Lemon Blondies

These Lemon Blondies are soft and chewy like a brownie but filled with lemon flavor and topped with tart lemon icing. Cut into bars or squares and serve at potlucks, showers, birthday parties, or for treats at home.

Lemon lovers will appreciate that both the soft and chewy blondies and the frosting are made using fresh lemons so they are absolutely bursting with bright lemon flavor. If you love lemon, you can also try our Lemon Bars, Lemon Oreos, or these cute little Lemon Cookie Cups.

The Best Lemon Blondies

This recipe for thick and chewy Lemon Blondies is one of my all-time favs when I’m craving a little burst of sunny flavor. They’re part lemon bar, part brownie, and covered with homemade lemon icing. 

The texture is perfection—dense, chewy, with a little hint of caramelized sugar on the bottom. You can really serve these all year long, but I especially love them in the spring and summer months. For more brownie recipes, you can also try our Grasshopper Brownies, Chewy Fudge Brownies, German Chocolate Brownies, or these Brownie Bites.

Key Ingredients

• Butter – if you use salted butter, you might want to reduce the additional salt by about half. Make sure your butter is soft before trying to cream with the sugar.
• Eggs – the egg is what helps bind the dough together and also helps to keep it nice and chewy.
• Fresh Lemons – you will need both the zest and the juice from a fresh lemon for the cookie dough. It’s always best to zest first, then cut in half and juice.
• Baking Powder – you only need a tiny bit of baking powder to help keep these blondies nice and chewy.
• Flour – all-purpose flour is perfect for brownies and blondies like this. If you want to try making these gluten-free, just substitute your favorite gluten-free flour!

For the Lemon Icing

• Butter – just like with the blondies, you want your butter to be nice and soft so that it will creamy up super fluffy.
• Powdered Sugar – powdered sugar will sweeten the icing without adding any grittiness.
• Lemon Juice – be sure to use fresh lemon juice and not the bottled kind. The bottled juice will leave the icing with a very fake flavor that isn’t the best.
• Food Coloring – this is totally optional, but you can add just a few drops of yellow food coloring to make the icing a little yellow rather than white.

How to Make Lemon Blondies

1. Mix the batter. Cream the butter, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest using the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy—about 1-2 minutes.  Next, add the egg, scraping down the bowl as needed, and finally the flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat but don’t overmix!
2. Press into a baking dish. Line a 9″ x  9″ baking sheet with parchment paper, or lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.  Press the cookie dough into the prepared baking pan, covering the bottom of the pan as evenly as possible.
3. Bake. Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until just barely golden on the edges.  Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
4. Make the lemon icing. Meanwhile, cream together the butter and 1/2 cup powdered sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the remaining powdered sugar and lemon juice and mix again until spreadable.
5. Add the icing and serve. Using an offset spatula, spread the lemon icing on the warm lemon blondies.  Spread evenly and to the edges.  
6. Serve. Let the cookie bars cool completely before cutting into 9 even squares.  Enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions

Storing Instructions

• Refrigerator: wrap or store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
• Freezer: blondies that haven’t yet been iced can be wrapped well with plastic wrap and then stored for up to 2 months in the freezer. To thaw, transfer to the fridge overnight or room temperature for about an hour. From there, you can frost them and serve.

More Easy Dessert Bar Recipes

• Creamy Lemon Bars
• Soft and Chewy Scotcharoos
• S’mores Cookie Bars
• Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars
• Butterscotch Bars
• Orange Creamsicle Cookie Bars
• Blackberry Crumble Bars
• Root Beer Blondies
• More Brownies and Bars
• More Easy Dessert Recipes

These dense, chewy, and soft Lemon Blondies are like a cross between brownies and lemon bars. They’re perfect for serving all year long at parties, showers, and more.