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| Lemon Brownies, Photo: Neurotic Kitchen |
We'll get to the recipe soon, but first, some tips:
Bring butter fully to room temperature.
Do not overmix batter.
Do not overbake batter. It's done when you see just the slightest golden color at the very corners of the pan. Not more than 25 minutes in most ovens - you'll want to keep an eye on it.
Lemon Brownies
Recipe very lightly adapted from Wicked Good Kitchen
Ingredients:
1 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine Sea Salt
2/3 Cup Salted Butter (equal to 11 Tablespoons) + a bit extra for greasing the pan
2 Large Eggs + 1 Large Egg White
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Grated Lemon Zest
2 Tablespoon + 2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
Glaze Ingredients:
3/4 Cup Sifted Confectioner's Sugar
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
2.5 teaspoons Lemon Zest
+ one drop of yellow food color (completely optional)
+ flakey Sea Salt (also optional)
Equipment:
Parchment Paper
Glass or metal pan (9x9)
Method:
Place rack in lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
Grease the baking pan with butter and place parchment into the pan, leaving an overhang so you can easily lift the brownies out of the pan once they've cooled.
Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a whisk in a large bowl and mixing by hand), stir together flour, sugar, and salt until well incorporated. Add butter and mix until well combined. Do NOT beat at high speed or over mix. In a small bowl whisk the eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice together. Scrape edges of the bowl and pour the contents into the flour batter bowl, stirring with a whisk (or electric mixer) until the batter well blended and smooth. Once again, do not over-beat (note: this is precisely why I like to make this recipe by hand, just be sure ingredients are well-incorporated).
With a rubber spatula, scrape batter into the baking pan and smooth the top. Place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Do not overbake. You will see slightly golden edges beginning to appear. The middle will be semi-firm but not hard.
Let the brownies fully cool and then gently lift them out of the pan by the parchment overhand, supporting the bottom as well.
Make the glaze by combining the confectioner's sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest and whisk vigorously until smooth and glossy. You have two options with the glaze - you can either pour it onto the uncut brownies and cut them once it has hardened, or you can cut the brownies into small bitesized bars and separate them on a plate. Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze onto each until almost totally covered. This is my preference. In either scenario you can optionally sprinkle the tiniest bit of flakey sea salt on to of the icing as it hardens. If your lemon zest is not bright yellow, you can add a drop of yellow food color to the glaze before adding it.
These brownies can be stored up to five days in fridge if you place them in an airtight container. They also freeze nicely!
