Lemon Blondies

I really haven’t given lemons the credit they deserve. Up until now. Case in point, these utterly soft, utterly moist, utterly lemony blondies. I had NO idea lemon could taste this good. I mean, it’s a lemon.

I was so, so wrong.

I baked these and another birthday treat (coming up next!) to celebrate two very special people in my life being born on the same day. I had a frenzied flour-filled, butter-spattered kitchen, but oh-so-worth it. I mean, who doesn’t love birthdays 🙂

I must confess, I still don’t get the difference between blondies and brownies other than the fact that one has a vanilla base and the other a chocolate base. Do enlighten me if there’s more!

I’ve made blondies before, but they were more cookie like. These are like a really, really soft lemon cake. I got the recipe here, and halved it. Sheer deliciousness. Unbelievably moist without adding yoghurt or buttermilk or any of that. And just the right amount of lemony. I wasn’t a big fan of lemon desserts but this one takes the cake. Quite literally.

I decided not to top the blondies with a glaze, because it just seemed unnecessary since these were so good as is. Plus, why not avoid all that extra sugar when you can? 🙂

I don’t have a zester, but grating lemon peel works as well as long as you don’t grate down into the white pith, which is bitter. The batter tastes sooooooo good with the zest and the juice, I had to stop myself from eating it all up as is. I did add a capful of vanilla essence because though the proportions are very similar to a standard brownie recipe, I found the batter a bit eggy since there’s no cocoa or chocolate. It doesn’t mask the lemon at all, but does cover up the egginess, if you’re finicky about it, like I am.

They’re quick to make, quick to bake and require no fancy ingredients. The next time I make these, I might cover the dish with aluminium foil to prevent browning so that lovely lemon yellow colour stays on the top as well 🙂

I wrapped them up all pretty to gift the birthday girl 🙂

When life gives you lemons….

 

What you’ll need:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (omit the 1/2 tsp of salt if using salted butter)

3/4 cup castor sugar (or granulated, I just find castor sugar easier to blend. Powdered is good too)

1 tbsp lemon zest (start off with a bit less if you’d like, and add more towards the end)

2 eggs

1 tbsp lemon juice (ditto above)

1/2 tsp vanilla essence (optional)

 

What to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 175 C and grease a baking dish.

2. Sift the flour and salt together.

3. Using an electric hand blender, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest at medium speed until soft and fluffy. You could do this by hand as well, but it’ll take longer.

4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Add the lemon juice and stir.

5. Stir in the flour mixture and blend again till incorporated.

6. Pour the batter into the dish and bake for about 30 mins or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

7. Allow to cool before cutting and inhaling 🙂