These frosted lemon sugar cookie bars (or lemon blondies) have soft, chewy centers with tons of lemon flavor in every bite! Topped with lemon buttercream and toasted almonds, they're a fun, easy cookie bar for any occasion!
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Why You'll Love These Lemon Blondies!
- Super easy to make and decorate!
- Delicious with or without the lemon buttercream
- They're light and lemony with soft, chewy centers
You might also like these brown butter sugar cookies or these lemon curd cookies!
Ingredient Notes
You just need a few ingredients to make these frosted lemon sugar cookie bars!
Lemon Juice & Zest - I highly recommend using fresh lemons for the best flavor! But you can always substitute with a little bottled lemon juice if necessary.
Almond Extract - This is optional, but I think almond extract pairs beautifully with lemon!
Toasted Almonds - I like to garnish the frosted lemon blondies with sliced toasted almonds but that's optional.
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Sugar Cookie Bars
Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together the softened butter, brown sugar, and, granulated sugar until smooth and creamy.
Add in the eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and almond extract and beat until the texture is light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes, it should look much paler than before).
Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined. The dough should be wet and sticky.
I love all of my USA Pan cake pans because they are extremely sturdy and truly nonstick. However, I still like to prepare my pans to ensure the lemon blondies come out easily.
Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the cake pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray. Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray (you can use metal binder clips to secure it to the pan). After baking you’ll be able to just slide the blondies right out of the pan!
Scoop the dough into the bottom of your prepared pan and press down into a nice even layer (you can wet the tips of your fingers to easily flatten out the dough).
Place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up slightly before baking.
While the blondies are chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake blondies at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
Remove from the oven and let fully cool in the pan. Then use the edges of the parchment paper to slide the lemon sugar cookie bars out of the pan.
Once the lemon blondies are fully cool, scoop dollops of lemon frosting over the surface of the blondies. Then gently smooth into an even layer and make swirls in the frosting using the back of a spoon.
Sprinkle the frosted lemon sugar cookie bars with toasted sliced almonds if desired!
Tips for the Best Brownies!
(and blondies too!)
Use room temperature ingredients! Always make sure ingredients like butter, eggs, milk, etc. are at room temperature before baking (unless the recipe indicates otherwise)! This ensures they'll incorporate into the batter more easily and leads to overall better texture. Remove all ingredients from the fridge 30 minutes to an hour before baking for best results.
Measure your flour correctly! It's most accurate to use a kitchen scale, but if you're measuring by volume you want to spoon and level! Fluff up the flour a bit with a spoon, and then spoon flour into the measuring cup. Once it's overflowing, use the back of a knife to level it off. Don't ever pack flour into the measuring cup or you'll end up with way too much! Improperly measured flour can lead to dry, dense baked goods. Same goes for cocoa powder!
Use an oven thermometer! Just because your oven says it's 350, doesn't mean it is! If you oven hasn't been calibrated recently, it can be as much as 30 degrees off, which will negatively affect all baked goods from cakes to macarons! An oven thermometer is the easiest/cheapest way to ensure your oven is always at the proper temperature.
Use a metal baking pan! Not all materials are created equal when it comes to baking. Metal cake pans conduct heat much better than other materials like glass or ceramic, so your baked goods will cook faster and more evenly!
It's better to undercook the brownies slightly, than overcook them! Brownies will dry out quick, so it's best to err on the side of caution when baking brownies! Bake just until an inserted toothpick comes out mostly clean but still a tad gooey. If you aren't sure, just go ahead and take them out because they'll continue to firm up as they cool. Note: the larger the pan, the less time the brownies will take to cook.
Be patient and let them cool. Warm brownies fresh out of the oven are delish, I know. But it's best to let them fully cool before digging in. The brownies will be less likely to crumble when you cut them and the center is more likely to be fully cooked while still being perfectly fudgy.
Recipe FAQ's
Store frosted blondies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
To get clean slices of these frosted lemon blondies, run a super sharp knife under hot water until the blade is warm, then wipe it dry. Then cut a single slice and repeat. It's a bit tedious to clean the knife before every cut, but you get perfect slices every time!
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
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Recipe Card
Frosted Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Sugar Cookie Bars
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 large eggs , room temperature
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon almond extract, optional
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Lemon Buttercream
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon almond extract, optional
- toasted sliced almonds, optional
Instructions
Sugar Cookie Bars
- Add in the eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and almond extract and beat until the texture is light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes, it should look much paler than before).
- Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until thoroughly combined. The dough should be wet and sticky.
- Cut a parchment paper sling slightly smaller than the width of the cake pan and make sure it fits flatly in the bottom. Then lightly spray the bottom and sides of the pan with a vegetable oil based spray. Place you parchment paper sling in the bottom of the pan and smooth it out so that it sticks to the pan spray (you can use metal binder clips to secure it to the pan). After baking you’ll be able to just slide the blondies right out of the pan!
- Scoop the dough into the bottom of your prepared pan and press down into a nice even layer (you can wet the tips of your fingers to easily flatten out the dough).
- Place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up slightly before baking.
- While the blondies are chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake blondies at 350°F for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
- Remove from the oven and let fully cool in the pan. Then use the edges of the parchment paper to slide the lemon sugar cookie bars out of the pan.
Lemon Buttercream
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the softened butter and powdered sugar until smooth and creamy.
- Add in the lemon juice and almond extract. Beat the buttercream for 3-4 minutes on high speed until light and fluffy.
- Once the lemon blondies are fully cool, scoop dollops of lemon frosting over the surface of the blondies. Then gently smooth into an even layer and make swirls in the frosting using the back of a spoon.
- Sprinkle the lemon sugar cookie bars with toasted sliced almonds if desired!
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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