These incredible Gluten Free Lemon Brownies are topped with creamy lemonade icing. They are decadent, flavorful, and so easy to make!
I know I have talked about our lemon tree in a few posts, but it is hard not to love our tree. It gives us tons of giant lemons most of the year! What better way to celebrate our lemon tree than to make the perfect gluten free lemon dessert?
This new lemony lemon brownies recipe is pretty incredible. They melt in your mouth with every delicious bite. I make a lot of brownies, but I think you will agree this is going to become popular!
If you want to try more of my gluten free brownie recipes, try my traditional gluten free brownies. If you love white chocolate, these gluten free white chocolate brownies are pretty amazing too!
This recipe is amazing! I’ve made it a few times. YUM.”
Barbara F.
Why these are so good:
- These lemony gluten free lemon brownies are bursting with sweet, tart lemon flavors.
- These brownies are soft and delicious. All you need are 7 simple ingredients!
- Enjoy these homemade brownies plain, or top the gluten free lemon brownies with lemon glaze!
I get many emails and comments from non-gluten-free readers asking for a gluten version. I haven’t baked with regular flour in over 13 years. I recommend checking out one of these two recipes if you are not gluten free: These Triple Lemon Brownies and Lemon Brownies. The recipes are very similar, except the second has an extra egg.
This is one of my favorite gluten-free flour blends for cookies, cakes, pie crust, biscuits, and muffins! (Do not use this flour blend for yeast recipes.)
Ingredient Notes:
- Gluten free flour blend – I tested this recipe using Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Flour Blend, Pillsbury Gluten Free Flour Blend, and King Arthur’s Measure for Measure Gluten Free Blend. That doesn’t mean others will not work; I just have not tested other flours, and I can not guarantee the recipe will work if you use other mixes.
- Xanthan Gum – If your gluten-free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum, guar gum, or another binder, please add 1 teaspoon.
- Lemon – Fresh is best because you need lemon juice and zest.
- Butter – To make this recipe dairy-free, substitute the butter for vegan butter.
If you are a lemon fanatic, I have tons of delicious gluten free lemon dessert recipes on the blog! You may love these Gluten Free Lemon Oat Bars, too.
How To Make Gluten Free Lemon Brownies:
Step 1: Add the gluten free flour, sugar, and salt to a bowl and whisk to blend them.
Step 2: Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs, and butter to a bowl and whisk to blend.
HINT: Partially melt the butter so it mixes in more easily.
Step 3: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix with a spoon to blend them together.
NOTE: You can also use a standing mixer if you prefer.
Step 4: This is what your lemon brownie batter should look like.
Step 5: Line your 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper and dump the batter in.
Step 6: Use a spoon to spread the batter evenly in the pan. This can be a bit tricky, so don’t worry if your top isn’t perfectly smooth. You can get the top of the spoon with a little water to make it easier. The lemonade glaze will cover the uneven parts.
Bake the brownies for 20-22 minutes at 350º F. Remove from the oven and allow the gluten free lemon brownies to cool.
Step 7: Add the powdered sugar and lemon juice to a bowl. Whisk to blend the glaze.
Step 8: When the brownies are cool, spread the glaze over the top of the brownies.
You may also love using these brownies to make this easy recipe to make Gluten Free Ice Cream Sandwiches too!
Variations:
- Add white chocolate chips to the brownie batter.
- Substitute lime juice and zest.
- Make them orange with orange juice and zest.
You may also like these chewy Gluten Free Butterscotch Brownies!
Tips and Recipe FAQ:
Yes, you can definitely double the recipe and make a 9×13 pan full of lemon brownies!
You don’t need baking powder because you want the brownies to be dense and moist.
I always store gluten free baked goods like these lemon brownies in the refrigerator. Keep them in an airtight container.
You can easily freeze the extra lemon brownies. Place the cooled brownies into a freezer-safe container or zip-style baggie.
You can use as much or as little lemon glaze as you like. They taste delicious plain, without the icing, too!
This gluten free lemon bundt cake recipe and gluten free lemon tart recipe are also full of lemon flavor if you are looking for a cake recipe!
More Gluten Free Brownie Recipes:
- Paleo Brownies – hidden veggies!
- Gluten Free Peppermint Brownies
- Easy Gluten Free Brownie Cookies
- Gluten Free Brownie Cheesecake Bars
- Decadent Gluten Free Espresso Brownies
Gluten Free Lemon Brownies
Equipment
- 8×8 pan
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups gluten free flour blend * see note, you may need more or less flour!
- 1 cup sugar One reader has used monk fruit sweetener in place of sugar.
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 size large eggs
- 8 tablespoons butter unsalted, semi-melted
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract OPTIONAL
Lemonade Glaze
- 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice more if needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º F.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients and whisk to blend.
- Place the butter into a microwave safe dish and microwave it for 30 seconds to partially melt it.
- Pour the rest of the wet ingredients into the butter and whisk to blend.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix.
- Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper. You can also spray non-stick oil in the pan if you prefer.
- Add the lemon brownie batter to the pan and use a spatula or large spoon to spread it around evenly.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until done. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the middle of the brownies. If there is batter on the toothpick, it needs to bake a little longer.
- Remove the cooked lemon brownies from the oven. Allow them to cool.
- Mix up the icing and spread over the cooled brownies. Enjoy!
Notes
- I have tested this recipe with King Arthur Measure for Measure GF and Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF blend. That doesn’t mean others will not work, I just have not tested other flours.
- Xanthan Gum – If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
- To make this recipe dairy-free, substitute the butter for vegan butter.
- These lemon brownies will keep for up to 4 days in an air-tight container or up to 4 months in the freezer. I recommend storing them in the refrigerator.
SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, you may need to adjust your moisture levels in your baked goods.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
I made these lemon brownies today with fresh lemons picked from our tree. Pamela’s GF baking mix was my flour blend. Excellent recipe and very easy to follow.
Tart, moist and delicious! And addictive….kept going back for one more bite.
Thanks for posting your recipe.
I am so glad you loved them. These gf lemon brownies have been very popular with everyone.
Thank you for the recipe, the flavor on them was great! I am wondering though if the recipe is missing baking soda? Mine were barely a 1/2″ high. Thoughts? Thank you!
Hi Jennifer. What size baking pan did you use? Brownies are typically not tall. You are welcome to add baking soda if you like, but I haven’t tested it.
My oh My! These are just the best lemon bars ever, Whether or not they are GF! Tender, lemony, Just firm enough to hold up well on the Christmas tray, but they didn’t last long. I forgot the lemon zest, and that made them a delicate lemon flavor as the lemon glaze added just that extra kick. They were still great, but I’m a real lemon fan and I’ll remember the lemon zest next time. I added paper thin slices of kumquat for a beautiful presentation.. and it only took two kumquats, if you don’t live where they are plentiful. Thank you for my new top-of-list bar cookie!
I am so glad you loved the lemon brownies. We have a very productive lemon recipe, so we make these often :-).
Have made this twice now – first time per the original recipe, and the second time I got creative after reading some of the comments… added 1tsp of bicarbonate of soda to the batter, and dumped a load of white chocolate into the pan before pouring in the batter!
I don’t do much gluten-free baking, but needed to bake something for my wife’s friend who has celiac disease, when she came to visit.
Great recipe – fantastic flavour and the second try with sodium bicarb, I wouldn’t even know it had no gluten – was so fluffy and springy!! Would recommend, and will be making again 🙂
Hi Charles, thank you so much for your note. I love that you made these for a friend. I will have to try that baking soda and white chocolate in the pan next time I make these!!
Although tasty, this is more a lemon bar vs. a brownie. Maybe this needs baking soda or powder? My result was 1/3″ high.
I find bars to be gooier. You would need to use baking soda as powder won’t do well with the acidity of the citrus.
I’ve made these twice now and added a cup of white chocolate chips- I pushed the chips to the bottom the batter in the baking pan and it made it like a crust for the brownies. So GOOD!!!
I am going to try that next! I love how you got creative with the recipe!
Perfect dessert. I made it with limes and it tasted like key lime pie. Everyone loved it. This is a keeper for sure and easy to make with minimal mess.
I am thrilled you loved this recipe. I love the idea of using lime!
These are SO good! I’d definitely recommend making a double batch! My non gf eaters loved them, too!
I am so glad you loved these. Thank you for coming back to leave a review!
I had to come back and comment again because I am soooo addicted to these darn things!! I took some to work and one of my employees said “oooh what are those can I have a taste?” I am pretty stingy with sweet baked goods but I obliged & now almost every day before work I get a text “we want lemon brownies, pleeeeAaaaaasse” lol we are all addicted now !
You absolutely made my day. I am so glad you are enjoying the brownies :-).
I just finished making these, I used great value gf flour(normally us bob’s gf for baking & the generic for dusting when rolling out)but last grocery trip my store didn’t have any) I was delighted to see the turned out great! I am wondering do you think I could replace lemon juice with other juices to get different flavors ? I know the acidity of lemon juice sometimes is important part of ingredients.
Hi Marnie, I am so glad you enjoyed these brownies. You can use lime or orange juice to flavor them. I would recommend maybe using a little orange extract with the orange juice since the flavor is a little milder. Thank you so much for coming back to rate and comment on the recipe!
I have made these with orange juice … good! I even made them with root beer, I make a root beer cake for family that isn’t gf so thought what the heck lol used all same measurements just used the root beer in place of lemon juice. They turned out great, I would have like a little more flavor so next time I may look for some flavor extract to add to it. Everyone in the house liked all the flavors and now asking for watermelon flavor lol !! Thank you for perfecting the recipe !!
You definitely win the award for my most creative blog reader! I love how you are experimenting with the flavors!! I wonder if rootbeer syrup would add enough flavor?
These lemon brownies are truly AMAZING! I followed the recipe exactly, including using Bob’s 1 to 1 because that’s what I had on hand, but I omitted the frosting (and I am totally a frosting girl, so that tells you something). They are the perfect blend of moist / dense / cake, and the taste is delicious. We have a new favorite in our house that isn’t chocolate. Thank you!
You absolutely made my day. Thank you so much for coming to let me know you loved these lemon brownies!
Hello! In Step 1 of the directions, you say to mix the dry ingredients together, and it includes “baking soda” but baking soda isn’t listed on the Ingredients list. Do we use baking soda? If so, how much? I hope to make these today! They sound AMAZING. I LOVE lemon pastry and am excited to try these.
Hi Chris, there is no baking soda. I had tested it, then decided they have a better texture without it. I corrected the ingredients in the post to reflect this. Thank you so much.
Want to make for a friend. I don’t have gf flour on hand. CanI use regular wheat flour? I just ran out and haven’t replenished. Thanks.
Hi Julie, I haven’t baked with wheat flour in over 15 years so I honestly do not know how this recipe will be with that flour. I suspect it will be fine as gluten free flour mimics wheat flour.
Question, is there any way we could use less sugar in this recipe? They look awesome and I would love to make them, but that is too much sugar for me.
Hi Sandra, I haven’t tested these with less sugar. I would say to give it a try…maybe committing the lemonade glaze would reduce the sugar enough?
I found this recipe on FB in gluten free group and with all the lemon juice I have, and the beautiful picture, I knew I had to try it. I used the Bobs Red Mill flour suggested. I also used mixer before flour added then used scraper to mix in flour in 3 batches. The butter will look weird before adding flour but after adding it, it’s perfect and beautiful. I baked at 25 mins and it was done. Cooked and added drizzle except I needed more juice than recipe. My bf loved it too! This is a keeper! Thank you!!
Cooled not cooked before adding drizzle.
I am so glad you and your boyfriend loved the brownies!! You made my day coming back to let me know!
Hi Sandi – firstly all your recipes so far have been great and I use Measure for Measure and Bob’s Red Mill. I cant wait to try this one, I love lemon desserts and this looks great!
Thanks-
Thank you so much Mia, I hope you love these as much as we do :-).
These are AMAZING!!!!! They taste just like non-GF lemon bars. Followed the recipe exactly and they turned out perfect. So simple and can’t wait to make them again!
I am thrilled you love them Colleen. I couldn’t believe how close their texture is to the real thing. Thank you for coming back to leave a comment and rating.