Damn you, Pinterest. It's visual crack and I can't stop pinning!A friend Victoria recently pinned a recipe for "lemony lemon brownies". Sounds gross, right? Brownies to me mean chocolate. Don't worry - this recipe doesn't have any of that. It's more a lemon-bar, really. Anyway, wanted to bake something to take to a Christmas party and this recipe seemed super simple.
The original recipe site:
https://sites.google.com/site/beckycharms/cakies/lemony-lemon-brownies
The "Brownie" Batter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour {King Arthur All-Purpose Flour}
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt {Sea Salt}
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Tart Lemon Glaze
1 rounded cup powdered sugar
4 tablespoon lemon juice
8 teaspoons lemon zest
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease/Spray an 8-by-8-inch baking dish with butter/cooking spray and set aside.
Zest and juice two small/large lemons; set aside. {whatever you have}
In
the bowl of an electric mixture fitted with the paddle attachment,
beat the flour, sugar, salt, and softened butter until combined.
In
a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice
until combined. Pour into the flour mixture and beat at medium speed
until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.
Pour
into baking dish and bake for 23-25 minutes, or until just starting to
turn golden around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center of
the brownies comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before glazing.
Do not overbake, or the bars will be dry. {even with the yummy glaze}
When
brownies are cooled completely, make the glaze...sift the powdered
sugar, add lemon zest and juice, and whisk together all
three ingredients. Spread 1/2 the glaze over the brownies with a rubber
spatula. Let glaze set. Spread the remaining glaze over the bars, and
let it set. This glaze does not harden like most. Cut
into bars, and serve!
The batter looked heavenly after it was mixed. I wanted to eat the whole thing! It was like whipped lemon heaven.
Unfortunately, I don't own an 8x8 pan only a 9x9 one and so the end result was kind of thin (like a little over a cm) after about 18 minutes. It didn't rise any. I used a silicone pan which made the brownie/cake tear when I popped it out. The glaze was runny (as warned) and it took about 4 small lemons to make it. Anyway, I used one of those flat scrapers to try and cut it and what a mess that made. I switched to a pizza cutter about 3/4's of the way through and that was a much, much better idea. Less mess and clean cuts!
The husband said it was tasty and my 2 year old toddler kept sneaking in and taking them. The people are the party I went to gave it high reviews too. Next time I make it I'd like to try and find a smaller pan.
Update March 3 2013: I've made this three more times since my initial attempt. I use my rectangular baking pan lined with parchment paper which works a lot better. Especially since I can just lift the parchment and put into a re-purposed chocolate tin.
The first time I took it to a friend's house for her Oscars party. Either the lemons weren't super fresh or I stored them too close to a squash or used a knife that I had used to make squash soup (which I admit I made that same day), because it had a squashy flavour about it. Or maybe it was just the piece I got? One guy couldn't stop eating them. Nica said the last time I made them the bars were better.
The second time I took them into work. Weren't bad. I think I still overcooked them by a minute but the frosting really saved it. I selectively gave them out so had leftovers and when Nica and I ate them a couple of drunken nights later they were AWESOME.
The third time I made them I used Trader Joe's gluten-free flour which you can use "cup for cup like real flour". I wasn't sure of the chemistry of everything because after beating the butter, flour, sugar and salt, the resulting mixture was more solid and moist than crumbly like it normally is with regular flour. And after adding the lemon and egg mixture, it wasn't fluffy and creamy and almost looked like the lemon curdled. But I baked it anyway and it turned out super moist! Thumbs up gluten-free recipe and in fact, I think I almost prefer it to the regular flour kind. Upping the rating from 8.5 to 9 out of 10.
So my tips with this recipe?
* Use parchment paper to line whatever you're baking it in. Easier to transfer out of the pan (and clean), easier to hold in the glaze and easier to cut.
* Use a pizza cutter to slice the cake.
* I used a KitchenAid mixer to mix everything. Probably not a tip since I'm sure you can still use an electric beater. I just wanted to point out that you don't HAVE to.
* You will need 6 (small) lemons to make this recipe and you will have leftover juice that you can freeze in ice cube trays for future use. 2 lemons for the cake, 4 lemons for the icing.
This is a super simple recipe that I can even get my toddler involved in. The hardest part is getting the rind off the lemons.
Update March 3 2013: I've made this three more times since my initial attempt. I use my rectangular baking pan lined with parchment paper which works a lot better. Especially since I can just lift the parchment and put into a re-purposed chocolate tin.
The first time I took it to a friend's house for her Oscars party. Either the lemons weren't super fresh or I stored them too close to a squash or used a knife that I had used to make squash soup (which I admit I made that same day), because it had a squashy flavour about it. Or maybe it was just the piece I got? One guy couldn't stop eating them. Nica said the last time I made them the bars were better.
The second time I took them into work. Weren't bad. I think I still overcooked them by a minute but the frosting really saved it. I selectively gave them out so had leftovers and when Nica and I ate them a couple of drunken nights later they were AWESOME.
The third time I made them I used Trader Joe's gluten-free flour which you can use "cup for cup like real flour". I wasn't sure of the chemistry of everything because after beating the butter, flour, sugar and salt, the resulting mixture was more solid and moist than crumbly like it normally is with regular flour. And after adding the lemon and egg mixture, it wasn't fluffy and creamy and almost looked like the lemon curdled. But I baked it anyway and it turned out super moist! Thumbs up gluten-free recipe and in fact, I think I almost prefer it to the regular flour kind. Upping the rating from 8.5 to 9 out of 10.
So my tips with this recipe?
* Use parchment paper to line whatever you're baking it in. Easier to transfer out of the pan (and clean), easier to hold in the glaze and easier to cut.
* Use a pizza cutter to slice the cake.
* I used a KitchenAid mixer to mix everything. Probably not a tip since I'm sure you can still use an electric beater. I just wanted to point out that you don't HAVE to.
* You will need 6 (small) lemons to make this recipe and you will have leftover juice that you can freeze in ice cube trays for future use. 2 lemons for the cake, 4 lemons for the icing.
This is a super simple recipe that I can even get my toddler involved in. The hardest part is getting the rind off the lemons.
This is what I use to zest my lemons, and any citrus..it works perfectly! {remember - only the zest, not the white underneath.. that will make them bitter.}
ReplyDeletehttp://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/microplane-rasp-grater/
{last time I checked, they were also sold at Bed Bath & Beyond, so you can use a coupon..but I happen to love shopping at Williams Sonoma}
Cool, thanks Becky! I feel like a celebrity has visited my site!! :)
DeleteI've always eye-balled those microplanes and wondered if they were better. I'll have to give it a try. This recipe was so super simple and easy, the only part my toddler couldn't do was getting the rind off the lemons! But I'll get her doing that soon enough since I know this well-loved recipe will be in this house for years.