditional lemon bars or a fluffy lemon cake, the lemonies are not it. They’re the lemon equivalent of moist, fudgy brownies with zero traces of cakiness. They’re tooth-sinkingly dense with subtle buttery undertones like blondies have.
After pouring the glaze over the warm bars right as they emerge from the oven, it sets up, seeps into the brownies, and makes them even moister, softer, and more lemony.
With each bite of a lemonie, I wanted another. It’s the type of food that the more you have, the more you want. The boldly tart-yet-sweet element really kept me going back to straighten the rows.
And the texture is exactly what I want in bars. Dense, rich, moist, chewy, and thick enough to be so satisfying.
Between my row straightening and my family’s love for lemon things, the lemonies disappeared fast.
Ingredients for Lemon Brownies
To make the addicting lemony lemon brownies, you’ll need:
- White chocolate chips
- Unsalted butter
- Eggs
- Granulated sugar
- Lemon juice
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Lemon zest
How to Make Lemon Brownies
These lemon blondies are incredibly easy to prepare. Instead of milk or dark chocolate, the lemon lemonies are made with melted white chocolate.
Here’s an overview of how the lemon brownie recipe is made:
- Melt the white chocolate and butter together in the microwave.
- Wait a minute or two before adding the eggs, then add the eggs, granulated sugar, and lemon juice, then whisk until combined.
- Stir in the dry ingredients and then turn into an 8×8-inch baking dish.
- These lemon brownies need to bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter.
- Once the lemon brownies are finished baking, set them aside and whisk together the lemon glaze. Pour the glaze over the brownies.
Tip
You’ll then need to let them cool on your countertop for 2 to 3 hours before slicing and serving.
Can I Use Another Citrus Juice Besides Lemon Juice?
Yes! I’ve actually made these lemon brownies as Orange Orangies as well. You may be able to make a lime version too, but I haven’t tried it out yet.
Can I Double This Recipe?
You most likely can double this recipe and bake the lemon brownies in a 9×13-inch pan. You may need to bump up the baking time though.
Tips for Making Lemon Brownies
The lemon brownies themselves are not super lemony, thanks to melted white chocolate that’s stirred into the batter, but the glaze is pretty zippy. If you want to dial back the overall lemon intensity of the dessert, halve the recipe for the glaze, and drizzle it on like this, rather than flooding the entire surface.
But with lemon desserts, I generally prefer bold lemon flavor, and nothing is every too lemony for my daughter. She picks lemons slices out of ice water and eats them as if they were orange slices. Pucker much.
And it goes without saying that you should use freshly squeezed lemon juice for this spring dessert. The bottled stuff doesn’t hold a candle to juice straight from a lemon!
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Lemon Lemonies
Ingredients
For the Bars
- ¾ cup white chocolate chips
- ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, melted
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
For the Glaze
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- ⅓ cup lemon juice, or as necessary for consistency
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest, or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
For the Bars:
- In a large, microwave-safe bowl add the white chocolate, butter, and heat to melt, about 2 minutes on high power. Stop to check and stir after 1 minute, and then heat in 20-second bursts, stopping to stir after each burst, until mixture can be stirred smooth. White chocolate is very prone to scorching and seizing up, so watch it carefully and don’t overheat.
- Wait momentarily before adding the eggs so you don’t scramble them. Add the eggs, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and whisk until combined.
- Add the flour, optional salt, and stir until just combined; don’t overmix.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
- Bake for about 27 to 28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter; set aside and make the glaze.
For the Glaze:
- In a medium bowl, add 2 cup confectioners’ sugar, 1/3 cup lemon juice, and whisk until smooth. As necessary, add additional lemon juice (or sugar) to reach desired glaze consistency. I used slightly over 1/3 cup lemon juice. Glaze should be fairly thin and easily pourable.
- Evenly pour glaze over bars, smoothing it lightly with a spatula if necessary, but glaze will likely just slide into place.
Evenly sprinkle with lemon zest. - Allow bars to cool in pan uncovered for at least 2 to 3 hours, (or overnight and cover with a sheet of foil) before slicing and serving so glaze can set up.
Notes
- Bars will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Lemon Desserts:
Softbatch Glazed Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies – Big, bold lemon flavor packed into super soft cookies thanks to the cream cheese!! Tangy-sweet perfection! Lemon lovers are going to adore these easy cookies!!
Soft and Chewy Lemon Cookies – They pack a powerful lemon punch, they’re soft and dense rather than cakey, and they’re thick enough to sink your teeth into!
Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Lemon Glaze — If you’re a lemon lover, you’ll love the perfectly tart yet just sweet enough big pop of lemon flavor this soft and fluffy cake has.
Blueberry Lemon Cake with Lemon Glaze — The cake is packed with sweet, juicy blueberries and while there’s lemon in the batter, it’s the lemon glaze that really brings out the tartly-sweet lemon flavor that complements the blueberries so well.
The Best Lemon Loaf (Better-Than-Starbucks Copycat) – Took years but I finally recreated it!! Easy, no mixer, no cake mix, dangerously good, and SPOT ON!!
Lemon Olive Oil Cake – My new FAVORITE lemon dessert of all time!! Lemon zest, juice, extract, and Limoncello add so much AMAZING lemon flavor to this EASY, ridiculously moist no-mixer cake that’s unique and INCREDIBLE!!
Lemon Coconut White Chocolate Gooey Bars — The lemon base is soft and chewy, there’s coconut and white chocolate chips for extra texture, and sweetened condensed milk peeks through the top.
Strawberry Lemon Crescent Ring — This fast and easy ring that’s ready in 30 minutes has strawberries with lemon and cream cheese incorporated for a tangy pop.
Glazed Lemon Pie Bars — The crust is buttery, soft, and tender while the filling is juicy and luscious with the perfect amount of sweet-yet-tart flavor and a lemon glaze boosts the lemon flavor even more.
Originally published June 14, 2014 and reposted February 28, 2020 with updated text.
I made thesein the pan. Then I tried a half recipe baked in a 12 slot madeleine pan. Baked about 12 minutes. Came out well. Make sure you grease the Madeline forms with butter really well. I wanted something that was easy to pass out at a meeting that would not need plates. Flavor is great
I made thesein the pan. Then I tried a half recipe baked in a 12 slot madeleine pan. Baked about 12 minutes. Came out well. Make sure you grease the Madeline forms with butter really well. I wanted something that was easy to pass out at a meeting that would not need plates. Flavor is great
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad they turned out great for you in a pan and in a madeline pan too!
Great recipe. Very easy. I reduced the butter by 2tablespoons and added 2tablespoons applesauce. Seemed to work fine. I was shaving calories. Everyone loved them
Great recipe. Very easy. I reduced the butter by 2tablespoons and added 2tablespoons applesauce. Seemed to work fine. I was shaving calories. Everyone loved them
These were awesome! I added coconut and vanilla to batter, and used less powdered sugar than called for in the icing – I wanted more of a tart glaze consistency. Will make again.
These were awesome! I added coconut and vanilla to batter, and used less powdered sugar than called for in the icing – I wanted more of a tart glaze consistency. Will make again.
Glad they were awesome and that you’ll make them again!
Dear Mrs Averie,
I tried to cook using your recipes. My hubby appreciated the results, thank you very much. But I have a little problem – I live in Europe and it’s difficult for me to understand how many grams 1 cup is. Could you tell me the size of the cup in ml or gr? Thanks a lot in advance.
Well 1 cup of powdered sugar versus 1 cup of flour or 1 cup of raisins are all going to have different gram weights. I don’t convert my recipes into metric so you will have to find a reliable online calculator and do the conversions that way.
Going to make this recipe in two days. Can I use parchment paper instead of aluminum foil? Will I get the same heat distribution ?
Yes parchment is fine. I just use foil for easier cleanup because I get tighter corners with it than with parchment but use whatever you like.
These were SO yummy! Thank you for sharing this recipe :)
Have you tried this recipe with any kind of berries? If yes, what changes you make?
Hi Averie,
I have a Baker’s White Chocolate bar that I have been waiting to use. Could that be used instead of white chocolate chips? How would it convert to the 3/4 cup? Thanks! :)
A quick Google check says 3/4 c white choc chips is 4.6 oz so that’s what you’d want to use.
These were SO yummy! Thank you for sharing this recipe :)
I am glad they were yummy and that you enjoyed them!
These lemon lemonies were a hit!!! I made them for a friend’s birthday and people wanted seconds(which was a bummer because I made 1 batch). I omited the glaze and used 2/3 sugar and it was still sweet with a lemony zing. Thank you so much for a wonderful recipe!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad these were such a hit at the birthday party!
I made this for my sisters baby shower, people liked it but these are sugar bombs. If your not big on super sweet things, lessen the sugar or don’t add the glaze. Also there was too much glaze for it to set. Overall it was an easy lemon recipe, but it’s hard to eat more than a bite. If it’s your thing, go for it! Just waaaay to sweet for me :)
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad people liked them. You can always cut back on the sugar in the glaze or skip the glaze all together, that will tone things down for next time. I love the contrast of the sour + sweet and many people do as well but I understand if you found them pretty sweet.
Going to make them today have to go an buy some white choc chips
Not sure how I feel about chocolate and lemon combo. Is it a bad idea to leave out the chocolate? Can’t wait to try these!
You need the white chocolate for sweetness. It obviously tastes nothing like regular chocolate.
I love lemon actually anything citrus. But what about something like the lemony bars with strawberry
Sounds great. Feel free to experiment on your own and see how it goes.