Lemon Brownies w/ Macadamia Nuts & White Chocolate Chips (2024)

This past weekend we discovered a fun new family game…jelly bean roulette! It was after dinner, we were watching TV and I had a craving for something sweet & fruity! All I could find in the kitchen was an unopened bag of Gimbal’s Gourmet Jelly Beans leftover from Easter (Ha! Don’t judge!) So I opened them up and dumped them into a big shallow bowl so we could easily distinguish between all the flavors. The bag had one of those guides on the back where you can figure out that the transparent green one with the dark green spots is the “Baja Margarita” flavor and the opaque green one with the dark green spots is the “Perfectly Pear” flavor. Ha! Reading glasses anyone? So the game went like this: One family member closes his eyes and opens his mouth. The other family members conspire to pick the strangest jelly bean flavor to pop into the victims mouth at which time they have to determine what the mystery flavor is by savoring the jelly bean and looking at the guide on the package. The “Buttered Popcorn, Honey, Toasted Marshmallow and Tiramisu” flavors were big stumpers! My favorite flavors were “Lemon Meringue, Key Lime, Tangerine and Mango.” After too many rounds of jelly bean roulette, shame set in and we disposed of the evidence.

Those mango and citrus jelly beans must have triggered something in my taste buds, because all I could think about making this week was a perfect batch of citrus-y bars!

Lemon Brownies w/ Macadamia Nuts & White Chocolate Chips:

These Lemon Brownies come from a recipe I created for an herbal tea contest. I used highly concentrated lemon herbal tea to flavor the lemon brownies. I wondered how they would taste with lemon juice and some lemon extract instead of the tea. I made both versions and the real lemon brownies won out for their clean, fresh lemony flavor. I hope you will find them better than fine!! ( ;

Preparation:

Gather your ingredients and take the time to line your pan with a double layer of some foil or parchment. I made the mistake of using flimsy waxed paper and not greasing the pan well enough and I had to wrestle them out of the pan.

Mix the Batter:

Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs. Mix in your dry ingredients. Stir in the nuts and chips. Spread in pan and bake!

Glaze & Sprinkle!

Mix the confectioner’s sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest for the glaze. Prick the hot brownies with a fork. Spread the glaze over the top and sprinkle with the remaining macadamia nuts. Let cool completely before removing from pan and cutting. I like to use my electric knife to cut bars with nuts in them. It makes a cleaner cut.